Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti wrote this opera based on Murder in the Cathedral, Eliot's play about the assassination of Thomas Beckett.
Cat lover T.S. Eliot published a volume of whimsical poems about the furry beasts, entitled Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Then, in the 1980s, British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber set the poems to music and made a mint with the musical Cats, which ran for about 400 years on Broadway. Now all we need is The Waste Land: The Musical!
Eliot's sonorous reading voice is music to our ears. Many recordings survive of his readings, and his deep, rich voice brings a new level of life to his poetry. This album includes "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," "Ash Wednesday," and others.
The haunting images and beauty of Eliot's language have inspired many musicians. Composer Sofia Gubaidulina wrote this opera inspired by Eliot's Four Quartets. The words are based on his verse.
Russian composer Igor Stravinsky composed this chorale arrangement in honor of the late T.S. Eliot, whose poetry he greatly admired.
This rare gem features readings from a range of "genius" artists in literature and music. Tracks include Leonard Bernstein's orchestra playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and W.H. Auden reading Shakespeare's sonnets. Eliot contributes a reading of "A Game of Chess."