Williams Chamber Players Bohemian Rhapsoday Friday, February 13, 2009 PROGRAM NOTES Henry Purcell’s “In guilty night” (Saul and the Witch of Endor), Z. 134 from Harmonia Sacra Purcell’s dramatic scena, In Guilty Night, was published by Henry Playford in the second volume of Harmonia Sacra, 1693. This was to be a collection of ‘DIVINE HYMNS / AND / DIALOGUES: / WITH / A THOROW-BASS for the Theorbo-Lute, / Bass-Viol, Harpsichord, or Organ / composed by the Best MASTERS of the Last and Present Age.’ and includes several works by Purcell. The second edition of 1703 claimed “four Excellent Anthems of the late Mr H. Purcell’s never before Printed”. In the contents page of Harmonia Sacra, In Guilty Night is described as ‘A Paraphrase’: this refers to the fact that the text is based on words from the first book of Samuel, chapter 28 in the Hebrew bible. This tells the story of the visit of Saul to the Witch of Endor. The desperate king comes to the Witch by night and in disguise. Overcoming her misgivings, he gets her to summon up the ghost of the prophet Samuel to foretell his fate. Samuel, sung by the bass, appears from the nether regions, to prophesy in doom-laden terms. Purcell exploits the drama to the full: the scene is set by the somber opening chorus; the exchanges between the characters are full of tension and suspense; and it finishes with a chorus where “Purcell picked out the word ‘farewell’, … with the singers in character to the end, the witch and the ghost icily dismissing the shattered king, who can only sob in semitone slides over descending passacaglia-like harmonies. Once heard, these wonderful yet horrifying 10 bars can never be forgotten”.* This story has been the inspiration for a number of composers both before and after Purcell. These include Schütz (Saul, Saul was verfolgst du mich?, 1650) and Charpentier (the prologue to the opera David et Jonathas, 1688), as well as Robert Ramsey (In guilty Night, c1628). --Cedric Lee, In Guilty Night, Green Man Press, c2001. * Peter Holman, Henry Purcell, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1994. Ileana Perez-Velazquez’s Wild Wisteria Wild Wisteria (2004) for harp and viola was commissioned by Julia Malkova and Mickaele Granados, soloists of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Spain, who gave the premiere in Madrid, May 2004. Wisterias are woody climbing vines, indigenous to the eastern United States and a few eastern Asian countries (such as China, Japan, and Korea), which have beautiful purple, pink, or white flowers that hang from the vines. As Perez Velázquez writes about the work: “Wild Wisteria reflects a poetic relationship between the flowers’ vines and the strings of the harp and viola; it was inspired by the visual and imaginary sound world of the wisteria, and then transferred to the strings of the harp and viola in this work.” And what kind of sound world would a wisteria create? In Perez Velázquez’s imagination, the flower would create an improvisation that was part impressionistic serenade, part wistful fantasy, and part exaltant dance. A novel remaking of the more standard duo genre of violin and piano, the combination of viola and harp here seems entirely effective and fitting in Perez Velázquez’s creation, the viola seeming to wind its away around the graceful expressions of the harp, the synthesis creating a love-song of uncommon beauty and strength. - Steven Bodner Bohuslav Martinu’s Three Madrigals Bohuslav Martinu composed his Madrigals for violin and viola in 1947 at age 57 in New York, for Joseph and Lillian Fuchs (both of whom taught at Juilliard for many years). Martinu was a Czech émigré to the United States. Fleeing Nazi persecution, he first settled in Paris, where he came under the influences of Debussy, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Roussel (his teacher), as well as the works of Copland and the jazz generation. He arrived in the U.S. in 1941. In a 1942 American radio interview, Martinu stated his artistic credo: "In my music, I have been influenced most of all by the national music of Czechoslovakia, Debussy, and, in particular, by English madrigals which attracted me with their freedom of polyphony, which I found very different from that of Bach." The textural interplay combines with Czech folkloristic elements, drone effects, evocative "night-music" suggesting birds and insects, and a dance-like character to give the work its rich tapestry and justify its heading as a set of madrigals. In Guilty Night In guilty Night, and hid in false disguise, forsaken Saul to Endor comes and cries: Saul: Woman, arise, call powerful Arts together, and raise the Ghost whom I shall name up hither. Witch: Why, why should’st thou wish me dye? Forbear, my Son, dost thou not know what cruel Saul has done? How he has kill’d and murder’d all that were Wise and could on Spirits call? Saul.: Woman be bold, do but the thing I wish, no harm from Saul shall come to thee for this. Witch: Whom shall