William Bolcom spent 25 years writing his interpretation of all 46 poems from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, which was premiered in Stuttgart in 1984. The New York Times called Songs of Innocence and of Experience “a masterpiece of our time and place—gigantically ambitious”; the Chicago Tribune said the work is “one of the finest and most important new American works of the decade”; and The Boston Globe heralded it as “the greatest achievement of synthesis in American music since Porgy and Bess.”
In his hand-crafted editions of the book Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Blake’s poems were accompanied by his own colored engravings (“illuminations”). Blake's multi-dimensional approach has inspired VocalEssence to stage the work on a multi-level set and use live video and projected images during the concert, creating an imaginative and unique approach to Bolcom’s music and Blake’s poetry.
The 2004 NAXOS recording by Leonard Slatkin and the University of Michigan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Choirs, Musical Society and soloists was honored with four 2005 Grammy Awards:
• Best Classical Album
• Best Choral Performance
• Best Classical Contemporary Composition
• Producer of the Year, Classical.