11.10.2023 SNR Nilan and Burbo Program Notes

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Miranda Nilan, mezzo-soprano Miranda Nilan is a fourth-year music education major and oboe performance minor here at West Chester University. Miranda’s love for music started at a young age from singing nursery rhymes and folk songs with her grandmothers, this resulted in her participating in many musical ensembles in her primary years such as band, marching band, choir, musical theater, the American Music Abroad instrumental ensemble, PMEA district, regional, and all-state choir, district and regional band, district orchestra, and the NAFME Honors choir.

Throughout her time here at West Chester Miranda has participated in an array of ensembles and events such as Mastersingers, Concert Band, Trilovati Flute ensemble, Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, Concert Choir, Vocal Honors recitals, a Masterclass with Dr. Everett McCorvey, the Fall 2023 Lobby Concert, the Women on Record Recital, the fall 2023 opera production of Vittorio Giannini’s Beauty and the Beast, and the Korean Art Song Recital. Miranda has competed in the freshman, sophomore, and junior scholarship competition here at West Chester, winning both her freshman and sophomore year, she was also the winner of the NATS 2022 Regional competition for her division and was a semifinalist at the 2022 NATS National Competition held in Chicago. She has been a Wells School of Music ambassador since the fall of 2022, a choir scholar at First Presbyterian Church of West Chester since the fall of 2021, she is an alum of the Epsilon Epsilon chapter of the music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota, and is also a member of NAFME, NAFME collegiate, and PMEA. After graduation, Miranda plans to go to grad school for vocal performance to further her education as a performer and expand her knowledge of vocal pedagogy. Miranda hopes to have a performance career and then eventually use the knowledge she gains from her degrees and work experience to settle down and get a teaching job.

Nicholas Burbo, baritone Nicholas is a senior music education major with a concentration in voice. In his time at the Wells School of Music, he has performed with numerous choral and instrumental ensembles including the Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band, Concert Band, Recital Choir, Mastersingers, and Concert Choir where he has served as section leader and president of the ensemble. Nicholas has also served as a student ambassador for the duration of his time here at West Chester. In the Spring of 2023, he was the recipient of the prestigious Presser Scholar Award. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honor Society, in which he was inducted as the “outstanding junior member”. Nicholas has also recently been inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society. Other awards and accolades include the Harry Wilkinson Music Theory Excellence Award, Laury S. Brokenshire Scholarship, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Scholarship, and the Louis C. Williams Concert Choir Award for Leadership. Outside of West Chester, Nicholas serves as a music director at SALT Performing Arts in Chester Springs, PA where he has music directed over ten theatrical productions since starting there in the Spring of 2021. Nicholas has also had the privilege of performing in several professional pit orchestras in the area, including holding a keyboard chair in a production of Aspects of Love at the Media Theatre in February 2023. On Sunday mornings Nicholas can be found at Lima United Methodist Church where he serves as the Director of Music Ministries. He would like to extend a very special thank you to all of mentors throughout the years including his voice teachers: Cindy McCord, Andrea Broido, and Dr. Nicholas Provenzale, his high school music teachers: Megan Rozinski and Craig Snyder, and most of all his friends and family for all their love and support.

Pedro Brack Aguilar, Piano Brazilian pianist Pedro Brack has performed in Brazil, Austria, Spain, and the USA. He can be best described by his versatility, consistently performing a wide range of repertoire, not only as a pianist in various formations, but also as an organist. Currently, he’s pursuing a master’s degree in piano performance at West Chester University of Pennsylvania as a student of Dr. Igor Resnianski, renowned pianist, and Steinway Artist. He is also engaged in academic research, and among other works he has published an article in Brazil’s leading musical journal, Opus. His work with contemporary music includes many premieres, and one of these recordings is featured in Instituto Piano Brasileiro (Brazilian Piano Institute), a renowned institution for the dissemination of Brazilian music. Recently, Pedro Brack also premiered a piano concerto by living composer Ernst Mahle, adding to his work collaborating with Brazilian orchestras.

Previously, he studied at the University of São Paulo, where he completed his bachelor's degree in piano performance.

He studied piano with Dr. Eduardo Monteiro, Dr. Luiz Guilherme Pozzi, and Dr. Luciana Sayure, organ with Dr. José Luís de Aquino, and collaborative piano with Dr. Ricardo Ballestero. After graduating, he studied with Olga Kopylova at the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra Music Academy, where he perfected his collaborative and orchestral piano skills. His musical education also includes an artistic residence program with Maria João Pires, as well as international music festivals in Brazil and Europe, where he had the opportunity to learn from artists such as PierreLaurent Aimard, Rico Gulda, Simon Lepper, Clélia Iruzun, Ira Levin, and many others.

