Kansas City Baroque Consortium

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Saint Cecilia by NICOLAS POUSSIN (ca.1635)

The Woman’s Voice as , Patron, and Performer

Concert III: Timeless Voices Friday, August 23 • 7:30 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church WELCome

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the final concert of our 2019 KC Baroque Summer Series. I am thrilled to welcome three remarkable musicans joining us for our program this evening! Soprano Victoria Botero, who is recognized for her rich, colorful voice and passionate storytelling; and harpsichordist (and musicologist) Alison DeSimone, who inspired and guided our programming in this summer’s celebration of .

One of the important ways KC Baroque seeks to build connections from the Baroque world to our contemporary world is through the commission of new works for old instruments. I am excited to present the award-winning local composer, Ingrid Stölzel, in tonight’s program with the premiere of “But a Day”. Our program notes give you a glimpse at Ingrid’s process in creating this new work for KCBC.

What a marvelous journey it has been preparing this summer series of music that celebrates the voices of women in the Baroque era as performers, patrons and . Each program has brought riches to our ears. We’ve heard music written for the celebrated vocalists of the day, music written for or commissioned by two queens whose appreciation and support of the arts gives us a glimpse into the fascinating world of power, rhetoric and royalty. But it is this final concert of the season that offers us an opportunity to hear the voice of women composers: Isabella Leonarda, Francesca Caccini, Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Mademoiselle Duval, and Barbara Strozzi – born 400 years ago this month. These are voices that are rarely heard, whose works have been overlooked, forgotten, and dismissed.

Among these women we have a nun, a single mother, a child prodigy, a woman of illegitimate birth, and a woman of noble birth. As women of this era were not allowed the same freedom to pursue their craft, education and a professional career as men were, we see that the success that these composers experienced was rare among women muscians. Their extraordinary talent, however, wasn’t enough to open doors. Their opportunities were provided for them, as the daughter or wife of a nobleman, as the daughter of a supportive (and socially connected) father, or as a servant of the church. Women musicians without these connections went unrecognized, and most importantly, unpublished!

This evening, as we listen to their stories through the words of song, and to their unspoken joys and sorrows that ride on the melodies, rhythms and harmonies of their music, we are joining in the effort to lift the veil of obscurity that has rested on this remarkable body of work for 400 hundred years. These timeless voices speak to us across the centuries, they are as fresh, as profound, and as meaningful as any music you have heard this summer from our platform.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s program, thank you for joining us this season, and please join us for the reception following in the Garden Room on the lower level. Thank you for being here! Trilla Mark Your Calendars! Baroque & BBQ!! Raise the roof and Raise some funds! An Evening of Food, Fun, and Fiddling Around! Chef Tom returns with his Award Winning BBQ & Brisket to die for! Take off your wigs, let down your hair for a great evening with foot-stompin’ friends of KC Baroque! Saturday, September 28, 6:30 -9:30 as St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Kansas City Baroque COnsortiuM Board of Directors President: Eric T. Williams Treasurer: Ann Friedman, PhD Secretary: Alison DeSimone, PhD Members-at-Large: Ann Martin, PhD, Linton Bayless, MD Ensemble Representative: Carl Cook Artistic & Executive Director: Trilla Ray-Carter

OuR SinceRe GraTiTuDE TO

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Rev. Dr. R. Stan Runnels, Rector; Sam Anderson, Music Director; Nicole Lux, Parish Administrator; Jose Arce, Sexton. Village Arts Alliance of Village Presbyterian Church William Breytspraak - Director of Music Ministry; Matthew Shepard - Assistant Music Director; Elisa Bickers - Associate Director of Music, Principal Organist; Carol Dale - Music Coordinator

And a special thanks to our Volunteers and Board Members who work tirelessly behind the scenes: Lisa and Herb Young, George Moss, Dianne Daugherty, Lacie Eades, Ann Martin, Ann Friedman, Linton Bayless, Carl Cook, Alison DeSimone, Eric Williams, Gina Shay-Zapian, Bennett Shay-Zapian. And to: Eric Williams Photography, Ron Ray Video and Photography, Rob Patterson -3 Recording KC Program Notes, by Lacie Eades

Kansas City Baroque’s 2019 summer season has illuminated the often-overlooked role of women in , taking as inspiration the 400th anniversary of the birth of Barbara Strozzi. Our June concert highlighted early modern women who performed virtuosic music in both private and public settings while our July performance recognized two women who dedicated their regal status and financial resources to support emerging music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. While some works by female composers appeared on previous concerts, such as Strozzi’s works on Concert I, tonight’s performance features only compositions by women composers, including Strozzi, her contemporaries Isabella Leonarda and Francesca Caccini, and late-Baroque composers Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Mlle. Duval. Additionally, KC Baroque recognizes the work of contemporary female composers with the premiere of a new piece for soprano and early instruments by Ingrid Stölzel, Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Kansas.

