proudly presents the 2020-2021 Student Artist Series

Kayla Ewers, soprano Emmly Langner, cello Janice ChenJu Chiang, piano

This Junior Recital is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Music Education and the Bachelor of Music in Performance degrees.

Saturday, November 14, 2020 1:30 p.m., Livestreamed from Kitt Recital Hall

Program

“Lascia ch’io pianga” from Rinaldo George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

“Nichts,” op. 10, no. 2 “Die Zeitlose,” op. 10, no. 7 (1864-1949) “Allerseelen,” op. 10, no. 8

Selections from Ariettes oubliées (1885-1888) Claude Debussy C’est l’extase langoureuse (1862-1918) Il pleure dans mon cœur

“Autumn Evening,” op. 14, no. 1 Roger Quilter “Love’s Philosophy,” op. 3, no. 1 (1877-1953)

Kayla Ewers, soprano Janice ChenJu Chiang, piano

~ Intermission ~

Suite no.4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 c.( 1720) Johann Sebastian Bach I. Prelude (1685-1750) II. Allemande III. Courante IV. Sarabande V. Bourrée I and II VI. Gigue

Emmly Langner, cello

Please turn off or silence all electronic devices. Unauthorized audio and video recordings are prohibited. Program Notes Kayla Ewers (2020)

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759) “Lascia ch’io pianga” from Rinaldo

Born in Halle, Germany, George Frideric Handel is perhaps one of the most famous German-born Baroque composers. From a young age, Handel had a passion and talent for music, but his father objected, doubting that it would be a realistic source of income. However, with the encouragement of his mother, Handel was able to practice, eventually playing organ for the duke’s court in Weissenfels. There, Handel met and studied with organist Frideric Wilhelm Zachow and mastered composing for organ, , and violin by age ten. Between the ages of eleven and seventeen, Handel composed church cantatas and chamber music. Failing to gain any attention for his works, Handel was convinced by his father to study law at the University or Halle. Realizing his undeniable passion for music, Handel dropped out of law school and pursued a career in music, producing operas, oratorios, and concerti grossi. Handel spent most of his adult life in England, and even became an official subject of the British crown. For the Royal Academy of Music in England, he produced several operas. He made his compositional debut with the opera Almira. Handel eventually went on to form the New Royal Academy of Music in 1727. When Italian operas started to gain less attention from audiences, Handel composed a series of oratorios for the remainder of his life and musical career, the most famous being Messiah. Rinaldo, Handel’s first Italian opera to be performed on a London stage, is a story of passion, war and reclamation. The opera is set during the time of the First Crusade, when a series of wars were initiated by the Latin church during the medieval period. In Act I of Rinaldo, Rinaldo’s fiance, Almirena, has been kidnapped by the evil sorceress Armida, and in Act II, Almirena laments her melancholic state while being held captive in the very well-known Handel aria, “Lascia ch’io pianga”

Lascia ch’io pianga Let Me Weep Lascia ch’io pianga Let me weep mia cruda sorte, For my cruel fate, e che sospiri and sigh for my la libertà. Freedom.

Il duolo infranga May sadness shatter queste ritorte, These chains, de’ miei martiri for my suffering sol per pietà. Is only out of pity.

RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949) Three Selections from Op. 10

Richard Strauss is known to be one of the leading German Romantic composers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, following Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. His father Franz Strauss was a principal horn player that established a strong foundation of music education in his early childhood. By age six, Strauss was composing his first pieces, and had composed nearly 140 works by his eighteenth birthday. Of the vast variety of compositional styles that Strauss produced with, his greatest successes were his symphonic poems and operas. Such works include the acclaimed (1889), (1896), (1909), and the operas (1905) with a libretto by Hedwig Lachmann, (1911), (1912), and (1932) For this recital, I will be performing three selections from Op. 10 (1885) by Richard Strauss, with poetry mainly drawn from the Letzte Blätter (Last Pages) of poet Hermann von Gilm zu Rosenegg. “Nichts” is the second song of Op. 10. In contrast to the first song of the set of eight, titled “,” “Nichts” is a fast number, marked vivace. Musical instruction throughout Op. 10 is sparse in markings for the performer to follow, with few giving instructing the singer to sing freely and the accompaniment to be played “with humor.” The piano accompaniment begins and ends the piece with a playful motif, while the vocal line remains legato throughout the piece, with the character declaring perhaps we don’t know anything about the things we think we know all too well. “Die Zeitlose” is the seventh song of Op. 10. It is a short and deceptively simple song that begins with the singer’s character singing about a freshly mowed pasture of flowers, with one flower still standing. The mood shifts quickly as the piece modulates from a major to a minor key and ends with the character seeing that flower as one might perceive an ending love: beautiful, but deathly. “Allerseelen” is the last song of Op. 10. Strauss completed the song on October 3, 1885. While this song was originally written for and performed by a tenor, Strauss performed and accompanied this piece with his wife, Pauline, in several concerts throughout Germany. He also performed it with soprano Elena Gerhardt and conducted the song for live radio with soprano, Annette Brun. The poetry can be interpreted in various ways. One interpretation being that the singer’s character is longing to revive an old love affair that has passed away on the day known as All Soul’s day: a day of the year in which people commemorate and remember love ones who have died.

