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For much of the show, Fischer, a powerhouse vocalist best known as a backup singer, sticks to wordless descant, humming and oohing on top of and around the other music.

Will the protagonist, who loves to “descant on mine own deformity,” make us see anew the premium that society places on women’s appearances?

No media coverage of a political campaign would be complete without the small-town diner story featuring salt-of-the-earth folks in John Deere hats descanting their cracker-barrel wisdom about the state of the world.

But what followed was far from a utilitarian compilation, with a series of florid descants, and elaborate arrangements of traditional carols like “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen,” and “The First Nowell.”

For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.