Beginning in the middle of the sixteenth century, women composers achieved greater recognition than ever before, but this acknowledgment did not automatically signal a shift in social norms. Opportunities for female singers continued to increase, but and especially music publishing remained principally male pursuits in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Tonight’s concert offers a bit of a remedy to this anonymity through the music of some of the women who created a pathway for future female composers.

Seventeenth-century women typically received a formal music education if they fell into one of three family circumstances. First, a child born into a family of professional musicians typically received musical training from her/his musical parent (most often her father). Alternatively, a child born into a noble family almost always received music instruction as part of her/his formal studies. Finally, children groomed for monastic life received formal music instruction as part of her/his religious education. Tonight’s program features music from women who fell into all three of these categories.

4 Program Notes, continued

For many women, the convent offered a musical platform free of the stigma so often associated with women on stage. Given the amount of musical training many noble women received prior to taking monastic vows combined with the instruction they likely received within the convent walls, we should not be surprised at the number of female composers who created music for their religious communities. We are not surprised either that so little of it has survived.

One exception is the extant music of Isabella Leonarda (1620 – 1704). Born into a notable Novarese family, Leonarda received a formal music education in line with her social status before entering the Collegio di S. Orsola as a nun. In fact, Leonarda served as music instructor at the Ursuline convent before her appointment as mother superior. Although convent life called for hours of service in daily household work and religious devotion, Leonarda managed to compose some two hundred musical works by her eightieth birthday and her oeuvre includes works in almost every sacred genre. And remarkably, in 1693, a collection of Leonarda’s instrumental works appeared in print, likely the earliest published sonatas by a woman.

Tonight’s program opens with the tenth sonata from Leonarda’s groundbreaking opus. As a sonata da chiesa (sonata for the church), this work could substitute for certain portions of the sacred services. At the same time, the work could have served as private, secular entertainment. Although dance rhythms, such as the ones in this F-major sonata, appeared commonly in the sonata da chiesa genre, such movements seldom had clearly labeled dance names.

Leonarda’s Sonata Decima features the typical sonata instrumentation for the period, two and . Although this type of work is now called a trio sonata, the accompanying basso continuo group could range from one to three or four players. Tonight’s performance features two violins supported by a continuo trio of cello, and Baroque guitar. The piece opens with the two solo violins chasing each other, first in a loose falling melody and then with an even quicker fanfare motive. Throughout the work, Leonarda intersperses lively passages for the soloists with moments of musical repose. These recitative-like sections provide a brief respite from the flurry of activity in Leonarda’s boisterous sonata.

Although Leonarda herself offered no subtitle, later musicians nicknamed this piece “The Palindrome Sonata.” While not an exact mirror image of start and finish, the piece features balanced time signatures and tempo indications with several early sections repeated later on. Even an attentive listener might have trouble hearing this structure, but that Leonarda pulls off such a compositional juggling act confirms the confident skill with which she wrote.

Program notes continue on page 6 5 Program Notes, continued

Francesca Caccini (1587 – 1637), eldest daughter of famed Florentine composer, , received her musical training from her father, one of the most important composers of the early seventeenth century. In addition to lessons in voice and composition, Giulio also instructed his daughter on harpsichord and lute. Francesca performed at the Medici court as early as age thirteen as a result of her father’s strong connections to the Medici family. Her performances included work in the theater, in church and in private concerts. By 1623, Francesca was the highest-paid singer—male or female— at the Medici court.

Caccini arrived on the music publishing scene in 1618, positioning herself as the best-known and most prolific female composer of her era. Although Caccini published less than later female musicians, her early visibility as a published composer stands as a pivotal moment in music history. Her Primo libro delle musiche a una e due voci (1618), which contains “Non sò se quel sorriso” performed on tonight’s concert, and her balletto, La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina (1625), are the most prominent works among her few extant compositions.

In a letter to Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, a Florentine librettist and frequent collaborator with the composer, Caccini revealed her anxiety regarding the upcoming publication of her primo libro. She feared the possible repercussions for including her father’s name in the book’s introductory comments. On one hand, mentioning Giulio might come across as touting her famous father’s name or imply (incorrectly) that she was trying to pass her father’s works off as her own. On the other hand, if Francesca failed to mention her father, she risked appearing ungrateful or conceited.

Nevertheless, Caccini’s debut publication rolled off the presses six months after her worry-ridden letter to Buonarroti. Tonight’s song from the collection confirms the quality of her work and her awareness of public tastes. “Non sò se quel sorriso,” is a canzonetta, or light strophic song, a genre popular among musically literate circles of her time. The anonymous text expresses the uncertainty of a burgeoning or, perhaps, misinterpreted love. The repeated vocal melody, with its stepwise motion, made the piece accessible to amateurs and appealing to professionals who might take advantage of multiple opportunities for ornamentation.