His most relevant awards include 1st place in the 26th Souza Lima Piano Competition (2017), 2nd place in the 27th Ituiutaba Piano Competition (2020), and Best Bach Performance in the Piano in Focus E-competition (2020), all national competitions in Brazil.

TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND PROGRAM NOTES

Tu sei il cor di questo core, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) A renowned composer, Handel’s work spans famous choral oratorios such as Messiah, to works for orchestra, and operas such as Giulio Cesare. Handel was born in Germany and studied organ from a young age. He consistently worked for numerous prominent churches across Europe.

Giulio Cesare is an opera seria produced in 1724 for the Royal Academy of Music. Tu sei il cor di questo core is sung by Achilla, Tolomeo’s general, near the end of act one. Achilla is attempting to win the affections of Cornelia, the second wife of the now deceased Pompeo, but is unsuccessful. Typical of the baroque period, this da capo aria includes a return to the A section with added ornamentation from the performer.

TU SEI IL COR DI QUESTO CORE FROM GIULIO CESARE Tu sei il cor di questo core, Sei il mio ben, non tadirar!

You are the heart of this heart, You are my beloved, do not be angry.

Per amor io chiedo amore, più da te non vo’ bramar.

My love asks for your love in return, I do not desire anything more from you.

Heimweh II (O wüßt ich doch den Weg zurück), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period who wrote symphonies, concerti, chamber music, piano works, choral compositions and more than 200 songs. He was the master of symphonic and sonata style in the second half of the 19th century. He can be viewed as the protagonist of the Classical traditional of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in a period when the standards of this tradition were being questioned or overturned by the Romantics. He remains today amongst the most widely performed of all the great composers.

In 1874 Brahms composed Heimweh II, or better known as “O wüßt ich doch den Weg zurück” as a part of a song cycle of three using poetry written by Klaus Groth. “Heimweh” is a word of Swiss origin that often translates to “yearning for home” or “homesickness”. All three Lieder are infused with feelings of nostalgia and yearning for a simpler, more natural existence back in the days of being a child. In Heimweh II, the speaker seems to be further removed from childhood as compared to Heimweh I which recalls specific childhood images of beauteous surroundings and youthful exuberance, the second offers few particulars about the past. The scenes and sounds of childhood have begun to fade. Although the speaker yearns to return to the past his thoughts are chained to the painful present. The speaker is overcome with regret and weariness, they yearn for release. Heimweh II also conjoins characteristics of children’s song and art song, but with an even greater emphasis on the latter; the musical expression of yearning now combines with sorrow and despair. In a slow 6/4 meter, swelling and receding motions in the piano and vocal line evoke images from both child and adult worlds: the rocking of an infant’s cradle, water lapping against the barren shore, even perhaps “great waves of nostalgia which continually boom and sigh on the shore of reminiscence”. The music projects an extraordinary lyricism, again recalling the soothing strains of a lullaby. Yet throughout the song, elements of tension, suggesting the complexity of adult consciousness, lie just beneath the surface. In the first and fourth strophes, the bass moves down by step through the interval of a fourth in the manner of a lament. Despair is pervasive, and yet the potent words “Vergebens” and “öder” are set to deceptive progressions, suggesting that the harmonic tension, and the emotional pain expressed through those words, will eventually subside.

HEIMWEH II

HOMESICKNESS

(O WÜßT ICH DOCH DEN WEG ZURÜCK)

(OH IF I ONLY KNEW THE WAY BACK)

O wüßt ich doch den Weg zurück, Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland!

O warum sucht‘ ich nach dem Glück Und ließ der Mutter Hand?

Oh if I only knew the way back, The dear path to the land of childhood!

Oh, why did I seek my fortune elsewhere And let-go of my mother’s hand?

O wie mich sehnet auszuruhn, Von keinem Streben aufgeweckt, Die müden Augen zuzutun, Von Liebe sanft bedeckt!

Oh, how I long fully-to-rest, And not to be awakened by any striving, The tired eyes to-close Covered gently by love!

Und nichts zu forschen, nichts zu späh’n, Und nur zu träumen leicht und lind; Der Zeiten Wandel nicht zu seh’n, Zum zweiten Mal ein Kind!

And nothing to seek, nothing to look-for, And only to dream, lightly and gently; not to see the changing times, to be a child once again!

O zeigt mir doch den Weg zurück, Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland!

