Robert Blocker, Dean May 2, 2021
master of music degree recital
Maura Tuffy choral conducting
Camilla Tassi videographer and video designer Hubert Parry 1848–1918
Prelude: “My Heart is Like a Singing Bird” from English Lyrics (1874–1918) Andréa Walker, soprano Ethan Haman, piano
George Frideric Handel 1685–1759
Concerto Grosso in B minor, Op. 6, No. 12 I. Largo II. Allegro V. Allegro
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges 1745–1799
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 11 I. Allegro presto II. Andante III. Presto
Orlando di Lasso 1530/32–1594
Lagrime di San Pietro (1594) I. Il magnamino Pietro II. Ma gli archi III. Come falda di neve Paulo Hernandez-Farella of Ballet Hispánico, dancer and choreographer
Edvard Grieg 1843–1907
Holberg Suite, Op. 40 I. Praeludium. Allegro vivace
George Walker 1922–2018
Lyric for Strings (1946)
Caroline Shaw b. 1982
To The Hands (2016) I. Prelude: Wordless II. In Medio (In the Midst) III. Her Beacon-Hands Beckon IV. Ever Ever Ever V. Litany of the Displaced VI. I Will Hold You
This performance is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the master of music degree.
G.F. Handel, Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 12 in B minor Written in a five-week span between September and October of 1739, the Concerti Grossi (know as the The Twelve Grand Concertos), Opus 6 were a budding genre of concerto unlike Handel’s previous concerti; the solo organ concerto featured the composer as the soloist, but in the case of the concerto grosso, there was more than one soloist. This style was reminiscent in many of the well-known works by Italian baroque composer and violinist Arcangelo Corelli. Opus 6 features an amalgamation of Handel’s compositional styles, including but not limited to Baroque dances, trio sonatas, French overtures, and theme and variation. Handel consistently recycled his own and borrowed other material, and The Twelve Grand Concertos are no exception. Most of these compositions quote his operas and oratorios, but also quote composers such as Corelli and Domenico Scarlatti. No. 12 strategically summarizes the musical language of the previous eleven concertos. Most of it is newly composed with the exception of the final fugue in the fifth movement, which borrows from a fugue composed by Handel’s childhood teacher, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. The first movement opens with a French overture, enhanced by the rich colors of the harpsichord. The movement closes with a cadenza which prepares the listener for an imminent change. Handel then takes the listener swiftly through the animated Allegro movement, whose busy eighth and sixteenth note gestures do not come up for air until the final two measures. The same French-overture heard at the beginning returns in the form of a gigue.
Joseph Bologne, Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 11 Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a remarkable polymath: a composer, virtuoso violinist, conductor, champion fencer, and colonel of the Légion St.-Georges during the French Revolution. Though we know little of his musical upbringing, we do know that he enrolled in music and fencing lessons around the age of 10. His career skyrocketed, leading American President John Adams to describe him as “the most accomplished man in Europe in riding, shooting, fencing, dancing, and music.” Despite facing countless hardships as a Black man in Europe at the time, Bologne thrived, composing for and playing in orchestras in France. His output consists of mostly instrumental music, ranging from symphonies and violin sonatas to concerti. The lightly orchestrated Symphony No. 2 is full of dazzling character, and Bologne cleverly utilizes parallel major-minor relationships to craft an emotional trajectory, demonstrating the intertwined nature of both celebration and lament.
Orlando di Lasso, Lagrime di San Pietro Translations courtesy of the Los Angeles Master Chorale I.
Il magnanimo Pietro
Il magnanimo Pietro, che guirato havea tra mille lance, e mille spade al suo caro signor morir a lato, poi che s’accorse vinto da viltade nel gran bisogno haver di fé mancato, il dolor, la vergogna, e la pietade del propio fallo, e de l’altrui martiro di mille punte il petto gli feriro.
II.
Ma gli archi
Ma gli archi, che nel petto gli aventaro, le saette più acute, e più mortali, fur gli occhi del signor quando il miraro; gli occhi fur gli archi, e i sguardi fur gli occhi strali, che del cor non contenti sen passaro fin dentro a l’alma, e vi fer piaghe tali, che bisognò mentre che visse poi ungerle col licor de gli occhi suoi.
X.
Come falda di neve
Come falda di neve, che agghiacciata il verno in chiusa valle acosa giacque, a primavera poi dal sol scaldata tutta si sface, e si discioglie in acque; così la tema, ch’entro al cor gelata era di Pietro allor, che’l vero tacque, quando Christo ver lui gli occhi rivolse tutta si sfece, e in pianto si risolse.
