Troubadour Songs

"Here, Thomas has set seven marvelous English translations of cantigas, by Portuguese scholar and translator Richard Zenith. The texts are, in turn, humorous (“Song about the Theme of Conversation”), ribald and somewhat shocking (“Song about a Man Who Once Sang Well” and “Song of a Wronged Troubadour”), obsessively pining (“Song of the Green Eyes”), passionate (“Song Against the Sea” and “Song of Love in Summer”), and doubting (“Song about a Suspicious Mother”). Thomas writes quite knowledgeably for the baritone voice, giving opportunities for beautiful color in the upper register, running the gamut from full voce di testa to falsetto. The vocal writing is often declamatory, sometimes improvisatory, yet Thomas is capable of creating lovely long and arching melodic lines when the text requires. The set is a perfect program ender, and the texts straightforward, often hilarious, and utterly engaging."

Kathleen Roland-Silverstein, NATS Journal of Singing, September/October 2018

Were I With Thee

CD Review: Were I With Thee

Michelle Areyzaga, soprano, Dana Brown, piano

"Richard Pearson Thomas, a gifted and prolific Montana-born composer, is represented by At Last, To Be Identified!, a setting of three Emily Dickinson texts that beautifully balance starkness with tenderheartedness. These expertly crafted songs leave us longing to hear more from him." Gregory Berg, NATS Journal of Singing. May/June 2022

Twilight and At last to be identified!

CD Review: Experience, Albany Records
Natalie Mann, soprano and Jeffrey Panko, piano

“… this Montana native is rapidly making a name for himself not only a composer but also as an innovative force for drawing young people into music. His music has a rhapsodic vitality to it, even in his quietest songs, and a disarming sense of spontaneity that draws us into each piece. He writes very effectively for the voice and also knows how to set lyrics with clarity and sensitivity. His cycle Twilight features three texts by Christina Rossetti, whose colorful and evocative poetry seems a perfect fir for Thomas’s warm hearted and impassioned music.”
Gregory Berg, NATS Journal of Singing March/April 2015

A Wake or a Wedding

November 2014
“Lots of silly fun.” 
Gloria Talamas, Offbway

A Wake or a Wedding

November 2014
“… the opera brings together beautiful singing, outrageous slapstick and romantic entanglements for an evening of farcical fun. Mr. Thomas has written a delectable denouement, each character divulging their secret and topping the previous confession, to the audience’s delight.Mr. Thomas’s orchestrations are sublime.”
Navida Stein, StageBuddy