PROGRAM
Villanelle Eva Dell’Acqua (1856–1930)
C’est en toi, bien-aimé August De Boeck (1865–1937)
Stances à Marylise. A la manière des Tankas
1. Ainsi que la vague
6. Dans la nuit calme
Lied van Mignon
‘t Avondt
Lodewijk Mortelmans (1868–1952)
Rust Karel Albert (1901–1981)
Paix Joseph Jonghen (1873–1953)
Le secret Irène Fuerison (1875–1931)
Dans la maison Ernest d’Agrèves (1880–1968)
Cantique from Triptyque Raymond Moulaert (1875–1962)
Oraison Clément D’Hooghe (1899–1951)
Vous m’avez dit tel soir
Hugues Delorient
Eunice Maria Matthijssens (1861–1916)
Menuet Eva Dell’Acqua (1856–1930)
Villanelle (ca. 1885–1900)
Eva Dell’Acqua (1856–1930) | Lyrics: Frédéric Vander Elst (ca. 1864–1954)
J’ai vu passer l’hirondelle
Dans le ciel pur du matin:
Elle allait, à tire-d’aile,
Vers le pays où l’appelle
Le soleil et le jasmin.
J’ai vu passer l’hirondelle!
J’ai longtemps suivi des yeux
Le vol de la voyageuse...
Depuis, mon âme rêveuse
L’accompagne par les cieux.
Ah! ah! au pays mystérieux!
Et j’aurais voulu comme elle
Suivre le même chemin...
I saw the swallow fly over In the clear morning sky: She was hurrying
To the land where the sun and the jasmine call her.
I saw the swallow fly over!
My eyes followed for a long time The traveller’s flight. Since that moment, my dreaming soul accompanies her through the skies, to the mysterious lands. And I wish I could follow the same path, like her...
C’est en toi, bien-aimé (1917)
August De Boeck (1865–1937) | Lyrics: Charles Van Lerberghe (1861–1907)
C’est en toi, bien-aimé, que j’écoute,
Et que mon âme voit.
Accueille mon silence et montre-moi la route, Mes yeux fermés au monde se sont ouverts en toi.
C’est en toi que je ris,
c’est en toi que je rêve,
Que je pleure tout bas.
En toi que mon sein se soulève,
En toi que mon cœur bat.
Ô toi, dont s’ensoleille
D’un tremblement d’ailes d’or
Mon souffle animé,
C’est en toi que je m’éveille,
Et c’est en toi que je m’endors,
Ô bien-aimé!
In you, my beloved, I listen, And in you my soul sees.
Accept my silence and show me the way, My eyes, closed to the world, have opened in you.
In you I laugh, in you I dream, I weep softly.
In you my breast heaves, In you my heart beats.
O you, whose sun shines
With a trembling of golden wings
My animated breath, In you I awaken,
And in you I fall asleep, O my beloved!
Stances à Marylise. A la manière des Tankas (1933)
August De Boeck (1865–1937) | Lyrics: Geo Verrycken
Ainsi que la vague sous le vent furieux
Du fond de la mer que rien n’apaise, Accourt se jeter sur la falaise, Ainsi mon coeur anxieux se brise devant ta fierté qui me grise.
Dans la nuit calme et profonde
N’entends-tu pas batter mon coeur, Mon coeur qui souffre et qui a peur?
Et dans tout mon être coule
Comme une onde une ardeur insensée.
Et je rêve et ma pensée t’enveloppe et t’entoure, Comme un parfum subtil envelope et entoure la fleur d’un frais matin d’avril.
Like the wave beneath the furious wind
From the depths of the unsoothable sea
Rushes to throw itself upon the cliff, Thus my anxious heart breaks Before the pride that intoxicates me.
In the calm and deep night
Don’t you hear my heart beating, My heart that suffers and is afraid?
And through my whole being flows
Like a wave, a senseless ardor, and I dream, My thought envelops and surround you
Like a subtle perfume envelops and surrounds the flower
Of a fresh April morning
Lied van Mignon (1906)
Lodewijk Mortelmans (1868–1952) | after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)
Kent gij het land waar de citroenen bloeien, in ’t donker loof de goudappels gloeien, een zachte wind in reine hemel suist, de mirte prijkt en hoog de lauwer ruist?
Kent gij het wel?
Daarheen, daarheen, laat ons getwee’n, o mijn geliefde, vliên!
Kent gij dat huis?
Het dak op zuilen rust, hel glanst de zaal, het schemert daar vol lust, en marmerbeelden staren mij vragend aan: wat heeft men u, gij arrem kind, wat heeft men u, gij arrem kind, gedaan?
