CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE GRADUATE RECITAL IN VOICE An abstract submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Music, Vocal Performance By Xirui Huang December 2017 The abstract of Xirui Huang is approved: Prof. Diane Ketchie Date Dr. Deanna Murray Date Dr. David Sannerud, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature page……………………………………………………………………………ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..iv Program………………………………………………………………………………...…1 Notes and texts…………………………………………..…………………………….…3 iii ABSTRACT GRADUATE RECITAL IN VOICE By Xirui Huang Master of Music in Music, Vocal Performance This thesis represents the program notes for a vocal graduate recital, which extends through five centuries of music, and encompasses five languages and displays varieties of styles through the Baroque, Classic, Romantic and 20-century eras. The program includes operatic arias in Italian, German lied, the French mélodie, an excerpt from oratorio, English songs and a traditional Chinese art song. The first group of the program is a set composed by Handel. The selections include Va godendo from SERSE, Lascia ch’io pianga from RINALDO, How beautiful are the feet of them from MASSIAH, and Bel piacere from AGRIPPINA. Va godendo is an aria from the opera SERSE and was composed in 1738; SERSE is a story revolving around a Persian king, Serse and his brother Arsamene, who are both in love with Romilda. Romilda, however, only cares about Arsamene. Out of jealousy, Serse banishes his brother. In the meantime, the king receives a letter from a foreign princess Amastre, proclaiming her undying love for him, which he thinks has come from Romilda. Therefore, Serse goes to Romilda’s father and tells him that when a nobleman seeks Romilda’s hand, they should be married. He is, of course, referring to himself. However, when Arsamene comes to take Romilda into banishment with him, Romilda’s father thinks that the nobleman he was referring to was Arsamene and approves the marriage. Serse comes to marry Romilda, only to find out that she is iv already married. He is outraged and shows the letter to Romilda’s father and asks the meaning of it. Only then does Serse realize that this letter is from Amastre, and afterwards, Serse and Amastre are united. Va godendo is sung by Romilda in a garden in King Serse's palace, which refers to the lovers’ celebration of freedom, and compares it to the pretty babbling stream that runs gaily to the sea between the flowery meadows. The whole piece is full of joyful phrases in B flat major. It is set in Da Capo form, and the vocal line is filled with the fast-moving sixteen notes indicating the trembling happy mood. The accompaniment is simpler in nature and serves as a wonderful pairing to the vocal line. Lascia ch’io pianga from RINALDO is one of the most familiar pieces among Handel’s arias. Giacomo Rossi writes the libretto for RINALDO, which is based upon the epic poem La Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) by Torquato Tasso on 1575. The story is about the first crusade where two religions (Christian and Muslim) fight against each other in order to gain control of Jerusalem. Revolving around the passionate affair among main characters, Lascia ch’io pianga appears in act 2, scene Ⅳ, when Almirena (Ronaldo’s fiancée) is held as a prisoner, she begged Armida, the sorceress, for freedom and mercy. In the opening recitative, her emotions flow between anger and sorrow. The music perfectly captures the text. The opening melody of the aria often ascends first, and the last two notes descend, indicating a tone of questioning. In the next section, which is more sorrowful, the melodic line descends. From “Signor” f5-d5, “Deh, Per tie ta”(out of pity) Handel uses half-tone descents, d5-g4sharp, and “Lascia mi piangere” d5-a4. The constancy of the descending line is a common feature that embodies the somber emotion of Almirena. The aria is a binary form with Da Capo, the first verse implying the sorrowful emotion that ends the recitative. Most sentences end with two v repeated notes, one step up or one step down from the previous notes. The second verse contrasts the first verse with the emotion of anger. The beginning of first two sentences are the same, involving a fifth leap a4-d5 and then to e5 which highlights the following words “infranga”(break) and “ritorta”(torture). There lies a trill on the word “pieta” (pity) which suggests the trembling of Almirena. The accompaniment is simple, using just simple triads as a foundation of the harmony structure. How beautiful are the feet of them is a famous soprano aria from George Frideric Handel’s Oratorio MESSIAH. First performed in1742, Messiah describes God’s plan for the salvation of the world, including the coming of Jesus and his subsequent death, resurrection and his victory over death. The libretto was written by Charles Jennens and consists of Bible quotations. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things comes from Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7.” Bel piacere is an aria from the three-act opera seria AGRIPPINA, composed by George Frideric Handel, with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. It is a story about Agrippina who is the mother of Nero. She tries to make mischief and to install her son, Nero, as the emperor of Roman. Bel Piacere is sung by Poppea who is the lover of both Nero and Otho. In this aria she expresses how much she loves Otho. The aria is in da capo form with an extremely cheerful mood. The accompaniment shares the main melodic line and the time signature changes frequently between 3/8 and 2/4, expressing Poppea’s exhilarating proclamation of her faithful love for Otho. The second set features three German Lieder by Franz Schubert- Erlafsee, Lied der Mignon and Lachen und Weinen. The affinity of the poetry to the melodic lines and the unbreakable relationship to the piano accompaniments, are perfectly illustrated in Schubert’s art vi songs. Erlafsee is originally a poem by Mayrhofer, and it actually has a total of 36 lines but Schubert chose 14 lines to set to music. The poem describes the scene by the side of Lake Erlaf, and the scene is pastoral with water imagery. This song is in ABA form and the piano accompaniment features triplets throughout the whole piece. Schubert uses the metaphoric fusion of the opening and closing couplet. Starting with F major, the first sentence is “ I am so happy, and so sad.” But when repeating this sentence, Schubert replaces the nature D to D flat in the word “so”(sad), creating the atmosphere of melancholy. The second sentence is the description of the silence, a motionless deep lake with the shadows of clouds floating above. The mood becomes darker here; and the key changes into d minor as well. However, the B section starts with a brand new mood, referring to the fresh winds, the water, the golden sun, and the triple meter now becomes faster and flowing. Finally, the A section returns and the song ends up as it began, in a peaceful mood. Mignon is a female character appearing in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem Sehnsucht (Longing). Lied der Mignon is the third setting of the poem. In this poem, Mignon is kidnapped and imprisoned on an isolated island, where she suffers from loneliness and sorrow, as she is cut off from her lover. This song is in ABA form. The A section begins in A minor and the piano accompaniment establishes a rather sobbing mood in slow 6/8 triple meter. However, the B section, the piano accompaniment changes in character quite suddenly to tempestuous sextuplets, illustrating the words of the poetry “my entrails are burning”. At last, the song returns to the opening mood and ends quite softly as if Mignon has run out the energy and is not capable of bearing the sorrow any longer. The text of Lachen Und Weinen is from one of the Friedrich Rückert's collection of poems, Östlichen Rosen (Eastern Roses), entitled Laughter and Tears”, it is a humorous song about an vii individual who is confused of his/her own unstable mental state when in love; crying at night, but waking up with a happy mood. The piano accompaniment is delightful and primarily provides lightness and humors. The next set consists of five French mélodies -- Si mes vers avaient des ailes and L'Énamourée by Reynaldo Hahn. Le colibri by Ernest Chausson and C and Air champêtre by Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc. Si mes vers avaient des ailes (If my verses had wings) was composed by Hahn at the age of thirteen and it was dedicated to his sister, Maria Hahn. Based on the poem written by Victor Hugo, the gentle and smooth melodic line illustrates the text perfectly. The whole piece is set in E major in firm and clear tonal tone with three stanzas. The piano accompaniment includes quick sixteen notes throughout the piece, which works in tandem with the lyrical vocal line to suggest the flapping of wings. L’Enamourée is from Chansons, which is a set of songs that based on Paul Verlaine’s poems. It pictures the tender feeling of seeing the angelic ghost of the dead lover. It begins with an unearthly atmosphere. The first two phrases are accompanied by sustained chords, while the third and forth phrases are paired with sweeping ascending broken chords, featuring the waking of the dead lover. Le colibri is the seventh song of Opus 2, which was dedicated to Lady Harbord.