SUNY Buffalo State, Music Department Presents A Virtual Senior Recital by Alison Cleary, mezzo-soprano Student of Dr. Joseph Spann This fulfills the Capstone Project requirement for Bachelor’s in Arts degree. And Mason Battle, tenor Student of Dr. Holly Bewlay This fulfills degree requirement for Bachelor’s in Music Education. Assisted by Ivan Docenko, harpsichord, and piano May 8th, 2021 5:00 P.M. Ciminelli Recital Hall, Third Floor of Rockwell Hall, SUNY Buffalo State
Program Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756 – 1791) Liebhabers verbrannte
Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer Johannes Brahms(1833 – 1897) O wüsst ich doch den Weg zurück
Nevicata Ottorino Respighi(1879 – 1936) Su una Violetta morta
A Green Lowland of Pianos Samuel Barber(1910 – 1981) Must the winter come so soon? from Vanessa
En prière Gabriel Fauré(1845 – 1924) Chacun à son gout from Die Fledermaus Johann Strauss II(1825 – 1899)
In my own little corner from Cinderella Richard Rodgers(1902 – 1979) Alison Cleary, mezzo-soprano
INTERMISSION
Come again, sweet love John Dowland (1563-1626) I love and I must Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Cara e dolce Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) Ombra mai fu from Xerxes Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)
Pause Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Im wunderschönen Monat Mai Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Feldeinsamkeit Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Beau soir Claude Debussy (1862-1918) L’allée est sans fin Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) Adieu Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Mason Battle, tenor
Translations/ Program notes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer from the Classical period of music history. He is considered by many to be the first Romantic composer. As a child musical prodigy, he was diligently tutored by his father, Leopold. The musical style of Mozart's early works reflected those of Johann Christian Bach and other composers of the pre-Classical period. His maturing musical style became heavily influenced by Italian opera in the outstanding quality of its melodic and dramatic expression. Als Luise die Briefe is a German Lied modeled on the aria genre, despite not being part of an opera. Like other Mozart arias, this one depicts the character's quarreling emotions, with one dominating in the revelation of the character's interior motivation. This dramatic model was used frequently in Mozart's operas, including Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.
Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte (When Luise burned the letters of her unfaithful lover) Text by Gabriele von Baumberg Erzeugt von heißer Phantasie, Produced by hot imagination In einer schwärmerischen Stunde in a passionate hour Zur Welt gebrachte, geht zu Grunde, brought to the world - Perish, Ihr Kinder der Melancholie! you children of melancholy!
Ihr danket Flammen euer Sein, You owe your existence to the flames in the heart Ich geb' euch nun den Flammen wieder, I give you now to the flames back Und all' die schwärmerischen Lieder, And all the passionate songs Denn ach! er sang nicht mir allein. For oh! He sang them not for me alone.
Ihr brennet nun, und bald, ihr Lieben, You burn now, and soon, you dear letters, Ist keine Spur von euch mehr hier. There is no trace of you left Doch ach! der Mann, der euch geschrieben, But oh! The man who wrote you Brennt lange noch vielleicht in mir. Burns long perhaps in me
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and among the most renowned Romantic composers. He studied music from a young age and performed in various piano ensemble settings. The Classical structures of Ludwig von Beethoven heavily influenced Brahms' instrumental music. German Romantic literature also significantly shaped Brahms' music, especially his vocal works. He set many poems from previously obscure German poets to music. Most of Brahms' vocal compositions explore severe and dark topics, such as death, loneliness, yearning, and unrequited love. Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer and O wüsst ich doch den Weg zurück are two well-known examples. Immer leiser portrays a young woman at the brink of death pining for her beloved, while O wüsst ich doch is about longing for one's childhood years.
Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer (Each night I sleep more lightly) Text by Hermann von Ling Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer, Each night I sleep more lightly; Nur wie Schleier liegt mein Kummer like a veil my grief Zitternd über mir. lies trembling over me. Oft im Traume hör' ich dich Often in my dreams I hear you Rufen drauß vor meiner Tür: calling outside my door. Niemand wacht und öffnet dir, No one wakes and lets you in; Ich erwach' und weine bitterlich. I awaken and weep bitterly.
Ja, ich werde sterben müssen, Yes, I shall have to die; Eine Andre wirst du küssen, you will kiss another Wenn ich bleich und kalt. when I am pale and cold. Eh' die Maienlüfte wehen, Before the May breezes blow, Eh' die Drossel singt im Wald: before the thrush sings in the wood, Willst du einmal noch mich sehen, If you could see me once again, Komm, o komme bald! come, o come soon!