Kent gij het wel?
Daarheen, daarheen, laat ons getwee’n, o mijn behoeder, mijn behieder, vliên.
Kent gij de berg met steile wolkenpad?
Het muildier klimt door nevl’en moeizaam aan, in holen huist der draken wild gebroed, de rots stort neer en over haar de vloed.
Kent gij hem wel?
Daarheen, daarheen gaat onze baan, o vader, laat ons gaan, o vader, laat ons gaan.
Do you know the land where the lemons bloom, in the dark foliage the golden apples glow, a soft wind whistles in pure heaven, the myrtle shines and high the laurel rustles?
Do you know it?
There, there, let us two, o my beloved, fly!
Do you know that house?
The roof rests on pillars, the hall shines brightly, it is twilight there full of lust, and marble statues stare at me questioningly: what have they done to you, you poor child, what have they done to you, you poor child?
Do you know it?
There, there, let us two, o my guardian, my keeper, fly.
Do you know the mountain with steep cloud path?
The mule climbs through mists with difficulty, in the caves of dragons wild brood dwells, the rock crashes down and over it the flood.
Do you know him?
There, there goes our path, o father, let us go, o father, let us go.
‘t Avondt (1901)
Lodewijk Mortelmans (1868–1952) | Lyrics: Guido Gezelle (1830–1899)
‘t Avondt, het avondt: trage en treurig
zinkt de zonne nederwaard; dwijnt het licht, en gaat er geurig reukwerk uit den roozengaard; stille, en zonder ruit noch muit, nijpt de nacht de dagkeerse uit.
Evening comes: slow and sad the sun sinks down; the light disappears, and fragrant scents go out from the rose garden; silently, without sound or movement, the night squeezes out the candle of day.
Rust (1930)
Karel Albert (1901–1981) | Lyrics: Paul Van Ostaijen (1896–1928)
Leg uw hoofd zo in mijn arm
Dat van uw voorhoofd naar uw mond
Mijn blik schuive
Over de kam van uw neus.
Leg uw hoofd zo.
Ik leg op uw mond mijn hand
Wees rust.
Lay your head in my arm, in such way,
That from your forehead to your mouth
My gaze slides
Over the ridge of your nose.
Lay your head like this.
I lay my hand on your mouth
Be calm.
Paix (1916, Op. 50)
Joseph Jonghen (1873–1953) | Lyrics: Franz Hellens (1881–1972)
Laissez-vous doucement glisser dans le bonheur. Cette nuit claire est comme de l’oubli sincère
Où tout désir doit s’effacer.
Ne nous regardons pas; les ombres du jardin sous la lune ont l’air de se toucher, et rien d’amer ne mont en nous, ni rien de sombre.
Nous sommes deux êtres muets
Qui regardent la nuit profonde
Et dont les coeurs jettent la sonde
Au fond d’un abîme de paix.
Ne parlons pas, car le mystère S’approche en silence, à tâtons!
Le vent même se tait. Ecoutons La voix qui nous dit de nous taire!
Let yourself slide gently into happiness. This clear night is like sincere oblivion
Where all desire must fade.
Let us not look at each other; the shadows of the moonlit garden seem to touch, and nothing bitter rises within us, nor anything dark.
We are two mute beings
Who gaze into the deep night
And whose hearts plumb
To the bottom of an abyss of peace.
Let us not speak, for the mystery
Approaches in silence, groping! Even the wind falls silent. Let us listen
To the voice that tells us to be silent!
Le secret (ca. 1918, Op. 49)
Irène Fuerison (1875–1931) | Lyrics: Henri de Regnier (1864–1936)
Prends garde. Si tu veux parler à ma tristesse, Ne lui demande pas le secret de mes pleurs
Ni pourquoi son regard se détourne et s’abaisse
Et se fixe longtemps sur le pave sans fleur.
Pour distraire son mal, sa peine et son silence, N’évoque de l’oubli taciturne et glacé, Nul fantôme d’amour, d’orgueil ou d’espérance
Dont le visage obscur soit l’ombre du passé.
Parle-lui du soleil, des arbres, des fontaines, De la mer lumineuse et du bois ténébreux
D’où monte dans le ciel la lune souterraine, Et de tout ce qu’on voit quand on ouvre les yeux.
Dis-lui que le printemps porte toujours des roses
En lui prenant les mains doucement, et tout bas,
Car la forme, l’odeur et la beauté des choses
Sont le seul souvenir dont on ne souffre pas.
Be careful. If you want to speak to my sadness, Do not ask it about the secret of my tears
Nor why it turns away, drops its gaze
And fixes it forever upon the flowerless path.