6 Program Notes, continued

The next composer on tonight’s program also benefited from her family’s royal associations. Parisian harpsichordist and composer, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665 – 1729) began her musical career in the court of Louis XIV, the most influential model for artistic patronage after the Thirty Years’ War. Born into a family of master masons and musicians, Elisabeth Jacquet first played for the king when she was five years old. Contemporaneous accounts of her musical precocity remind modern readers of later descriptions of the young Mozart’s genius. An article from the Parisian Mercure galant observed, “There is a prodigy who has appeared here for the last four years. She sings at sight the most difficult music. She accompanies herself, and others who wish to sing, on the harpsichord, which she plays in an inimitable manner. She composes pieces and plays them in any key one suggests.” Another seventeenth-century writer deemed her “the marvel of our century.”

The young performer and composer spent three of her formative years under the guardianship of Madame de Montespan, Louis XIV’s mistress. Jacquet left the court in 1684 to marry organist Marin de la Guerre and quickly established herself as a renowned teacher and performer across Paris, acclaimed for the exquisite concerts she gave in her Paris home. In 1776 Sir John Hawkins wrote in his A General History of the Science and Practice of Music that Jacquet de la Guerre was able to “sing and accompany herself with so rich and exquisite a flow of harmony as captivated all that heard her.” Biographer Évard Titon du Tillet remarked on her “marvelous talent” as a harpsichordist, raving about her ability to improvise preludes and fantasies for half an hour. He concluded, “One can say that never has a person of her sex had such great talents as she did for musical composition and for the admirable manner with which she performed on the harpsichord and organ.”

Les pieces de clavessin premier livre (1687), Jacquet de la Guerre’s first published volume, contains the harpsichord suite featured on tonight’s program. In the work’s dedication to Louis XIV, Jacquet de la Guerre expresses her gratitude for the king’s interest in her music education. At the same time, she reveals an awareness of her unconventional foray into published composition, admitting that her publication is “a sort of piece that no one of my sex has yet attempted.” The success of her premiere publication encouraged Jacquet de la Guerre to work in other genres such as cantata, sonata, and music for accompanied keyboard, culminating in her recognition as the first woman in France to compose a publicly performed opera.

Program notes continue on page 8 7 Program Notes, continued

This evening’s concert features five movements from Jacquet de la Guerre’s Harpsichord Suite No. 4 in F Major. The suite developed in the mid-seventeenth century as a set of stylized dance pieces linked as a single work through common tonality and shared motivic material. It remained popular into the last half of the seventeenth century as one of the principal types of keyboard composition. Over time the various movements became disconnected from actual dancing, but the dances themselves and their cultural associations remained familiar to seventeenth-century listeners. While harmonies and themes held from dance to dance, each had a characteristic rhythm. Even non-dancing listeners heard the distinctions between the individual dances of the suite and enjoyed the contrasts from movement to movement.

The first movement in Jacquet de la Guerre’s suite features a distinctively French genre, the unmeasured prelude, labeled tocade. The composer gracefully weaves free, improvisatory sections with more strictly measured portions, creating seamless transitions between the measured and unmeasured sections of the work. Even an attentive listener may find it hard to hear where the performer is improvising and where the composer has taken back the reins. The next two movements, an allemande [French for “German”] and a courante [French for “running” or “flowing”] move along at moderate tempos, but differ in meter. The sarabande, which originated as a lively Spanish dance, follows the later French style of a slower, decorous dance. The gigue [French for “jig”] and the minuet conclude the suite with a return to lively rhythmic activity.

The quality of Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s premiere publication demonstrates that the composer did not merely publish in a genre previously untapped by women. Rather, her work confirms that she composed music of the same caliber of her male contemporaries. The delicate rhythmic balance in her preludes non mesurès; her rich harmonies with their sudden tonal shifts and bold harmonic progressions; her simple, yet appealing, melodies that cleverly incorporate syncopation; virtuosic passage work; and artistically crafted changes in texture attest to her position among the finest French composers of the seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries.

8 Program Notes, continued

The following set of arias comes from Barbara Strozzi (1619 – 1677), a composer commemorated in 2019 on the 400th anniversary of her birth. Strozzi benefitted from an uncommon music education and platform. As the adopted (possibly illegitimate) daughter of famed Venetian librettist, poet, and dramatist Giulio Strozzi, the young Strozzi had access to academic and artistic circles typically reserved only for men. In addition, her formal education with the celebrated Italian composer Francesco Cavalli afforded Strozzi more musical opportunities than most contemporary women (and many men.)