When the generous Peter realized The magnanimous Peter, who swore in the face of 1,000 spears and 1,000 swords to die at the side of his dear Lord, defeated by his own cowardice realized in a moment of crisis, he lacked faith. Sadness, shame, and pity for his own failure and for the suffering of the martyr he abandoned, stabbed him with 1,00 darts, wounding his heart.
The bows, however But the bows that shot the sharpest and deadliest arrows into his heart were the eyes of the Lord looking at him. The eyes were the bows, and the gaze, arrows which passed through his heart to pierce his soul and inflicted such wounds that for the rest of his life he needed to anoint them with the liquor of his eyes.
Like a snowflake Like a snowflake which spends the frozen winter hidden in a deep valley, then in spring, warmed by the sun, melts, dissolves, and becomes water; it was fear, like ice in Peter’s frozen heart that made him silence the truth. When Christ turned his eyes on him, everything melted away and became tears
(Luigi Tansillo, trans. Peter Sellars)
Acclaimed stage director Peter Sellars describes Lagrime di San Pietro as having “one foot in this world and one foot in the next world –– it’s music written by someone who is in pain.” This cycle of 20 madrigals and one motet was written during the last year of Lasso’s life (1594) and depicts the grief of St. Peter after his denial of Jesus on the day of His arrest. Written 30 years after the death of Michelangelo, Sellars draws parallels between the work of Lasso and Michelangelo; both highlight an “embodied spirituality: the muscle of spiritual energy and striving against pain to achieve self-transformation.” Lasso’s ability to create a kaleidoscope of emotion is strengthened by Luigi Tansillo’s poetry, which uses the human eye, for example, to symbolize betrayal. The three movements performed in this program are representative of the types of imagery that can be found throughout the entire work. Lagrime is also completely composed of ensemble counterpoint. “Come falda di neve,” the tenth movement and midpoint of
the work, is a prime example, using counterpoint between the upper and lower voices. Lasso uses the polyphony to create an aural sensitivity to the text — using upper voices to describe snowflakes and lower voices to describe “the frozen winter hidden in deep valleys.” Even if its purest, hamonic form, Lagrime di San Pietro pierces the human heart with relentless honesty. Original choreography for this performance was inspired by the 2016 performance of Lagrime di San Pietro by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, directed by Peter Sellars.
Edvard Grieg, Holberg Suite, Op. 40 From Holberg’s Time – Suite in the Olden Style (commonly referred to as Grieg’s Holberg Suite) was originally composed for piano but was later reimagined for string orchestra. The piece abstains from Romantic conventions; its nod to neoclassicism attempts to recreate the music from the time of Dano-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig Holberg. The suite was composed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Holberg’s birth. It consists of an introduction and four dances: Sarabande, Gavotte, Air, and Rigaudon. Much like Joseph Bologne’s symphony, each movement has its own character; large, celebratory tutti sections are juxtaposed with solo melodies.
George Walker, Lyric for Strings Composer, pianist, and organist George Walker was the first African-American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Lilacs in 1996. An accomplished pianist, Walker attended Oberlin Conservatory at the age of 14 and went on to pursue degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music––in both composition and piano––and the Eastman School of Music, where he was the first African-American graduate of the doctoral program in 1956. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and eventually held multiple university teaching positions. Walker was quite outspoken about race and classical music; he did not understand why Black composers were grouped together and assumed to have had similar musical training (i.e. jazz). Walker wrote in a variety of techniques and styles, including twelve-tone technique and bitonal writing. Though largely instrumental, his output also included choral music. Originally titled Lament for Strings, Lyric for Strings, composed in 1946, was dedicated to the passing of his grandmother and comes from the second movement of the String Quartet, No. 1. Lyric for Strings is often compared with Barber’s Adagio for Strings, composed 10 years earlier (unsurprising, since Barber was Walker’s composition teacher at Curtis).
Caroline Shaw, To The Hands Translations courtesy of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music I. II.
Prelude in medio
quid sunt plagae istae quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum in medio quid sunt plagae istae quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum nostrum
in the middle what are these wounds what are these wounds in the middle of your hands in the middle what are these wounds what are these wounds in the middle of our hands (Zechariah, 13:6, adapted by Caroline Shaw)
III.