To distract its grief, its pain and its silence, Do not wake phantoms of love, pride or hope from the taciturn, icy forgetfulness; their dark faces are only shadows from the past.
Speak of the sun, of trees and fountains, Of the bright sea and of the dark wood Where the moon rises from the underground into the sky, And of every thing one sees upon opening one’s eyes. Tell it that spring still brings forth the roses, Softly, and gently take its hands.
For in the form, scent and the beauty of those things
Lies the only memory that offers no sorrow.
Dans la maison (1917)
Ernest d’Agrèves (1880–1968) | Lyrics: Emile Verhaeren (1955–1916)
Dans la maison où notre amour a voulu naître, Avec les meubles chers peuplant l’ombre et les coins,
Où nous vivons à deux, ayant pour seuls témoins
Les roses qui nous regardent par les fenêtres.
Il est des jours choisis, d’un si doux réconfort, Et des heures d’été, si belles de silence,
Que j’arrête parfois le temps qui se balance, Dans l’horloge de chêne, avec son disque d’or.
Alors l’heure, le jour, la nuit est si bien nôtre
Que le bonheur qui nous frôle n’entend plus rien, Sinon les battements de ton coeur et du mien
Qu’une étreinte soudaine approche l’un de l’autre.
In the house where our love chose to be born, With the expensive furniture filling the shadows and corners, Where we live together, with only the roses watching us through the windows as witnesses.
Some days of choice are so comfortingly sweet, Some summer hours, so beautiful in their silence, That I sometimes stop the swaying time, In the oak clock with its golden disc.
Then the hour, the day, the night is truly ours
And the happiness that brushes against us hears nothing more, Than the beating of your heart and mine And a sudden embrace brings us closer to each other.
Cantique from Triptyque
Raymond Moulaert (1875–1962) | Lyrics: Emile Verhaeren (1955–1916)
Je voudrais posséder pour dire tes splendeurs, Le plain-chant triomphal des vagues sur les sables, Ou les poumons géants des vents intarissables;
Je voudrais dominer les lourds échos grondeurs, Qui jettent dans la nuit des paroles étranges, Pour les faire crier et clamer tes louanges;
Je voudrais que la mer tout entière chantât, Et comme un poids le monde élevât sa marée, Pour te dire superbe et te dresser sacrée;
Je voudrais que ton nom dans le ciel éclatât, Comme un feu voyageur et roulât d’astre en astre, Avec des bruits d’orage et des heurts de désastre.
To speak of your splendors, I would like to possess the triumphant chant of the waves on the sands, or the giant lungs of the inexhaustible winds
I would like to dominate the heavy, rumbling echoes, which throw strange words into the night And make them cry out and proclaim your praises
I would like the whole sea to sing, I wish that, like a weight the world would raise its tide, to call you superb and to make you sacred;
I would like your name to burst forth in the sky, like a traveling fire and roll from star to star, with the sounds of a storm and the clashes of disaster.
Oraison (1926)
Clément D’Hooghe (1899–1951) | Lyrics: Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)
Vous savez, Seigneur, ma misère!
Voyez ce que je vous apporte!
Des fleurs mauvaises de la terre, Et du soleil sur une morte.
Voyez aussi ma lassitude, La lune éteinte et l’aube noire; Et fécondez ma solitude
En l’arrosant de votre gloire.
Ouvrez-moi, Seigneur, votre voie, Éclairez-y mon âme lasse, Car la tristesse de ma joie Semble de l’herbe sous la glace.
You know, Lord, my misery!
See what I bring you!
Bad flowers from the earth, And some sunlight on a corpse.
See also my weariness, The extinguished moon and the dark dawn; Fertilize my solitude
And water it with your glory.
Open your way to me, Lord, Enlighten my weary soul, For the sadness of my joy
Seems like grass under the ice.
Vous m’avez dit tel soir (s.d.)
Hugues Delorient | Lyrics: Emile Verhaeren (1955–1916)
Vous m’avez dit, tel soir, des paroles si belles
Que sans doute les fleurs, qui se penchaient vers nous, Soudain nous ont aimés et que l’une d’entre elles, Pour nous toucher tous deux, tomba sur nos genoux.
Vous me parliez des temps prochains où nos années, Comme des fruits trop mûrs, se laisseraient cueillir ; Comment éclaterait le glas des destinées, Comment on s’aimerait, en se sentant vieillir.
Votre voix m’enlaçait comme une chère étreinte, Et votre coeur brûlait si tranquillement beau
Qu’en ce moment, j’aurais pu voir s’ouvrir sans crainte
Les tortueux chemins qui vont vers le tombeau.