O wüsst ich doch den Weg zurück (Oh, if only I knew the way back) Text by Klaus Groth Oh, if only I knew the way back, O wüßt ich doch den Weg zurück, The delightful way to the land of childhood! Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland! Oh, why did I seek after fortune O warum sucht' ich nach dem Glück And let go of my mother's hand? Und ließ der Mutter Hand? Oh, how I long to rest, O wie mich sehnet auszuruhn, Undisturbed by any aspiration, Von keinem Streben aufgeweckt, To close my tired eyes, Die müden Augen zuzutun, Gently sheltered by love! Von Liebe sanft bedeckt! And to seek nothing, to look for nothing, Und nichts zu forschen, nichts zu spähn, And only to dream, lightly and softly, Und nur zu träumen leicht und lind; Not to notice the change of seasons, Der Zeiten Wandel nicht zu sehn, For the second time, to be a child! Zum zweiten Mal ein Kind! Oh, do show me the way back, O zeig mir doch den Weg zurück, The delightful way to the land of childhood! Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland! In vain do I seek after fortune, Vergebens such ich nach dem Glück, All around is a desolate shore! Ringsum ist öder Strand!
Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer whose work bridged the late Romantic and early Modern eras. Although he was often compared to his colleague Giacomo Puccini, Respighi achieved artistic distinction in his own right. He worked briefly as an orchestra violist while building his reputation as a composer. Respighi's music is known for its eclectic style, influenced by the Italian Baroque and Romantic exoticism, as well as opera. His vocal music sets much Romantic poetry. Su una Violetta morta was adapted from an Italian translation of Percy Bysshe Shelley's On A Faded Violet, which reminisces about lost love. Nevicata explores a similar theme, but reflects upon a lost love after death.
Nevicata (Snowfall)
Text by Ada Negri
Sui campi e sulle strade On the fields and in the streets Silenziosa e lieve, Silent and light, Volteggiando, la neve Twirling, the snow Cade. Falls.
Danza la falda bianca The white snowflake dances Ne l'ampio ciel scherzosa, In the wide sky jokingly, Poi sul terren si posa And then settles on the ground Stanca. Tired.
In mille immote forme In a thousand motionless shapes Sui tetti e sui camini, On rooftops and on paths, Sui cippi e nei giardini On headstones and in gardens Dorme. It sleeps.
Tutto dintorno è pace: Everything around is peaceful: Chiuso in oblìo profondo, Closed in profound oblivion, Indifferente il mondo The indifferent world Tace... Is quiet...
Ma ne la calma immense But in the immense calm Torna ai ricordi il core, The heart turns to memories, E ad un sopito amore And reminisces about Pensa. A faded love.
Su una Violetta morta (On A Faded Violet) Italian Translation by Francesco Rocchi Original Poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley È vanito l'odor di questo fiore, The odour from the flower is gone Che, come il bacio tuo, tenero ardente respirava su Which like thy kisses breathed on me; me. The colour from the flower is flown Anche di questo fior fuggì il colore, Which glowed of thee and only thee! Che rilucea deliziosamente di te, solo di te.
Forma languida e vana ella riposa A shrivelled, lifeless, vacant form. Sul mio povero cuor, Che non oblia, povero stanco It lies on my abandoned breast, cuor; And mocks the heart which yet is warm, Immobile, di gel, silenziosa With cold and silent rest. Ella irride così l'anima mia, l'anima calda ancor.
In vano, in vano io piango a lei d'accanto; I weep, -- my tears revive it not! E sospirando invan su lei mi chino: oh! tutto in lei I sigh, -- it breathes no more on me; finì! Its mute and uncomplaining lot Il suo destino è muto, senza pianto. Is such as mine should be. Il suo destino è muto. Oh! il mio destino dovrebe esser così!
Samuel Barber was a 20th-century American composer. Barber is among the most respected American composers of the 20th century. Much like Mozart, Barber was a child prodigy. As an adult, Barber studied singing and later became a performing baritone. His aunt, mezzo-soprano Louise Homer, was a Metropolitan Opera star. His experience with vocal performance greatly influenced his compositions' musical expression. Barber's musical style primarily stemmed from the expressiveness and tonal quality of the Romantic era. Many of his vocal works used texts from various American and European poets and librettists. Barber's first opera, Vanessa, was lauded for its poignant and colorful tone quality. Vanessa received its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera.
A Green Lowland of Pianos
Text by Czeslaw Milosz
In the evening As far as the eye can see Herds Of black pianos
Up to their knees In the mire They listen to the frogs
They gurgle in water With chords of rapture
They are entranced By froggish, moonish spontaneity
After the vacation They cause scandals In a concert hall During the artistic milking Suddenly they lie down Like cows
Looking with indifference At the white flowers Of the audience
At the gesticulating Of the ushers
Black pianos Black pianos
Must the winter come so soon?