Nichts Nothing Nennen soll ich, sagt ihr, I should call, you say, Meine Königin im Liederreich? my queen in the realm of songs? Toren, die ihr seid, Fools, you are, Ich kenne Sie am wenigsten von euch. I know her less than you do.

Fragt mich nach der Augen Farbe, Ask me about her eye color, Fragt mich nach der Stimme Ton, ask me about the tone of her voice, Fragt nach Gang und Tanz und Haltung, ask about her gait, dance and posture, Ach, und was weiß ich davon! Oh, what do I know about it?

Ist die Sonne nicht die Quelle Isn’t the sun the source Alles Lebens, alles Lichts? of all life, all light? Und was wissen von derselben it? And what do they know about Ich, und ihr, und alle?—Nichts. me and you and everyone?—Nothing. Die Zeitlose The Timeless (The Saffron) Auf frisch gemähtem Weideplatz In a freshly mowed pasture Steht einsam die Zeitlose, stands lonely and timeless, Den Leib von einer Lilie, the body of a lily, Die Farb’ von einer Rose. the color of a rose.

Doch es ist Gift, was aus dem Kelch, But it is poison, what from the chalice, Dem reinen, blinkt, so rötlich; the pure one, that glistens, so red; Die letzte Blum’, die letzte Lieb’ the last flower, the last love Sind beide schön, doch tödlich. are both beautiful, but deadly.

Allerseelen All Souls’ Day Stell auf den Tisch die duftenden Reseden, Put the fragrant residues on the table, Die letzten roten Astern trag herbei, bring in the last red asters, Und laß uns wieder von der Liebe reden, and let’s talk about love again Wie einst im Mai. like once in May.

Gib mir die Hand, daß ich Hold my hand and press it secretly sie heimlich drücke Und wenn man’s sieht, mir ist es einerlei, if someone sees, I don’t care, Gib mir nur einen deiner süßen Blicke, just give me one of your sweet glances Wie einst im Mai. like once in May.

Es blüht und duftet heut auf jedem Grabe, Every grave is fragrant with flowers today Ein Tag im Jahre ist ja den Toten frei, one day a year is free for the dead, Komm an mein Herz, daß ich dich come to my heart and let me have you wieder habe, again, Wie einst im Mai. like once in May.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Selections from Ariettes oubliées

Claude Debussy, Born Achille-Claude Debussy, is a French composer whose works were a formative force during the twentieth century. Debussy developed and used a distinctive harmonic and musical structure in his compositions that reflect the ideals of impressionist and symbolic writers and painters of time. Despite having a turbulent and poverty-stricken childhood, Debussy became proficient on the piano by age nine, and was encouraged to enter the Paris Conservatory in 1873 by Madame Mauté de Fleurville, who had ties to Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin. By the age of twenty- two, he won the Prix de Rome, a scholarship for arts students that financed two years of musical study in Rome, Italy. By the turn of the century, Debussy had become a leading figure of French Romantic music. Composed mostly in Rome in 1886 while fulfilling the terms of winning the Prix de Rome, Ariettes oubliées (Forgotten Songs) is a song cycle of six songs for voice and piano with poetry from Romances sans paroles (Romances Without Words) by Paul Verlaine. Nearly one-third of Debussy’s compositions are set to poetry by Verlaine. The song cycleAriettes oubliées was also dedicated to singer Mary Garden. Debussy was greatly inspired by the subtlety and nuances of Verlaine’s poetry, and used harmony, rhythm, and tone color as the basis of composing the song cycle. “C’est l’extase” (This is Ecstasy) is the first song beginning the cycle with a sultry mood and pastoral harmonic structure, exploring syncopated rhythms with a triple- time pulse, that embodies the breathlessness and excitement of a “fatiguing love.” “Il pleure dans mon cœur” (There Is Weeping in My Heart), is known as one of Debussy’s “rippling water’ pieces. The piano accompaniment illustrates the gentle rain over a city, as the singer sings sorrowfully without reason. It is speculated that the singer’s character is a grieving traveler whose hopes and dreams are being drowned, that is reflected in the pale landscape further described in the third song of the cycle, “L’ombre des arbres” (The Shadow of the Trees).