You told me, one evening, such beautiful words That the flowers, which leaned towards us, Must have suddenly loved us, and one of them fell onto our knees, only to touch us together.
You told me about the time to come, when our years, Like overripe fruit, would let us pick them; How the death knell of destiny would ring, And how we would love each other, while growing old.
Your voice embraced me like a cherished hug, And your heart burned so calmly and beautifully That at that moment, I could have seen opening without fear The winding paths towards the tomb.
Eunice (between 1896 and 1916)
Maria Matthijssens (1961–1916) | Lyrics: Gustave De Graef
Sur ta bouche de marbre, o divine statue,
De mes lèvres de feu je viens boire l’amour;
Car Pétrone a passé sans m’avoir même vue, Comme passe au lointain la lumière du jour.
De ce maître orgueilleux, que je crains et que j’aime,
Tu me dis la beauté
Et lorsque, doucement, je baise ton front blême, C’est de la volupté.
Laisse-moi prodiguer à tes chairs endormies, Comme un beaume d’amour, tous mes vierges baisers.
Prends ces roses, ces fleurs, que pour toi j’ai cueillies
Aux jardins de César où mes pleurs ont coulé.
Laisse-moi revêtir, de mes boucles dorées
Ton corps harmonieux.
Pour cacher aux mortels les extases rêvées
Par mon cœur et mes yeux.
Car lorsque, doucement, je baise ton front blême, C’est de la volupté.
On your marble mouth, O divine statue, From my fiery lips I come to drink love; For Petronius passed by without even seeing me, As the light of day passes in the distance.
You speak to me of the beauty
Of this proud master, whom I fear and love, And when, gently, I kiss your pale brow, It is pure pleasure.
Let me lavish on your sleeping flesh, Like a balm of love, all my virginal kisses.
Take these roses, these flowers, which I picked for you
In Caesar’s gardens where my tears flowed.
Let me clothe, with my golden curls
Your harmonious body.
To hide from mortals the ecstasies dreamed of By my heart and my eyes.
For when I gently kiss your pale forehead, It is pure pleasure.
Menuet (s.d.)
Eva Dell’Acqua (1856–1930) | Lyrics: Paul Berlier (ca. 1864–1954)
Ma soeur, voici l’heure oppurtune,
Descendons au jardin muet.
Pour cavalier prenons chacune
Un scintillant rayon de lune
Et commençons un menuet!
La nuit est calme, sous la branche
Point d’oeil indiscret. Nous pourrons
En troussant notre jupe blanche,
Jeter au vent d’une voix franche
Tous les refrains que nous voudrons!
Notre chant suivra la cadence
De nos pas sur le sable fin.
Puis, au finale de la danse,
Nous ferons la révérance,
Avec un sourire divin.
Et tout le long des avenues
Les dieux de marbre à l’oeil glacé
Dresseront leurs têtes chenues
Croyant voir enfin revenues,
Les marquises du temps passé.
My sister, now is the opportune moment,
Let us descend to the silent garden.
As a companion, let us each take
A sparkling moonbeam
And let us begin a minuet!
The night is calm, under the branch
No prying eyes. Ruffling up our white skirts, we will be able to
Throw to the wind in a frank voice
All the refrains we want!
Our song will follow the cadence
Of our steps on the fine sand.
Then, at the finale of the dance,
We will curtsy,
With a divine smile.
And all along the avenues
The marble gods with icy eyes
Will raise their hoary heads
Believing to finally see the return
Of the marquises from the past.
Soprano Pauline Lebbe traded a career in law to follow her passion for music. She studied cello and voice at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Belgium, and graduated summa cum laude from the voice studio of Catrin WynDavies.
Pauline has a deep affection for art song. For her master’s thesis, she explored the Belgian song repertoire set to texts by Belgian symbolist authors. Since September 2017, she has been conducting research on Belgian art song from 1880 to 1945 at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp.
In addition to art song, Pauline enjoys performing opera and musical theatre. She has been a regular member of the La Monnaie opera house choir since 2015. At the Midsummer Mozartiade festival in Brussels, she performed the role of the First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and covered the role of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. She also participated in productions of Novecento by K. Bikkembergs, Push by H. Moody, Così fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte by Mozart, Giuditta by Franz Lehár, and The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten.
Pauline is also well-versed in oratorio and choral repertoire. She has collaborated with conductors such as Luc Ponet, René Clemencic, Erik Van Nevel, Huub Ehlen, Roberto Zarpellon, and Roberto Belloni. In addition, she is frequently invited to serve as a cantor for religious services.
