Song, artwork capture essence of 19th century life

Woven together, the artwork and music of the 19th century will provide a rich historical fabric during a family event on Sunday, Sept. 26, at the Chazen Museum of Art.

The museum has completed a reinstallation of narrative 19th century art in Gallery Ⅵ on the museum’s third floor. The exhibit, from the museum’s permanent collection, features the artwork of American and European artists in oil paintings and sculpture.

The powerful voice of folksinger Judy Cook will complete the package. From 2:30–3:30 p.m. in the gallery, Cook will add her own renditions of American period songs inspired by the works on display.

Cook, of Laurel, Md., says the mix of stories and artifacts in a museum setting lends a new meaning to both the music and the art.

“The window into the past that I take folks through with the songs is a combination of the content, the language, the cadence and the melody. Many of these songs are eye witnesses to history; they were written and sung by people of the time,” she says. “Being surrounded by art and artifacts from the time adds yet another dimension to make the experience that much better.”

Cook grew up in a Virginia family of five that was built on a strong foundation of song.

Her evolution as a folksinger fueled her curiosity about the songs she loved, and that curiosity led her to begin researching songs. That research turned up written, recorded and personal sources for traditional songs and ballads and piqued her interest in the roots of her music.

“I sang with friends at scout camp and Oberlin College but lacked a communal setting for sharing the songs until I joined the Folklore Society of Greater Washington,” she says.

Her interest led her to vintage bookstores and the Library of Congress to dig through collections of the songs that America sang and listened to in the 19th century.

In the early 1990s, Cook began to perform professionally, and people she had met at song swaps began asking her to perform at various venues. Her unaccompanied presentations lend a clarity and authenticity to the works and bring new life to the musical stories she tells.

“My self confidence grew as I realized that there are a lot of people who love the songs I sing and I get such joy from sharing them with those people,” Cook says.

Her passion for keeping alive musical memories and the spirit of those wrote wrote and performed them has spread across the Atlantic. Her work has become well respected in England, as well. She’s toured there periodically since 1998.

Cook says people are drawn to the old songs and the stories they tell.

“Wherever I travel I find folks who love the old songs as much as I do, whether they’ve heard them before or not,” she says. “I see it in their smiles or occasionally tears. I hear it in their voices when they join in the singing. I feel it in the discussions that often follow the programs. People enjoy sharing other fascinating historical tidbits or personal stories.”

As an example, Cook once sang an old song that the grandfather of an audience member always sang when polishing his shoes.

“Her mother had told her the story — and the song title — many times, but never sang her the song. That night she heard it for the first time,” Cook says. “After another concert at which I sang a song about the sinking of the Titanic, a woman told me her great-uncle had been the mate in charge of lifeboats on that ship, and had been in the lifeboat that went back for survivors. She wanted to know if it would be OK for her to learn and sing the song. I encouraged her to do so.”

Her career has yielded four full-length CDs, including “If You Sing Songs,” “Far From the Lowlands,” “Tenting Tonight: Songs of the Civil War,” and most recently in 2009, “Lincoln’s America.”