Her beacon hand beckons
Her beacon hand beckons: give give to me those yearning to breathe free tempest-tossed they cannot see what lies beyond the olive tree whose branch was lost amid the pleas for mercy, mercy give give to me your tired fighters fleeing flying from the from the from let them i will be your refuge i will be your refuge i will be i will be we will be we will (Caroline Shaw, responding to The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, mounted on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903)
IV.
ever ever ever
ever ever ever in the window sills or the beveled edges of the aging wooden frames that hold old photographs
hands folded folded gently in her lap ever ever in the crevices the never-ending efforts of the grandmother’s tendons tending to her bread and empty chairs left for Elijahs where are they now in caverna in caverna
in the hollows of the cliff in the hollows of the cliff (Caroline Shaw and Song of Songs)
V.
Litany of the Displaced The text in this movement is derived from global figures of internationally displaced persons, sourced from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre’s May 2015 report (https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-figures – accessed April 25, 2021).
VI.
i will hold you
i would hold you i would hold you ever ever will i hold you ever ever will i enfold you in medio in medio in medio in medio in medio manuum tuarum
in the middle
in the middle of your hands
“To The Hands begins inside the 17th century sound of Buxtehude. It expands and colors and breaks this language, as the piece’s core considerations, of the suffering of those around the world seek refuge, and of our role and responsibility in these global and local crises, gradually coming into focus.” - Caroline Shaw, 2016 In 2016, Shaw received a commission from the Philadelphia-based choral ensemble The Crossing. The ensemble challenged seven composers to compose new works based on Dieterich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri for the Seven Responses Project, which asked contemporary artists to engage with music from the past and across the globe. Given that she started composing during the heat of the Syrian refugee crisis, Shaw chose to center the personal experience of a refugee in her work.
To The Hands begins with a wordless meditation on the Ad manus melody from Membra Jesu Nostri, which is then interrupted by what Shaw describes as an “unsettling pattern” in the strings. Transitioning to the second movement, Shaw presents the central question, “quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum”: “what are these wounds in the midst of your hands?” Not only does she quote Buxtehude’s melodic material, but she also flips this original question on its head, resulting in the question, “what are these wounds in the midst of our hands?” We understand the wounds inflicted upon us, but do we understand the implications of the wounds we have inflicted on others? The first half of the work then closes with Emma Lazarus’s sonnet The New Colossus. Shaw describes this movement: “The poem's lines, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ and its reference to the statue’s ‘beacon-hand’ present a very different image of a hand –– one that is opening, beckoning, and strong. No wounds are to be found there –– only comfort for those caught in a dangerous and complex environment.” The fourth and fifth movements are connected by the thread of “home.” An older woman is found in an empty house with old photographs, perhaps setting the table for a meal by herself. For a refugee, “home” could be considered a place of safety or abandonment. Numerical figures indicate the number of internationally displaced persons from around the globe in 2015. They are chanted by the choir in the fifth movement and are accompanied by jarring harmonies in the strings. To The Hands closes with the repeating “ever ever will I hold you, ever ever will I enfold you.” Shaw indicates that this could hold personal, spiritual, or even a collective (nationwide) meaning.
Yale Voxtet James Taylor, director Soprano Deborah Stephens Andréa Walker
Tenor Alex Longnecker Patrick McGill
Alto Emily Helferty Rhianna Cockrell
Bass Benjamin Ferriby Chris Talbot
Orchestra Violin I Kate Arndt Beatrice Hsieh Michael Ferri Rebecca Benjamin Violin II Jeremy Hao Kyung ah Oh Tiffany Wee Youngji Kim Viola Alex McLaughlin Emma Wernig Rose Nelis Harris Bernstein Cello Atticus Mellor-Goldman Megan Yip Miriam Liske-Doorandish Samuel Walter Mirjam Kammler Bass Seojin Kim Matt Peralta
Harpsichord Michael Lukin Oboe Jillian Honn* Amelia Merriman Horn Olivia Martinez* Henry Bond
*principle for Bologne
Special Thanks to… Prof. Jeffrey Douma Prof. Marguerite Brooks The Yale Voxtet & Prof. James Taylor Camilla Tassi Tom and Jenny Tuffy Suraj Partha Meghan Stoll, Joe Lerangis, and James Davis Sherezade Panthaki Ryan Tani Kate Arndt Abraham Wallace Andréa Walker Ethan Haman Mateusz Zechowski Matthew LeFevre and Benjamin Schwartz Laura Adam Laurie Ongley Aric Isaacs Nat Gumbs and Emilie Casey Marquand Chapel Choir Carolyn Craig Yale Schola Cantorum Yale Camerata