I raise or call? Saul: Old Samuel, let only him appear. Witch: Alas, alas! Saul: What dost thou fear? Witch: Nought else but thee, for thou art Saul, and hast beguiled me! Saul: Peace, and go on, what seest thou, let me know? Witch: I see the Gods ascending from below. Saul: Who’s he that comes? Witch: An old Man mantled o’er. Saul: Oh! that is he, let me that Ghost adore! Samuel: Why hast thou robbed me of my rest, to see that which I hate, this wicked World, and thee? Saul: Oh! I am sore distress’d, vex’d sore; God has left me, and answers me no more. Distress’d with war, with inward terrors too, for pity’s sake tell me what shall I do? Samuel: Art thou forlorn of God, and coms’t to me? What can I tell thee then, but misery? Thy Kingdom’s gone into the Neighbour’s race, Thine Host shall fall by Sword before thy Face: Tomorrow, till then farewel and breath, Thou and thy son shall be with me beneath. Chorus: Farewell. PERFORMER BIOS Augusta Caso ’09, mezzo-soprano Augusta Caso, initially from Phoenix, Maryland, is a music major entering her final semester at Williams College. Before coming to Williams, she sang with the Peabody Children's Chorus for eight years and the Maryland All-Sate Chorus for four years, as well as in numerous school choirs. Since coming to Williams, Augusta has developed a passion for classical vocal performance and opera. She currently studies voice with Marlene Walt. She sings in both the Concert and Chamber Choirs (and is one of the student conductors of the choirs this year) and has had the opportunity to perform as a soloist with various other ensembles on campus. In 2008, she played "Johanna" in Sweeney Todd with Cap n' Bells, and "The Nurse" and "Singer" in the Theater Department's fall production of Machinal. Besides music and performance, her other interests include languages and travel, reading, creative activities, yoga, and running. This past summer, Augusta spent five weeks in Germany studying at the Neil Semer Vocal Institute. She is currently working on an honors thesis in vocal performance, for which she will give a recital in April. She will sing "Dorabella" in Williams Opera's performance of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and "Second Woman" in The New Opera's Dido and Aeneas, both in May. After Williams, Augusta plans to go on to graduate school to study vocal performance and opera. ~ Joana Genova, violin Ms. Genova began playing violin at the age of six in her native Bulgaria and made her solo debut at the age of twelve with the Plovdiv Chamber Orchestra. She is a prizewinner of the National Competition in Bulgaria and has appeared as soloist with the Plovdiv Symphony Orchestra and Shumen Philharmonic. Ms. Genova received her Bachelor of Music from Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and her Master’s degree in chamber music at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Her former teachers include Peter Brunt, Ilya Grubert, members of the Daniel String Quartet and Prof. Samuel Thaviu. In Holland, Ms. Genova was concertmaster of the Amsterdam Bach Consort and a member for Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Since 2000, she has lived in the US where she is a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, principal second violin of the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra and concertmaster of the Manchester Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Genova is active as chamber musician for the Manchester Music Festival and the Williams Chamber Players. Her collaborations include performances with the Shanghai String Quartet, Nathaniel Rosen, Michael Rudiakov, Ruth Laredo, Adam Neiman, David Krakauer and others. Ms. Genova has performed as soloist with Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan, Rockaway and Danbury Symphonies and Manchester Festival Orchestra. She is on the faculty of Williams College, the Manchester Music Festival and the Michael Rudiakov Music Academy in Vermont. ~ Yehuda Hanani, violoncello Yehuda Hanani's charismatic playing and profound interpretations bring him acclaim and reengagements throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia, and his native Israel. An extraordinary recitalist, he is equally renowned for performances with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, BBC Welsh Symphony, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Hong Kong Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, and Seoul Symphony among others. He has collaborated with prominent fellow musicians, including Leon Fleisher, Aaron Copland, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Itzhak Perlman and members of the Avalon, Tokyo, Emerson, Vermeer, Muir, Julliard, Lark, Colorado, and Cleveland Quartets and the Cuarteto Latinoamericano. This distinguished artist made the first recording ever of the monumental Alkan Cello Sonata, receiving a Grand Prix du Disque nomination, and his other discs have won wide recognition.