Photo by Deb Gau SMSU alumnus and baritone Ryan Hugh Ross performs part of “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death,” a song cycle based on the Bill Holm poem of the same name, in Minneota on Friday.

MINNEOTA — Author and poet Bill Holm was the most well-known Minneota resident in recent history, Wendy Sarazyn said. In the year that Holm would have celebrated his 80th birthday, it felt right to pay tribute to him in his hometown.

“This is Bill’s home church. He would sit in the back on Sunday mornings, usually multitasking,” Sarazyn told an audience gathered Friday night at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. “This is a good place to honor him.”

The tribute at St. Paul’s brought together two things Holm loved — classical music and poetry — in a musical rendition of “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death.” The performance was organized by the Society for the Preservation of Minneota’s Heritage as part of the kickoff of Boxelder Bug Days.

People gathered at the church watched a Pioneer PBS documentary on the creation of “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death,” a song cycle based on Holm’s epic poem of the same name. Composer Martha Helen Schmidt, Southwest Minnesota State University professor of music Dr. Daniel Rieppel, and baritone and SMSU alumnus Ryan Hugh Ross held a short question-and-answer session, before Rieppel and Ross performed the song cycle.

Rieppel said the poem was Holm’s “magnum opus.”

“It really sums up everything Bill really felt about classical music, philosophy, and how we spend our time on this planet,” Rieppel said.

Rieppel and Ross said the idea for a song cycle based on “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death” took shape as a way to honor Holm’s memory. Holm died unexpectedly in 2009.

Everyone involved in the creation of the piece had connections to southwest Minnesota, from Rieppel the SMSU professor, to Ross the alumnus and Schmidt, who grew up in Luverne. Funding from the SMSU Foundation made it possible to commission Schmidt to compose the music for the piece, Rieppel said.

Rieppel said Schmidt’s music for the piece was “much like Bill’s writing,” with a mix of seriousness and humor. Holm could be stern and talk about serious subjects, “But he always did it with a wry wink,” Rieppel said. Rieppel said Schmidt’s music also contained references to the many classical composers Holm wrote about in “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death.”

In the Q&A, Rieppel and Ross shared memories of Holm. Ross said that, when he was a student at SMSU, he was “always kind of in awe” of Holm, and took inspiration from his career.

“Bill made his presence known wherever he went,” Rieppel said.

He said he was also inspired by Holm, and enjoyed getting to know him and play four-hand piano duets together.

Friday’s performance was not the only chance for people to hear “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death.” Rieppel said the song cycle will be performed tonight at the University of Minnesota-Morries, and on Friday night at Fingal’s Cave, at the MetroNOME Brewery in St. Paul.

The Pioneer PBS documentary of “Playing Haydn for the Angel of Death” has also received some recognition, presenters said Friday.

The program has been nominated for a 2023 Upper Midwest Emmy Award.