Vergebens such‘ ich nach dem Glück, Ringsum ist öder Strand!

Oh show me but the path back, The dear path to the land of childhood!

In-vain seek I for the fortune/happiness, All around me is an empty shore!

Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Composed in 1884, using poetry from Heinrich Heine, this piece contains two stanzas which Brahms clearly distinguishes with his music. The first one draws a common correspondence in poetry: day and night, life and death.

Nevertheless, in the lied, life is an exhausting day, and the speakers voice feels drowsy. Brahms accompanies the verses with a rhythmic motif that evokes both a lullaby and a funeral march; vocal line hardly moves until the last verse arrives, the climax of this stanza.

The second stanza brings us another usual poetic image, a nightingale singing about love, and a recurring feature in Heine’s poetry, dreams, with a diffuse border between being awake and sleeping, and between a quiet dream and a nightmare: notice that the nightingale sings in a “lauter Liebe” (sonorous love) something that fits little with love and the singing of a nightingale. Brahms gives this stanza a more restless character, until in the last verse we meet again with the sorrow of the first stanza.

DER TOD, DAS IST DIE KÜHLE NACHT

DEATH IS THE COOL NIGHT

Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht, Das Leben ist der schwüle Tag. Es dunkelt schon, mich schläfert, Der Tag hat mich müd‘ gemacht.

Death is the cool night, Life is the sultry day.

It is already growing dark, I become sleepy, The day has made me tired.

Über mein Bett erhebt sich ein Baum, D’rin singt die junge Nachtigall; Sie singt von lauter LiebeIch hör es sogar im Traum.

Above my bed rises a tree, In-it sings the young nightingale; It sings of pure love I hear it even in my dream.

Liebestreu, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Composed in 1853, using the poetry of Robert Reinick, this song is a dialogue between a mother and daughter. The mother’s speaking voice is anxious and repeats words, creating a sense of urgency and revealing that not only is the young lover in great emotional anguish, but that the loving parent is distraught at witnessing the child’s pain. The opening creates an ominous atmosphere filled with dread. Drama launching immediately: dissonant harmony unsettles the minor chord, already presented in an unsettling 2nd inversion, and 2-against-3 rhythms creating a stormy-sea on which the mother’s entreaties lurch upward in two anticipations on “o versenk, o versenk” before launching to the top of the wave on “Leid” before sinking down to the bottom of the singing range, as if illustrating the sadness sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Daughter responds trying to appear in control of her emotions but the sorrow within her voice still lingers right under the surface. Mother responds urgently trying to convince her child to break the sorrow out of her heart. The child soothes the mother’s anguish in a calm and quiet response, saying that while a flower might die when broken off its stem, true love will not die as quickly. The mother repeats her same melody urging the child that fidelity is just a word, and that she should respond to the lover’s inconstancy by throwing hers to the wind.

The child’s grief finally pours through fully as she transforms the mother’s melody to the major, as she describes how her fidelity and love is as strong as a rock, stronger than a real rock which can be cleft by the wind. The song imparts a sense of urgency and darkness, but also of a tender and tormenting consolation.

LIEBESTREU

LOVE’S FIDELITY

“O versenk’, o versenk’ dein Leid, mein Kind, In die See, in die tiefe See!“ Ein Stein wohl bleibt auf des Meeres Grund, mein Leid kommt stets in die Höh‘.

“Oh sink, oh sink your sorrow, my child, In the sea, in the deep sea!”

A stone indeed stays on the ocean’s bottom, My sorrow will always rise to the surface.

“Und die Lieb, die du im Herzen trägst, brich sie ab, brich sie ab, mein Kind!“ Ob die Blum auch stribt, wenn man sie bricht, treue Lieb nicht so geschwind.

“And the love, that you in your heart bear, Pluck it out, pluck it out, my child!”

Even though a flower dies when one picks it, True love does not die so swiftly.

“Und die Treu, und die Treu, ‘s war nur ein Wort, in den Wind damit hinaus.“ O Mutter und splittert der Fels auch im Wind, Meine Treue, die hält ihn aus.

“And the fidelity, and the fidelity, it was only a word; Into the wind with it away” Oh, mother, although a rock may shatter in a storm (the wind).

My fidelity (true love) will endure.

Se vuol ballare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Composed in 1786 towards the end of Mozart’s life, Le nozze di Figaro is one of his most well-known opera buffas. The opera premiered at the prestigious Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The story of the opera follows the servants of Count Almaviva as two of his servants attempt to marry, however, in order to do so they must first circumvent the plans of their master. This is where Se vuol ballare comes into the plot. After learning about his master’s intention to carry out his “droit du seigneur”, his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night, Figaro becomes determined to foil the plan and save his bride-to-be, Susanna, from this horrible plot. Coming in the beginning of act one, this aria serves as a window into the initial rage felt by Figaro and the beginnings of the chaos about to ensue.