Sahoko Sato Timpone, mezzo-soprano, is a native of Tokyo who grew up in Japan, Germany, and the U.S. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and has since performed in many operas and concerts throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, including the Baltimore, Syracuse, Berkshire, St Petersburg and Chautauqua Operas, Opera Maine, the Saito Kinen Festival, the Seiji Ozawa Ongakujuku, the Tokyo Opera Nomori and the Seattle, Oregon, West Virginia, Chautauqua, Singapore, and Sapporo Symphonies. She also made her OffBroadway debut as Ms. Sun Yi Nam in Figaro 90210 to critical acclaim (Marcellina in the updated version of Le nozze di Figaro).
She has performed solo recitals nationally and internationally including Bangkok, Thailand, sponsored by the Nomura Cultural Foundation, as well as in Granada, Spain, where she won the First Miguel Zanetti International Spanish Song Competition in 2008.
Her recent and future performances include the Verdi Requiem with the Battenkill Chorale, Music Worcester, and Masterwork Chorus at Carnegie Hall. In 2021, she released her solo CD, Songs of Japonisme, from Sheva Collection and is the author of the textbook for the online singing course by Phonim Music in Japan.
She is a graduate of New England Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music and received the DMA from Rutgers University where she was the recipient of the Irene Alm Memorial Award for excellence in performance and scholarly research. She been on the faculty of the Florida State University College of Music since 2017 and has also been invited as guest artist and faculty member at the Alion Baltic International Music Festival in Estonia and at the Lunigiana International Music Festival in Italy.
For more information please visit sahokotimpone.com
Hailed for his passionate and virtuosic piano playing by the East Hampton Star, internationally acclaimed pianist Stijn De Cock maintains an active musical career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teaching artist in the US and abroad. His playing has been described as “alternating between the stormy and sublime, while getting to the heart of the music” and was praised for its ability to create “a most compelling musical narrative (Amalfi Festival concert review).”
In recent years, De Cock’s concert seasons have included concerts on four continents, from the US to Europe, Asia, and Africa. In recent concert seasons, De Cock has appeared in Kenya, Macau, Taiwan, Canada, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, Greece, and Spain, in solo, chamber, and collaborative capacities. He has performed in prestigious music festivals around the world, a selection of which include the Amalfi Coast International Music and Arts Festival, PianoTexas, Pianofest in the Hamptons, the XIV NewSound Festival, the Interventions New Music Festival at the Great Gallery of the Toledo Museum of Art, the Prague International Piano Masterclasses, and the Gijón International Piano Festival. De Cock has also been a major prize winner in multiple competitions, including the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the Ann Arbor Society for Musical Arts Young Artist Competition, the Poland International Music Festival Piano Competition and the Prix des Jeunes and Lions Club music competitions in Belgium.
As the founding director or the Brancaleoni International Music Festival, De Cock has created a summer festival that offers a unique, intensive, and integrated artistic learning environment to the aspiring young pianists, singers, and string players from around the world in the beautiful Marche region of Italy. Also a sought after teaching artist, De Cock has presented masterclasses and lecture-recitals in Naples, Amalfi, and Maiori, at the Amalfi Coast International Music and Arts Festival in Italy, the Charles University in Prague, the Pardubice Conservatory in the Czech Republic, Tangaza College and the Conservatoire de Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya, Wah Yan College and Lasalle College in Hong-Kong, China, and Tunghai University in Taiwan. De Cock has taught and held faculty positions at the State University of New York Fredonia, the University of Michigan, Schoolcraft College, Albion College, and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. He currently serves on the piano faculty of Florida State University as Assistant Professor of Piano.
As a student, De Cock was admitted to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels at the unusually young age of fifteen in the studio of Evgeny Moguilevsky. He was trained in the tradition of Russian pianism, as Moguilevky himself is a former student of Moscow Conservatory’s legendary teacher, Heinrich Neuhaus, whose formidable students included Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, and Radu Lupu. De Cock graduated from the Royal Conservatory with a Premier Prix, and holds a Master’s Degree and Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, which he pursued under tutelage of Logan Skelton. De Cock has also received guidance from artists such as Claude Frank, Robert McDonald, Yehoved Kaplinsky, Julian Martin, Matti Raekallio, Boris Slutsky, Malcolm Bilson, Martin Katz, Margot Garrett, and Marilyn Horne.
De Cock is an active member of the American Liszt Society, the College Music Society, and MTNA. His students have won prizes at state and international piano competitions, gained admission to competitive undergraduate and graduate college programs and participated in international music festivals. For a current schedule of events, visit stijndecockpiano.com, and for information on the Brancaleoni International Music Festival, visit brancaleonifestival. com.
