Friday July 18 2014 Accompagnato Soprano
Il Penseroso
Come, pensive nun, devout and pure, Sober, steadfast, and demure; All in a robe of darkest grain, Flowing with majestic train.
nun: Another reference to Melancholy.
Arioso Soprano
Il Penseroso
Come, but keep thy wonted state, With even step, and musing gait, And looks commercing with the skies, Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes.
commercing: Communicating.
Accompagnato Alto
Il Penseroso
There held in holy passion still, Forget thyself to marble, till With a sad leaden downward cast Thou fix them on the earth as fast. And join with thee calm peace, and quiet, Spare fast, that oft with gods doth diet, And hears the muses in a ring Round about Jove’s altar sing.
Forget . . . marble: She is as still as a marble statue. muses: In Greek mythology, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. The Muses inspired writers, musicians, dancers, and scholars. Calliope, for example, was the muse of epic poetry, and Euterpe was the muse of lyric poetry. The other Muses were Clio (history), Terpsichore (choral singing and dance), Melpomene (tragic plays), Thalia (tragic comedies), Euterpe (lyric poetry), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry), and Urania (astronomy). Jove: Allusion to the overthrow of Saturn by his son Jove. Saturn was the Roman name for Cronus, king of the gods in Greek mythology; Jove was one of the Roman names for Zeus, who became king of the gods after overthrowing his father. The other Roman name for Zeus was Jupiter.
Chorus
Il Penseroso
Join with thee calm peace, and quiet, Spare fast, that oft with gods doth diet.
Recitative Tenor
L’Allegro
Hence, loathed Melancholy, In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. But haste thee, Mirth, and bring with thee The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.
Recitative Soprano
L’Allegro
And if I give thee honour due, Mirth, admit me of thy crew!
Air Soprano
L’Allegro
Mirth, admit me of thy crew, To live with her, and live with thee, In unreproved pleasures free; To hear the lark begin his flight, And singing startle the dull night; Then to come in spite of sorrow, And at my window bid good morrow. Mirth, admit me of thy crew!
Accompagnato Soprano
Il Penseroso
First, and chief, on golden wing, The cherub Contemplation bring; And the mute Silence hist along, ‘Less Philomel will deign a song, In her sweetest, saddest plight, Smoothing the rugged brow of night.
hist along: Come along quietly. ‘Less: Unless... Philomel: Another name for a nightingale. Philomel is derived from the name Philomela. In Greek mythology. Philomela was a princess of Athens. Her sister, Procne, was married to King Tereus of Thrace. Not satisfied with only one of the sisters, Tereus lusted after Philomela and one day raped her. To prevent her from revealing his crime, he cut out her tongue. However, Philomel embroidered a tapestry depicting his brutality and showed it to her sister. The two women then plotted against Tereus and ended up serving him his son, Itys, in a stew. When Tereus discovered what they did, he chased them with an axe. The gods then turned Philomela into a nightingale and Procne into a swallow.
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