SE VUOL BALLARE FROM LE NOZZE DI FIGARO Recitativo Bravo, signor Padrone!

Ora incomincio a capir il mistero…

E a veder schietto tutto il vostro progetto:

Bravo, mister master!

Now I begin to understand the mystery…

And to see plainly all your plan:

A Londra, è vero?

Voi ministro, io corriero, e la Susanna… secreta ambasciatrice!

To London, is it true?

You as minister, I as courier, And Susanna…secret ambassadress!

Non sarà, non sarà. Figaro il dice!

It will not be, it will not be. Figaro says it!

Aria Se vuol ballare, signor Contino, Il chitarrino le suonerò

If you want to dance, mister little Count, The little guitar I will play.

Se vuol venire nella mia scuola, la capriola le insegnerò

If you want to come to my school, The cabriole I will teach.

Saprò… ma piano, meglio ogni arcano Dissimulando scoprir potrò.

I will know… but easy, better every secret I will know, but pretend not to know to better best your plans.

L’arte schermendo, l’arte adoprando, di qua pungendo, di là scherzando, tutte le macchine rovescierò

The art of circumventing, the art of adapting, And here stinging, and there playing, All your plans I’ll overturn.

Se vuol ballare, signor Contino, Il chitarrino le suonerò

If you want to dance, mister little Count, The little guitar I will play.

Bewilderment, Florence B. Price (1887-1953) Florence Price was an African American composer famously known as being the first African American woman in the U.S. to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra. Price has received much belated and deserved attention in recent years after being largely forgotten for decades, an oversight undoubtedly due in large fact that she does not fit the racial and gender norms of the traditional mainstream of classical composers.

“Bewilderment” is a setting of text by Langston Hughes, a poet who is known for his insightful portrayals of black life in America from the 20s-60s. His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Langston Hughes used his poetry, novels, plays, and essays to champion his people and voice his concerns about race and social justice. This piece captures a feeling of deep disillusionment that grows progressively in intensity.

BEWILDERMENT I ask you this: Which way to go?

I ask you this: Which sin to bear?

I ask you this: Which crown to put upon my hair?

I do not know, Lord God, I do not know.

Song to the Dark Virgin, Florence B. Price (1887-1953) “Song to the Dark Virgin” is another song which uses poetry by Langston Hughes. This is a love poem, it opens with the lines "Would that I were a jewel, a shattered jewel," immediately establish a yearning to be broken and scattered. This desire to adorn and prostrate oneself before their beloved is further emphasized with the reference to "shining brilliants" falling at her feet. The imagery of a jewel symbolizes the speaker's awe and reverence for the woman's beauty, as well as a willingness to be fragmented and consumed by her presence. Price then introduces the idea of transforming into a garment, a shimmering and silken one to be precise. This image highlights the speaker's desire to envelop the woman, to wrap their presence around her body intimately. There is an intense yearning to not only possess her physically but also to offer protection and comfort - to "absorb," "hold," and "hide" her within their embrace. The use of rich and tactile language emphasizes the depth of the speaker's affection and devotion.

The final stanza takes a more intense turn, introducing the idea of becoming a flame. This image carries a sense of both passion and destruction. The speaker expresses a desire to consume the woman, to annihilate her body with a single sharp, leaping flame. While this might initially seem destructive, it can also be seen as a metaphor for a transformative act, where the speaker desires to merge their being with the woman, recognizing a powerful connection that transcends physicality and allows for a deeper understanding of each other's experiences.

Throughout the piece, Price's choice to refer to the woman as the "dark one" is significant. With this recurring epithet, Price acknowledges and celebrates the woman's dark skin, challenging societal standards of beauty and elevating it as a source of admiration and desire. By doing so, the composer empowers black identity and challenges the prevailing narratives of Eurocentric beauty ideals.

SONG TO THE DARK VIRGIN

That all my folds Might wrap about thy body, Absorb thy body, Hold and hide thy body, Thou dark one.

Would That I were a jewel, A shattered jewel, That all my shining brilliants might fall at thy feet, Thou dark one.

Would That I were a flame, But one sharp, leaping flame To annihilate thy body, Thou dark one.

