Raquel Vásquez, Mezzo Soprano
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THE COLORADO COLLEGE MUSIC DEPARTMENT presents A Senior Recital Raquel Vásquez, mezzo soprano Daniel Brink, piano February 8, 2014 7:30 PM Packard Hall The Voice Brendan Graham (b. 1945) Faites-lui mes aveux Charles Gounod (from Faust) (1818-1893) Gretchen Am Spinnrade Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Chi Vuol la Zingarella Giovani Paisiello (from I Zingari in Fiera) (1740-1816) Chanson Espanole Maurice Ravel (from Chants Populaires) (1875-1937) Chanson Eccosaise Maurice Ravel (from Chants Populaires) Ag An Phobal Traditional Go ‘Way from My Window Luigi Zaninelli (b. 1932) Children Will Listen Stephen Sondheim (from Into the Woods) (b. 1930) If I Had a Fine White Horse Lucy Simon (music) (from Secret Garden) (b. 1943) Martha Norman (lyrics) (b. 1947) Lullaby Gian Carlo Menotti (from The Consul) (1911-2007) Fewer Words Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956) What You Don’t Know About Women Cy Coleman (from City of Angels) (1929-2004) Tabetha Katz, mezzo soprano Ladies Who Lunch Stephen Sondheim (from Company) I am Changing Henry Krieger (music) (from Dreamgirls) (b. 1945) Tom Eyen (lyrics) (1950-1991) Please turn off all electronic devices during the performance. Emotion, Meaning and the Voice The voice, with its seemingly limitless capacity for expression, plays a powerful role in conveying emotion and meaning in music. However, few of the scholars who study emotion and meaning in music focus on the role of the voice. My recital explores the integral role of vocal music in expressing the emotions involved in a sense of place, longing, and positive change. The Voice by Brendan Graham (2007). Graham is a well-known composer of Irish popular music. He wrote this song as part of an Irish music competition. The lyrics suggest that the singer is responding to the personified homeland of Ireland and expressing the feelings of an “emotional” home. This song also suggests the role of the voice in expression, the overarching theme of this recital. The next two songs are based on the play Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in which the main character sells his soul to the Devil and falls victim to an ill-fated love. Faites-lui mes aveux from the opera Faust (1859) by Charles Gounod. Gounod was a French composer of the Romantic era. This aria opens the third act of the opera Faust, and is sung by Siébel, a teenage boy in love with Maguerite. The aria expresses his passion and longing. Faites-lui mes aveux, portez me voeux! Make her my confession; carry my wishes! Fleurs écloses près d’elle, Blooming flowers near her, Dites-lui qu’elle est belle, Tell her that she is beautiful, Que mon coeur, nuit et jour, That my heart, night and day, Languit d’amour! Languishes with love! Faites- lui mes aveux, portez me voeux! Make her my confession; carry my wishes! Révélez à son âme Reveal to her soul Le secret de ma flamme, The secret of my flame, Qu’il s’exhale avec vous So it exhales with you Parfums plus doux! Perfumes more sweet! Fanée! hélas! Wilted! Alas! ce sorcier que Dieu damne The sorcerer whom God damns M’ a porté malheur! Has brought me bad luck! Je ne puis, sans qu’elle fane, I can’t, without it’s withering Toucher une fleur. Touch a flower. Si je trempais mes doigts If I dip my fingers Dans l’eau bénite! Into holy water! C’est là que chaque soir It’s there that each evening Vient prier Marguerite! Marguerite comes to pray! Voyons maintenent! Voyons vite! Let’s see now! Let’s see quickly! Elles se fanent? Non! Do they wilt? No! Satan, je ris de toi! Satan, I laugh at you! C’est en vous que j’ai foi, It is in you that I have faith, Parlez pour moi! Speak for me! Qu’elle puisse connaître May she know L’émoi qu’elle a fait naître, The emotion which she has caused to be born, Et dont mon coeur troublé And of which my troubled heart N’a point parlé! Has scarcely spoken! C’est en vous que j’ai foi, It is in you that I have faith, Parlez pour moi! Speak for me! Si l’amour l’éffarouche If love alarms her Que la fleur sur sa bouche May the flower on her mouth Sache au moins déposer Try at least to deposit Un doux baiser! A sweet kiss! Un baiser, un doux baiser! A kiss, a sweet kiss! Gretchen Am Spinnrade by Franz Schubert (1814). Schubert was a versatile Austrian composer who is known for his solo piano pieces, symphonies, operas, lieder, and liturgical music. This particular work refers to Faust. Gretchen is the German counterpart of Marguerite, who sings as she