C’est l’extase langoureuse This Is Extasy C’est l’extase langoureuse, It’s languid extasy, C’est la fatigue amoureuse, it’s fatiguing love, C’est tous les frissons des bois it’s all the thrills of the woods Parmi l’étreinte des brises, among the embrace of the breeze, C’est vers les ramures grises it’s towards the gray antlers Le choeur des petites voix. a choir of small voices.

O le frêle et frais murmure! O the frail and hushed murmur! Cela gazouille et susurre, It chirps and whispers, Cela ressemble au cri doux it sounds like a soft cry Que l’herbe agitée expire . . . let the rough grass die Tu dirais, sous l’eau qui vire, you would say, under the turning water, Le roulis sourd des cailloux. deaf roll of the pebbles.

Cette âme qui se lamente This soul that laments En cette plainte dormante in this dormant complaint C’est la nôtre, n’est-ce pas? it’s ours, isn’t it? La mienne, dis, et la tienne, Mine, say, and yours, Dont s’exhale l’humble antienne from which exhales the humble chant Par ce tiède soir, tout bas? on this warm evening, whispered?

Il pleure dans mon cœur There Is Weeping in My Heart Il pleure dans mon coeur He is crying in my heart Comme il pleut sur la ville. as it rains over the town. Quelle est cette langueur What is this languor Qui pénètre mon coeur? that penetrates my heart?

O bruit doux de la pluie, Oh sweet sound of rain, Par terre et sur les toits! on the ground and rooftops! Pour un coeur qui s’ennuie, For a heart that is tired, O le bruit de la pluie! oh the sound of the rain!

Il pleure sans raison He cries for no reason Dans ce coeur qui s’écoeure. in this sickening heart. Quoi! nulle trahison? What! No betrayal? Ce deuil est sans raison. This is mourning without reason.

Please turn page quietly. C’est bien la pire peine, It’s the worst sentence, De ne savoir pourquoi, to not know why, Sans amour et sans haine, without love and without hatred Mon coeur a tant de peine. my heart hurts so much.

ROGER QUILTER (1877-1953) Two Songs

Roger Quilter was born in Brighton, England, on November 1, 1877. He was encouraged to follow his artistic inclinations by his mother from a young age. Quilter was the third of five sons and was considered a very sensitive and shy child. Around 1896, Quilter enrolled at the Hoch Conservatory at Frankfurt-am-Main and took lessons with Ivan Knorr, a Russian composition teacher. Although he is well-known for composing over one hundred songs, Quilter also wrote a few ballets and Julia, an opera. While Quilter’s works are not typically demanding for singers, nor intellectually demanding for listeners, his music is easily recognizable due to the rhythmic interest of his accompaniment style, natural flow of his vocal lines and his use of harmonic, voice-leading, and melodic techniques that enhance the mood and meaning of the poetry he set music to. With accompaniment set to poetry by Arthur Maquarie (1974-1955), “Autumn Evening” is the first song of Op. 14 (Four Songs). Quilter’s lush harmonic and text- painting techniques are introduced and beautifully illustrated with this solemnly beautiful song about a character mourning the loss of a loved one. The poetry of “Love’s Philosophy” was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792- 1822). The text of this poem illustrates love in a series of metaphorical expressions relating to nature. The poetry is written in the present tense, allowing listeners to visualize the scenery given through the poetry in real time. In this song, the character sings about how love grows, just as fountains grow into rivers, and rivers grow into oceans. A line of the poetry also tells of a “law divine” in nature, implied to be love.