Would That I were a garment, A shimmering, silken garment,

Die Lotosblume, Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Die Lotosblume was composed as a part of Schumann’s 1840 song cycle, Myrthen. This selection masterfully encapsulates a conversation between nature and the human spirit. Drawing on Heinrich Heine's poetry, the song delicately portrays the lotus flower, a symbol of purity and enlightenment. This composition gracefully unfolds, echoing the lotus's journey from the watery depths to embrace the sun's warmth and the moon's gentle touch. Schumann's music conveys a poignant dialogue between the earthly and the spiritual between the singer’s melodic line and the piano accompaniment’s consistent unfoldment. This is accentuated in the delicate opening notes, gradually unfurling like a petal, representing the hesitancy of the lotus. As the piece progresses, it evokes inner turmoil and longing as the lotus yearns for the sanctuary of night.

DIE LOTOSBLUME Die Lotosblume ängstigt Sich vor der Sonne Pracht, Und mit gesenktem Haupte Erwartet sie träumend die Nacht.

The lotus flower is afraid Of the sun’s radiance, And with bowed head Dreaming, it awaits the night.

Der Mond, der ist ihr Buhle,

The moon, who is her lover,

Er weckt sie mit seinem Licht, Und ihm entschleiert sie freundlich Ihr frommes Blumengesicht.

Awakens her with its light, And for him she unveils obligingly Her innocent flowery face.

Sie blüht und glüht und leuchtet, Und starret stumm in die Höh'; Sie duftet und weinet und zittert Vor Liebe und Liebesweh.

She blooms and glows and shines And gazes silently into the sky; It sends forth fragrance and weeps and trembles, With love and love’s pain.

Psyché, Émile Paladilhe (1844-1926) Paladilhe is a lesser-known French composer. Many of his works are not represented in the repertory of today, however, Psyché stands as one of his most performed works of the day. The piece comes from the romantic Greek myth of Cupid and Psyché from Metamorphoses. Venus vowed vengeance on Psyché, for she had turned the people’s adoration towards her instead of Venus. This vengeance comes in the form of an attempt to send Cupid to make Psyché fall in love with the ugliest creature in all the world, however, upon first glance at Psyché he fell in love with her himself. This allegorical story takes its text from Pierre Corneille, a French dramatist.

PSYCHÉ Je suis jaloux, Psyché, de toute la nature!

Les rayons du soleil vous baisent trop souvent,

I am jealous, Psyche, of all of nature!

The rays of the sun you kiss too often,

Vos cheveux souffrent trop les caresses du vent.

Quand il les flatte, j’en murmure!

Your hair which allows too many caresses of the wind.

When your hair fondles, I mutter in protest!

L’air même que vous respirez Avec trop de plaisir passe sur votre bouche.

Votre habit de trop près vous touche!

Even the air that you breathe Passes your lips with too much pleasure.

Your clothes too closely to your touch!

Et sitôt que vous soupirez, Je ne sais quoi qui m’effarouche Craint parmi vos soupirs de soupirs égarés!

And as soon as you sigh, Something unknown frightens me Fears that among your sighs, the sighs are not for me!

Seguidilla Murciana, Manuel De Falla (1876-1946) Manuel de Falla was born in Cádiz, Spain, in 1876. A skilled pianist, Falla studied in Madrid and moved to Paris from 1907 to 1914 where he met several composers who greatly influenced his style, such as Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Paul Dukas. The Seguidilla is an old dance form in quick triple time. The name is a diminutive of seguida (from seguir “to follow”). It originated either in the region of Don Quixote (La Mancha) or in Andalusia and subsequently over Spain. A very popular dance, you can find it in flamenco as well as opera, like in Bizet’s Carmen or Offenbach’s La Périchole. This song is from Siete canciones populares españolas (“Seven Popular Spanish Songs”) – a cycle of traditional Spanish Songs. The short lyrics begin with a tell off and move on to compare the person who somehow hurt the speaker to a coin that gets passed from hand to hand till it is consumed and has lost all its value. The structure of the song is fairly simple. What really dominates the entire piece is the piano: an almost constant pedal of repeated E fills the song from the beginning to the end. De Falla makes it more interesting by adding a chromaticism to the pedal, enriching the harmony, and keeping the tension. The rhythm in triplets of the piano reminds the listener of the guitar technique of the punteado. It is also very similar to the horses’ hooves as well as to the tapping of the seguidilla dance.

SEGUIDILLA MURCIANA Cualquiera que el tejado Tenga de vidrio,

Anyone whose roof Is made of glass

No debe tirar piedras Al del vecino.

Arrieros semos; Puede que en el camino Nos encontremos.