sits at her spinning wheel longing for her lover, Faust. Meine Ruh ist hin, mein Herz ist schwer; My peace is gone, my heart is heavy, Ich finde sie nimmer und nimmermehr. I can never find peace, never again. Wo ich ihn nicht hab, ist mir das Grab, In his absence, I feel as if dead, Die ganze Welt ist mir vergällt. And the whole world is turned to gall. Mein armer Kopf ist mir verrückt, My poor head is distracted, Mein armer Sinn ist mir zerstückt. My poor mind is shattered, Meine Ruh is thin, mein Herz ist schwer, My peace is gone, my heart is heavy Ich finde sie nimmer und nimmermehr. I can never find peace, never again. Nach ihm nur schau ich zum Fenster hinaus, For him alone I look out of the window, Nach ihm nur geh ich aus dem Haus. For him alone I go out of the house. Sein hoher Gang, sein’ edle Gestalt, His lofty carriage, his noble form, Seines Mundes Läceln, seiner Augen Gewalt. The smile of his lips, the power in his glance. Und seiner Rede Zauberfluss And the magic flow of his speech, Sein Händedruck, und ach, sein Kuss! The clasp of his hand, and oh! His kiss! Meine Ruh is thin, mein Herz ist schwer; My peace is gone, my heart is heavy, Ich finde sie nimmer und nimmermehr. I can never find peace, never again. Mein Busen drängt sich nach ihm hin. My bosom yearns towards him, Ach, dürft ich fassen und halten ihn! Oh, might I grasp and hold him! Und küssen ihn, so wie ich wollt. And kiss him all I could, An seinen Küssen vergehen sollt! And on his kisses I would pass away! Chi Vuol La Zingarella by Giovanni Paisiello (1798). Paisiello was an Italian composer in the Classical era, known mostly for his operas. This aria comes from the 1798 opera I Zingari in Fiera. In the aria, a gypsy fortune teller sings to attract clients. Chi vuol la zingarella Who desires the gipsy girl Graziosa accorta e bella? graceful, prudent and beautiful? Signori, eccola qua. Gentlemen, here she is. Signori, eccola qua. Gentlemen, here she is. Le donne sul balcone The ladies on the balconies So bene indovinar. are easily to be figured out. I giovani al cantone The young men at the street corners So meglio stuzzicar. are teased more easily. A vecchi innamorati The heads of old men in love Scaldar fo le cervella. Can be set on fire. The next two songs are part of a set of five folk songs, Chants Populaires, composed by Maurice Ravel, a French Impressionist composer. The songs are inspired by folk music and express common experiences among ordinary people. Chanson Espanole by Maurice Ravel (1910). In this Spanish song a woman sings goodbye to her lover as he leaves for war. The second verse laments the trauma suffered by men during war. Adios men homiñ, adios, Goodbye, my man, goodbye Ja qui te marchas pr’a guerra since you are leaving for the war. Non t’olvides d’aprendina Do not forget to be in touch Quiche qued’ a can’a terra. With those staying behind in the country. La la la! La la la! Castellanos de Castilla Castillanas of Castille, Tratade ben os gallegos: treat well the Galicans: Cando van, van como rosas, they go, go like roses, Cando ven, ven como negros. They return, they return like blacks. La la la! La la la! Chanson Ecossaise by Maurice Ravel (1909). This is a Scottish song, sung by a traveler revisiting a place from his past; nature awakens memories of unrequited love. Ag An Phobal transcribed by Raquel Vásquez (2013). This traditional sean-nós song, in Irish Gaelic, comes from County Donegal. The song tells the story of a married man and his mistress, and how they come to terms with their situation. Ag an Phobal Dé Domhnaigh Ag an phobal Dé Donhnaigh thug mé mórchion don chailín Sí ba deise is ba bhreácha dar tógadh riamh I mbaile Bhí a béilín mar bheadh an rós ann is bhí a caoinchom mar bheadh an sneachta ‘S a Rí nach bhfuil mo lóistín san dit a gcoirionn sí a leabaidh Tá an rógaire ‘o mo mhealladh is tá’n peacadh a dhéanamh Tharraing sé mo chroí istigh agus bhí sé arís a shéanadh Ach má tá do bhean sa bhaile agat nó do leanbán le bréagadh Pill arís uirthi a shladaí ‘s cha bhíonn roinnt agam féin leat. Dá mbíodh a fhios ag mo dheartháir mo leatrom ba trua leis Dá mbíodh a fhios go dearfa bheadh air imní agus buaireamh Fá mo chéad searc bheith mo thréigean is an créatúr botch a lua liom ‘S tú m’ansacht ar fhearaibh Éireann a’s in do dhiaidh atá mé buartha. Dá mbíodh péire glan sciathán as mo chliatháin féin anuas liom Dá mbíodh fhios go dearfa go rachainn ón buachaill D’éireochainn féin in aired mar bheadh an éanlaith fá na cuanta Nó go n-insínn mo ghearán do mo leannán ar an uaigneas.