Text by Gian Carlo Menotti
Must the winter come so soon?
Night after night I hear the hungry deer Wander weeping in the woods
And from his house Of brittle bark Hoots the frozen owl
Must the winter come so soon?
Here in this forest Neither dawn nor sunset Marks the passing of the days
It is a long winter here
Must the winter come so soon?
Gabriel Fauré was a French composer from the late Romantic musical era and the most sophisticated French composer of his time. As a child, Fauré was musically gifted. He studied church music for more than a decade, and this greatly influenced his musical style. Many considered Fauré as a virtuoso of the French mélodie, as many of his famous works were highly emotional and expressive. His style's most recognizable musical trait was his harmonic musical phrasing, meaning he molded each musical sequence to express a particular emotion. His 1890 mélodie En prière combines his religious musical studies with his Romantic use of emotional expression.
En prière (In prayer) Text by Stéphan Bordèse
Si la voix d'un enfant peut monter jusqu'à Vous, If the voice of a child can reach You, Ô mon Père, O my Father, Écoutez de Jésus, devant Vous à genoux, Listen to the prayer of Jesus, on his knees before La prière! You! Si Vous m'avez choisi pour enseigner vos lois If You have chosen me to teach your laws Sur la terre, on earth, Je saurai Vous servir, auguste Roi des rois, I will know how to serve You, noble King of kings, Ô Lumière! O Light! Sur mes lèvres, Seigneur, mettez la vérité On my lips, Lord, place the salutary Salutaire, truth, Pour que celui qui doute, avec humilité In order that he who doubts should with humility Vous révère! revere You! Ne m'abandonnez pas, donnez-moi la douceur Do not abandon me, give me Nécessaire, the necessary gentleness, Pour apaiser les maux, soulager la douleur, To ease suffering, to relieve sorrow, La misère! the misery! Révèlez Vous à moi, Seigneur en qui je crois Reveal Yourself to me, Lord, in whom I believe Et j'espère: and hope: Pour Vous je veux souffrir et mourir sur la croix, For You I wish to suffer and to die on the cross, Au calvaire! at Calvary!
Johann Strauss II was an Austrian Romantic composer, and the son of composer Johann Strauss I. Strauss II grew up in a musical family and eventually decided to pursue a musical career. He was known mainly for his waltzes and dance compositions, and his musical style stemmed from the melodic styles of Wagner and Verdi. Although most of Strauss II's works were instrumental, he also composed various operettas. Die Fledermaus (1874) was one of his most successful operettas both in his native Vienna and internationally, and has been translated into multiple languages, including English. His operettas helped maintain his international fame and influence, and they played a crucial role in the international growth of modern musical theatre.
Chacun à son gout
English Text by Richard Kagey
Now let me acquaint you with the rules of my house!
From time to time I entertain, I am the perfect host My guests drink vodka and champagne, And do what they like most
Each one is free to have his fun, My house is freedom hall In other words, to coin a pun: It is a free-for-all
You’re free to go and free to come You’re free to go astray I want you to enjoy yourself But don’t get in my way.
And if it does not suit you That too, is up to you
We Russians have a motto: Chacun à son gout
There’s not a sight I have not seen, No place I have not been There’s not a thing beneath the sun I haven’t heard or done
There’s not a price I cannot pay, No sum I can’t afford, But I have never found a way To keep from being bored
I do not care for music much, Not even Johann Strauss The operetta I hate most Is called “Die Fledermaus”
If you don’t like it either, You know what you can do
Get up and leave the theater: Chacun à son gout
Richard Rodgers was the most celebrated composer of the 20th-century American musical theater. Rodgers grew up listening to Broadway music due to his parents' love for it. His first compositional partner was lyricist Lorenz Hart, but Rodgers' theatrical work did not enjoy brilliant success until he began collaborating with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers and Hammerstein's integrated musicals merged the music with the story's plot. The music helped to emphasize various important plot moments and to move the story forward. Cinderella was expressly written for television, and it made its broadcast debut in 1957. During In my own little corner, Cinderella gives the audience a glimpse of her imagination and depicts how it helps her cope with harsh reality.