Should not throw stones At the neighbor.

Travelers we may be: In our travels We may meet!

Por tu mucha inconstancia Yo te comparo Con peseta que corre De mano en mano; Que al fin se borra, Y creyéndola falsa Nadie la toma.

Because you are so fickle I compare you To a coin that passes From hand to hand; That its image is erased And believing it false No one takes it!

Mi sueño, Edward Kilenyi (1884-1964) Edward Kilenyi, Sr. was a Hungarian born violinist, composer, arranger, writer on music, and teacher. His early education was primarily in Hungary, but he briefly studied with Mascagni in Rome and later attended the Cologne Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1908. Though uncredited at times, Kilenyi worked as a composer, arranger, and musical director for the film industry from at least 1920 to 1948. He provided music for Marlene Dietrich’s Die Frau, nach der Man sich Sehnt.

“Mi sueño” is originally a Mexican folk song that was later arranged by Edward Kilenyi, the title translates to “My dream”. Unfortunately, the singer has been rejected by their lover, and the melody expresses that pian. The singer begs their lover to not look on them in scorn, ending powerfully on the lyrics “and if I should die, farewell, farewell!”

The song is in minor and sits mainly in the singer’s lower range to express a powerful love.

MI SUEÑO

MY DREAM

Ay! Sin tu amor moriré, sí mujer!

Porque tú eres ilusión.

Tú le das al corazón, La ventura que soñe.

Ay! Without your love I will die, yes, woman!

Because you are a delusion.

I give you my heart, For you are the pleasure I dreamed about.

No me mires así, Porque voy a morir, Pues no puedo vivir, Con desprecio de ti.

Don’t look at me like that, Because I am going to die, Since I am unable to live, With contempt from you.

Ay! Vuelve tú a mirar, Que es mi adoración, Tener tú con pasión, Angel de amor!

Ay! You come back and look again, That which is my adoration, To have you with passion, Angel of love!

Que aqui vengo a pedir, E implorar el perdón, Por si fuese a morir, Adios! Adios!

That here I come to request, And to ask for forgiveness, For if I were to die Good-bye! Good-bye.

Lágrimas mías, Pedro Miguel Marqués (1843-1918) Pedro Miguel Juan Buenaventura Bernadino Marqués was born in Palma de Mallorca and was the son of the town’s chocolate maker! The Spanish composer and violinist was one of the first romantic symphonic composers in Spain.

He is also known for his Zarzuela El anillo de hierro. Zarzuela is a traditional Spanish lyric genre, similar to operetta.

The lyrical genre was founded in Madrid and became the foundation for works that reflect the social reality of this city during the 18th and 19th century.

El anillo de hierro takes place on the coast of Norway at the end of the 18th century. Lágrimas mías is the aria of Margarita that takes place in Act III. Margarita must marry Rutilio because he has threatened to blackmail her father, the Count, and have him executed under false pretenses if he does not agree to giving his daughter away to the marriage. To save her father Margarita agrees to marry Rutilio even though she is in love with the fisherman Rodolfo.

Before the wedding begins the count is consoling his daughter and asking her how she feels. The count sees the iron and gold ring that Rodolfo gave her and asks how she got that ring. Margarita tells her father that Rodolfo gave it to her. The count explains to his daughter that at her baptism he gave his friend, Don Ramiro a similar ring, with the promise of marrying their respective children. But, this could not possible because him and his son reportedly died when they returned from India. She continues to describe the ring and the Count recognizes that it is the same one.

Margarita finds out that Rodolfo is the long lost son, he did not die with his father, and he is who she was always meant to be married to. But now she is about to marry Rutilio instead!

LÁGRIMAS MÍAS

MY TEARS

– EL ANILLO DE HIERRO

- THE IRON RING

Lágrimas mías en donde estáis Que de mis ojos ya no brotáis.

El fuego ardiente de una pasión Seco ha dejado, ha dejado mi corazón.

My tears where you are No longer flow from my eyes.

The burning fire of passion has left my heart dry.

Ay de mí! Ay de mí!

Que triste y desolada Para llorar, para llorar nací.

Woe-is-me! Woe-is-me!!

How sad and desolate I was born to cry.

Como cayendo las hojas van A los impulsos del huracán, Así han caído con mi dolor Las ilusiones de tanto, de tanto amor.

Like falling the leaves they go To the thrust of the hurricane, Like that have fallen with my sadness The illusions of so much of so much love.

Ay de mi! Ay de mi!

Que triste y desolada No sé porqué, no se porqué nací.

Woe-is-me! Woe-is-me!