Autumn Evening The yellow poplar leaves have strown Thy quiet mound, thou slumberest Where winter’s winds will be unknown; So deep thy rest, So deep thy rest.

Sleep on, my love, thy dreams are sweet, If thou hast dreams: the flowers I brought I lay aside for passing feet, Thou needest nought, Thou needest, needest nought.

The grapes are gather’d from the hills, The wood is piled, the song bird gone, The breath of early evening chills; My love, my love, sleep on; My love, my love, sleep on. Love’s Philosophy The fountains mingle with the River And the Rivers with the Ocean, The winds of Heaven mix forever With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In one another’s being mingle. Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high Heaven And the waves clasp one another; No sister-flower would be forgiven If it disdained its brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth And the moonbeams kiss the sea: What are all these kissings worth If thou kiss not me? Artist Profiles

KAYLA EWERS is a junior music education major who studies in the studio of tenor, Jose Ricardo Pereira. Kayla previously studied voice at Glendale Community College under voice teacher, Carol Jennings, and is pursuing a career as an elementary general music educator.

EMMLY LANGNER is a fifth-year cello performance major at NAU,and has been playing for twelve years. She is currently studying with Mary Ann Ramos while working to finish her degree. She has performed for several years with the NAU Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, as well as playing in diverse chamber ensembles and performing and creating content for an online user base. Emmly hopes to finish her performance degree alongside an English major by fall of 2021.

JANICE CHENJU CHIANG enjoys her multifaceted career as a teacher, soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber musician. She has performed extensively throughout the United States including Arkansas, California, Florida, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Arizona as well as her native country Taiwan and South Korea. In addition to frequently giving traditional performances on solo and ensemble music, Chiang is also interested in producing interdisciplinary concerts. Her collaboration included concertizing with acclaimed photographer Shane McDermott and installation artist Shawn Skabelund, of which the latter won the Viola Award in 2017. She has also concertized with many esteemed artists including violinist Fritz Gearhart, clarinetist Keith Lemmons, soprano Faye Robinson, and the concertmaster of the Phoenix Symphony, Steven Moeckel. Chiang has appeared in many festivals and conferences including The American Liszt Society Festival, Tucson Vocal Art Festival, Conference of North American Saxophone Alliance, International Alliance for Women in Music, and the 2012 CMS/NACWPI/ATMI/PKL National Conferences. Chiang currently serves as Senior Lecturer of Collaborative Piano at Northern Arizona University. She is also training to be a Feldenkrais practitioner, a self-experiencing somatic education developed by Moshe Feldenkrais. She holds performance degrees from the University of Arizona (DMA), Fu-Jen Catholic University (MM) and Soochow University (BA). Her major teachers include Paula Fan, Michael Dellinger, Shu-Wen Sun, Bobby Wang, Patricia Kavanagh, and FenFen Chen. Acknowledgements

Kayla would like to thank:

I would like to thank all the people that have supported and encouraged me throughout the journey that has been my educational career. Thank you to my family and my closest friends. Without them, I do not think I would have had the courage to pursue a career in music education. Thank you to my choir family and the music faculty at Glendale Community College for helping me realize that choral and classical music is meant to forever be a part of my life. I would like to thank Katie Mientka Farruggia for being the most dedicated, caring, and supportive accompanist I have ever had the pleasure of working and performing with. I would also like to thank Dr. Janice Chiang for taking over in Katie’s absence and for working to diligently with me, as well as playing for my recital amid the pandemic. Finally, I would like to thank the amazing Northern Arizona University voice and School of Music faculty, especially my private studio teacher Dr. Jose Ricardo Pereira, for always being so patient with me and for helping me to find my voice.

Emmly would like to thank:

My mother and grandparents, for their continued encouragement of my playing and their unconditional support.

Dr. Mary Ann Ramos, for not giving up on me or letting me give up on myself.

The NAU cello studio, for their advice and friendship throughout the years.

The Linked Universe Discord community, for being my anchor during this turbulent year and the best part of my week.

Kayla, Quill, Mel, and the rest of the “Faroncrew,” for supporting me in all things without question, and being there for me and each other no matter the reason.