In my own little corner
Text by Oscar Hammerstein II
I’m as mild and as meek as a mouse, When I hear a command I obey But I know of a spot in my house Where no one can stand in my way
In my own little corner In my own little chair I can be whatever I want to be On the wing of my fancy I can fly anywhere And the world will open its arms to me
I’m a young Norwegian princess or a milkmaid, I’m the greatest prima donna in Milan, I’m an heiress who has always had her silk made By her own flock of silkworms in Japan!
I’m a girl men go mad for, Love’s a game I can play With a cool and confident kind of air Just as long as I stay in my own little corner, All alone in my own little chair
I can be whatever I want to be I’m a slave in Calcutta, I’m a queen in Peru, I’m a mermaid dancing upon the sea
I’m a huntress on an African safari (It’s a dangerous type of sport and yet it’s fun); In the night I sally forth to seek my quarry, When I find I forgot to bring my gun!
I am lost in the jungle All alone and unarmed When I meet a lioness in her lair! Then I’m glad to be back in my own little corner, All alone in my own little chair
Come again: sweet love doth now invite1 Text by Anonymous
Come again: Sweet love doth now invite, Thy graces that refrain, To do me due delight, To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die, With thee again in sweetest sympathy.
Come again That I may cease to mourn, Through thy unkind disdain: For now left and forlorn,
1 The LiederNet Archives “Come again: sweet love doth now invite” Text https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=533&RF=1 I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die, In deadly pain and endless misery.
All the night My sleep is full of dreams, My eyes are full of streams, My heart takes no delight To see the fruits and joys that some do find, And mark the storms to me assigned,
Out, alas, My faith is ever true, Yet will she never rue, Nor yield me any grace; Her eyes of fire, her heart of flint is made, Whom tears nor truth may once invade.
Gentle Love, Draw forth thy wounding dart, Thou canst not pierce her heart, For I that to approve, By sighs and tears more hot than are thy shafts, Did tempt, while she for triumph laughs.
I love and I must2 Text by Anonymous
I love and I must, and yet I would fain, With a large dose of reason cure my pain, But I am past hope, and yet it seems strange A thing that's call'd man not subject to change.
Had I power to scorn as she to despise, I might at once be inconstant and wise. Then tell me, oh! tell me, how it should be So easy to men, yet so hard to me.
Cara e dolce dolce (Dear and very sweet)3
Text by Anonymous Translation by John Glenn Paton
Cara e dolce dolce, Dear and very sweet, Dolcissima libertà, sweetest liberty, Quanto ti piange il core. however much my heart weeps for you. Fra i lacci d'un crin d'oro Caught in the bonds of a golden head of hair, Prova d'un ciglio arcier la crudeltà. it feels the cruelty of an eye that shoots arrows.
2 The LiederNet Archives “I love and I must” Text https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=1751 3 The LiederNet Archives “Cara e dolce dolce” Text and Translation https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=24916 Le dure ritorte, The hard ropes Che rigida sorte that unbending fate Mi dà per mercé gives me in mercy Mi stringono i pié tie my feet together E al mio lungo penar negan pietà. and deny pity to my long suffering.
Ombra mai fu (Never was shade)4
Text by Niccolò Minato Translation by Shula Keller
Ombra mai fu Never was the shade, di vegetabile, Gift from a tree of green cara ed amabile, Precious or lovelier soave più. More sweet, more dear.
Pause (Pause)5 from Die schöne Müllerin Text by Wilhelm Müller Translation by Emily Ezust
Meine Laute hab' ich gehängt an die Wand, My lute I've hung upon the wall, Hab' sie umschlungen mit einem grünen Band I've tied it there with a green band; Ich kann nicht mehr singen, mein Herz ist zu voll, I can sing no more, my heart is too full. Weiß nicht, wie ich's in Reime zwingen soll. I know not how to compel the rhymes. Meiner Sehnsucht aller heißesten Schmerz The hot pain of my yearning Durft' ich aushauchen in Liederschmerz, I once could exhale in jesting songs; Und wie ich klagte so süß und fein, And when I complained, so sweet and fine, Glaubt ich doch, mein Leiden wär' nicht klein. It seemed to me my sorrows weren't small. Ei, wie groß ist wohl meines Glückes Last, Ah, but how great is my joy's weight, Daß kein Klang auf Erden es in sich faßt? That no sound on earth can hold it?
Nun, liebe Laute, ruh' an dem Nagel hier! Now, dear lute, rest on this nail here! Und weht ein Lüftchen über die Saiten dir, And if a breeze flutters over your strings, Und streift eine Biene mit ihren Flügeln dich, And if a bee grazes you with its wings, Da wird mir so bange und es durchschauert mich. It makes me anxious and I shudder through and Warum ließ ich das Band auch hängen so lang? through. Oft fliegt's um die Saiten mit seufzendem Klang. Oh, why have I left that ribbon hanging there so Ist es der Nachklang meiner Liebespein? long? Soll es das Vorspiel neuer Lieder sein? Often it stirs the strings with a sighing sound. Is it the echo of my lovelorn pining? Shall it be the prologue to new songs?