How sad and desolate I do not know why, I do not know why I was born.

Five Mystical Songs, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) With a grand premiere at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester in September 1911, Five Mystical Songs is a collection of music set to poems by the seventeenth-century Anglican priest and poet George Herbert. The songs are sacred in nature, with a great focus on the importance of the holy trinity. In the full set, the first and last songs are triumphant declarations of praise with three reflective poems set in between. The song cycle is traditionally performed with full orchestra and choir. Mr. Burbo will perform only the first, second, and fourth movements from the work this evening.

The first movement is entitled Easter. In celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this movement is led by the baritone soloist with choral echoes and affirmations traditionally following. This movement places emphasis on the importance that music, of all kinds, is divinely inspired and derived. This can be seen in the text, “The cross taught all wood to resound his name” and “or since all music is but three parts vied and multiplied”. This movement presents several performance challenges including a duple over triple feel between the soloist and pianist. Whilst the lines work together, the structural importance of a consistent feel is integral to the successful performance of this movement.

The second movement, I Got Me Flowers, is a bit more philosophical in nature and a bit challenging to dissect. The piece is structured in a three-stanza setting with the first two stanzas in e-flat minor, while the third, a bit more inquisitive in nature, is set in E-major before modulating back to e-minor and finishing on the relative major, quite a dramatic sequence of harmonic shifting. The reasoning for this dramatic harmonic sequence comes from the unrest and the simple unknowing nature of the second movement. The poem depicts actions difficult to understand before finishing with a more hopeful outlook as we return to the idea of the three in one.

The fourth movement, The Call, is perhaps the most performed movement of the cycle due to its simple, yet incredibly expressive nature. The movement feels quite literally like a call to or for presence with each of the three stanzas beginning with the simple command: “come”. The first sentence in the first stanza calls out to three nouns used to describe Christ in the gospel according to John, while the final stanza details the results of a strong relationship with Christ, “Joy, Love, and Heart”. The following lines in each stanza declare the effect of each noun and descriptor. This piece of music has a simple melodic line with clear stresses and accents. It is because of these effects that the piece moves as freely as it does.

FIVE MYSTICAL SONGS I. Easter Rise, heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise Without delays, Who takes thee by the hand, That thou likewise With him may’st rise; That, as his death calcined thee to dust, His life may make thee gold, and much more, Just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part With all they art.

The cross taught all wood to resound his name Who bore the same.

His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key Is best to celebrate this most high day.

Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song Pleasant and long: Or since all music is but three parts vied, And multiplied; O let they blessed Spirit bear a part, And make up our defects with his sweet art.

II. I Got Me Flowers I got me flowers to strew thy way; I got me boughs off many a tree: But thou wast up by break of day, And brough’st thy sweets along with thee.

The Sun arising in the East, Though he give light, and the East perfume; If they should offer to contest With thy arising, they presume.

Can there be any day but this, Though many suns to shine endeavor?

We count three hundred, but we miss?

There is but one, and that one ever.

IV. The Call Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: Such a Way, as gives us breath: Such a Truth, as ends all strife: Such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast Strength: Such a Light, as shows a feast: Such a Feast as mends in length: Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, My Heart; Such a Joy, as none can move: Such a Love, as none can part: Such a Heart, a joys in love.

Cruda sorte – L’Italiana in Algeri, Giaochino Rossini (1792-1868) Born on the east coast of Italy in the small town of Pesaro, Giaochino Rossini was a composer noted for his operas, particularly his comic operas, of which The Barber of Seville (1816), Cinderella (1817), and Semiramide (1823) are among the best known.

L’Italiana in Algeri premiered in 1813, at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice. “Cruda Sorte” is Isabella’s aria.

Isabella arrives on the shores of Algiers through a shipwreck while trying to find her love Lindoro who has been captured by the king Mustafa. She arrives lamenting the cruelty of a fate that has interrupted her quest for her lost fiancé. Mustafa’s pirates see Isabella and believe she will be a good lover for Mustafa. Though in danger, Isabella is confident of her skill in taming men.

CRUDA SORTE

CRUEL FATE!

L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI

THE ITALIAN GIRLS IN ALGIERS

Cruda sorte! Amor tiranno!

Questo è il premio di mia fé: Non v’è orror, terror, né affanno Pari a quel ch’io provo in me.

Cruel fate! Love tyrannical!

This is the reward for my fidelity?

There is no greater horror or anxiety Compared with that which I feel in me.

Per te solo, o mio Lindoro, io mi trovo in tal periglio.

Da chi spero, oh Dio, consiglio?

Chi conforto mi darà?

For you alone, oh my Lindoro, I find myself in such peril.

Oh God, from whom can I hope for advice?

Who will comfort me?

Qua ci vuol disinvoltura non più smanie, né paura; Di oraggio è tempo adesso, or chi sono si vedrà.

Già so per practica qual sia l’effetto D’un sguardo languido d’un sospiretto… so a domar gli uomini come si fa, sì!

Here we need cool headedness, no more rages, nor fear: It is now time to brave; now they will see who I am.

Already I know from experience what is the effect Of a languishing look, a little sigh…

I know to tame men how it is done, yes!

Sein dolci o ruvidi, sein flemma o foco, son tutti simili a‘ presso a poco…

Tutti la chiedono, tutti la bramano Da vaga femmina felicità.

Be they gentle or coarse, be they calm or ardent, They are all alike (or very nearly) All that they ask for, all that they desire Is happiness with a pretty woman.

Two Selections from Parade

It’s Hard to Speak My Heart, Jason Robert Brown (b.1970) From the heartbreaking 1998 Tony Award winning musical Parade, “It’s Hard to Speak My Heart” comes at the conclusion of the first act as defendant Leo Frank takes to the stand to deliver his personal statement to the court. Parade details the 1913 trial and 1915 lynching of Jewish factory superintendent, Leo Frank, after he was wrongfully convicted of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan. The show handles delicate topics along the lines of antisemitism, racism, corruption, sexual violence, mob violence, and the confederacy.

After a trial filled with falsehoods orchestrated by prosecutor Hugh Dorsey, Leo Frank finally gets the opportunity to express his plea to the jury, the crowd amassed in the courthouse, and most of all his wife, Lucille. This song revolves around a tender structure with the use of traditional musical theatre techniques such as falsetto. The opening is quiet and desolate before Leo’s cries for help become more frantic, as he is resigned to what he always knew his fate would be. At the conclusion of the act, Leo is sentenced to death by hanging.

IT’S HARD TO SPEAK MY HEART It’s hard to speak my heart, I’m not a man who bares his soul.

I let the moment pass me by; I stay where I am in control.

I hide behind my work, Safe and sure of what to say.

I know I must seem hard.

I know I must seem cold…

I never touched that girl.

You think I’d hurt a child yet?

I’d hardly seen her face before.

I swear, I swore, we’d barely met.

These people try to scare you With things I’ve never said.

I know it makes no sense.

I swear I don’t know why…

You see me as I am, you can’t believe I’d lie.

You can’t believe I’d do these deeds, A little man who’s scared and blind, Too lost to find the word’s he need.

I never touched that child.

God! I never raised my hand!

I stand before you now. Incredibly afraid.

I pray you understand.

All the Wasted Time, Jason Robert Brown (b. 1970) Coming at what is almost the conclusion of the show, this duet between Leo and his faithful wife, Lucille, comes directly after Governor John Slaton overturns Leo’s death sentence. This development appears to give the Franks hope that Leo will finally get to come home and live the rest of his days in peace, an idea only made possible due to the incredible persistence of Lucille in the second act of the musical. Lucille does everything in her power to assuage those in high office in the state to reopen his case, discovering the political corruption instigated by Prosecutor Dorsey. Following this duet, an angry mob descends upon Leo’s cell, kidnapping him, and lynching him. The show ends with Leo’s wedding ring being returned to his mournful wife. Parade is based on true events which took place in Atlanta, Georgia in the early 20 century. To learn more about the Frank case please visit www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/leo-frank-case/ th

ALL THE WASTED TIME I will never understand what I did to deserve you, Or how to be the man that I’m supposed to be.

I will never understand, if I live a thousand lifetimes, Why you did the things you did for me.

Just look at you, how could I not be in love with you?

What kind of fool could have taken you for granted for so long?

All the wasted time, all the million hours, Pushing you away, building up my wall.

All the days gone by, to glare, to pout, to push you out, And I never knew anything at all.

I will never understand how all the world misjudged you, When I have always known how lucky I must be.

I will never understand how I kept from goin’ crazy Just waitin’ there till you came home to me.

Now look at me, now that your finally here with me.

Now that I know I was right to wait, and ev’ryone else was so wrong for so long!

All the wasted time, all the million hours,

Years on top of years, till too proud to crawl.

All the days gone by to feel that I don’t satisfy, And I never knew anything at all.

All the wasted time, all the million hours, Leaves too high to touch, roots too strong to fall!

All the days gone by to never show I loved you so, And I never knew anything at all!