4 The LiederNet Archives “Ombra Mai Fu” Text and Translation https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=36859&RF=1 5 The LiederNet Archives “Pause” Text and Translation https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=11879 Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (In the wonderfully beautiful month of May)6from Dichterliebe Text by Heinrich Heine Translation by Paul Hindemith
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, In the wonderfully beautiful month of May Als alle Knospen sprangen, When all the buds are bursting open, Da ist in meinem Herzen There, from my own heart, Die Liebe aufgegangen. Bursts forth my own love.
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, In the wonderfully beautiful month of May Als alle Vögel sangen, When all the birds are singing, Da hab' ich ihr gestanden So have I confessed to her Mein Sehnen und Verlangen. My yearning and my longing.
Feldeinsamkeit (Summer In Fields)7
Text by Hermann Allmers Translation by Henry Grafton Chapman
Ich ruhe still im hohen grünen Gras Quite still I lie where green the grass and tall Und sende lange meinen Blick nach oben, And gaze above me into depths unbounded, Von Grillen rings umschwirrt ohn Unterlaß, By voices of the woodland a constant call, Von Himmelsbläue wundersam umwoben. And by the wondrous blue of Heav'n surrounded.
Und schönen weiße Wolken ziehn dahin The lovely snow white clouds drift far and wide, Durchs tiefe Blau, wie schöne stille Träume; Like silent dreams through deeps of azure wending, Mir ist, als ob ich längst gestorben bin I feel as though I long ago had died, Und ziehe selig mit durch ew'ge Räume. To drift with them through realms of bliss unending.
Beau soir(Fair evening)8 Text by Paul Bourget Translation by Emily Ezust
Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses, When rivers are pink in the setting sun, Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé, And a slight shiver runs through fields of wheat, Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses A suggestion to be happy seems to rise up from all Et monter vers le cœur troublé; things And ascends toward the troubled heart ; Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde, Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le soir est beau, A suggestion to taste the charms of the world Car nous nous en allons comme s'en va cette onde : While one is young and the evening is fair, Elle à la mer, - nous au tombeau! For we are on our way just as this wave is: It is going to the sea, -- and we, to the grave!
6 The LiederNet Archives Im wunderschönen Monat Mai Text and Translations https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=2933 7 The LiederNet Archives “Feldeinsamkeit” Text and Translation https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=18688 8 The LiederNet Archives Beau Soir Text and Translation https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=2933 L'allée est sans fin (The avenue is endless)9 from Chasons grises Text by Paul Verlaine Translation by Peter Low
L'allée est sans fin The avenue is endless Sous le ciel, divin under the sky, divine D'être pâle ainsi : by being pale like this: Sais-tu qu'on serait it would feel really good, Bien sous le secret you know, to be under the secret De ces arbres-ci? of these trees.
Le château, tout blanc There's the château, all white Avec, à son flanc, with the sunset glow Le soleil couché, on its flank, Les champs à l'entour... and fields all around: Oh ! que notre amour oh, if only our love N'est-il là niché! had its nest there!
Adieu (Farewell)10 from Poëme d'un jour
Text by Charles Jean Grandmougin Translation by Michael P. Rosewall
Comme tout meurt vite, la rose Everything dies so quickly; the rose Déclose, Abloom, Et les frais manteaux diaprés And the freshly dappled cloaks Des prés; Of the meadows, Les longs soupirs, les bienaimées, Deep sighs, those we love well, Fumées! Wisps of smoke!
On voit dans ce monde léger One can see, in this insubstantial world, Changer, Everything changing; Plus vite que les flots des grèves, More rapidly than waves upon the sand, Nos rêves, Our dreams, Plus vite que le givre en fleurs, More suddenly than the branching frost, Nos coeurs! Our hearts!
À vous l'on se croyait fidèle, I may have believed myself faithful to you, Cruelle, Cruel one, Mais hélas! les plus longs amours But, alas! The most abiding loves Sont courts! Are brief! Et je dis en quittant vos charmes, And I say, upon abandoning your charms, Sans larmes, Without tears, Presqu'au moment de mon aveu, Just at the moment of my confession, Adieu! Farewell!
9 The LiederNet Archive L’allée est sans fin Text and Translations https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=136609 10 The LiederNet Archive Adieu Text and Translation https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=124231