As hostess at her father’s musical salon, the Accademia degli Incogniti, Barbara fulfilled multiple roles in the academy’s meetings. In addition to performing her own works as musical entertainment for the gatherings, she also moderated academic debates between the male attendees. In fact, Strozzi herself often suggested topics for debate which might include discussions of how slander might kindle or hinder love or whether tears or song is a more piquant weapon in love. Such topics immediately bring to mind the texts of many of Strozzi’s evocative songs, which she performed in this setting.

The Venetian printing business was booming in the middle of the seventeenth century and composers benefited from new technologies of production and distribution. Although run almost exclusively by men, the Venetian presses did not balk at printing Strozzi’s works. In fact, the number of Strozzi’s printed secular vocal music publications in mid-seventeenth-century Venice surpassed that of any other composer of the day, including men. Over twenty years, beginning in 1644, she published eight books of secular vocal music, an unprecedented output for a female composer. Tonight’s concert offers selections from four of those volumes.

Strozzi specialized almost exclusively in two vocal genres: cantata and aria. While her lengthy cantatas feature contrasting sections, her arias are usually shorter and often strophic or at least include an enclosed refrain. Although Strozzi explored a variety of emotional states throughout her compositions, suffering ran as a common theme through many works. The three arias in this set demonstrate her varied treatment of and responses to this agonizing emotion. She sometimes depicts suffering in a typical somber sense, yet at other times Strozzi sets a pathetic text playfully and ironically with tossed-off melismas and carefree rhythms.

9 Program notes continue on page 10 Program Notes, continued

“La Vendetta” demonstrates Strozzi’s use of humor and irony to portray suffering. From Strozzi’s second volume of 1651, this aria features the combined forces of father and daughter, the only piece on tonight’s program with a text from Giulio Strozzi’s pen. Additionally, this piece stands out in Strozzi’s catalog as one among few to employ violins along with the voice and continuo. A spirited refrain of sweet revenge contrasts with ominous verses that illustrate the protagonist’s inner suffering.

“Miei pensieri,” from Strozzi’s Op. 6, takes a more typical approach to suffering incurred from unattainable love. The descending tetrachord, a common seventeenth-century compositional device, immediately signals a lament in the first four notes of the vocal line. In contrast to Strozzi’s other two arias in tonight’s program, “Miei pensieri” features three verses with no refrain. Displaying the nimbleness of the lyrical soprano voice, the melody weaves through repetitive step-wise passages that illustrate inner turmoil. This introspective mood of the music supports the pensive disposition of the text.

Playful irony returns in “Mi fà rider” from Strozzi’s Op. 7. Her light-hearted setting of the text may trick the listener into believing the protagonist is happily in love. A jaunty tempo, sprightly rhythms, and the melismatic treatment of the word rider [laugh] all displayed within the aria’s first phrase, collectively convey bliss and happiness. Intent listening, however, reveals hopelessness, not hopefulness, as the true subject. Abrupt changes in meter and rhythm clearly distinguish the mood shifts from verses to refrain. While the verses portray the seriousness and hopelessness of suffering, the refrain dismisses the abysmal feelings through wit and satire.

We return to the Collegio di S. Orsola for the final piece before intermission. Leonarda’s Sonata Duodecima a Violino Solo, recognized as one of her most virtuosic and harmonically complex instrumental works, evokes a variety of moods with vibrant displays of contrasts in tempo and tonality. Moments of syncopation add to the rhythmic interest of this piece. From somber, perhaps even sorrowful, chromatic passages to brisk, dance-like sections to singable, melodic passages, Leonarda demonstrates the caliber of music hidden behind the convent wall.

Program notes continue on page 17 10 Translations

Non sò se quel sorriso I do not know if that smile Non so se quel sorriso I do not know if that smile mi schernisce o m’affida sneers at me or reassures me; se quel mirarmi fiso if that fixed look m’alletta o mi diffida. attracts me or warn me. Gia schernito e deriso Already mocked and derided da bella donna infida by a beautiful, but unfaithful woman, non vorrei più che’l core I do not want this heart fosse strazio d’amore. tormented by love.

Non vo’ più per dolcezza I care no more about the sweetness d’immaginato bene. of imagined goodness. Nutrimi d’amarezza You feed me with bitterness, vivendo sempre in pene, living always in pain, né per nuova bellezza a new love portar i lacci e catene, no longer laces and chains me, né graver l’alma ancella I will not burden the maiden’s soul di inferma novella. with a pitiful story.

Se tu vuoi ch’io t’adori If you want me to adore you, d’amor stella gentile, gentle star of love, ti canti, e ch’io t’onori I sing of you, and honor you su la mia cetra docile on my sweet lyre, a più degni tesori toward more worthy treasures a guideron non vile guided not by a coward, chiama l’avida speme I call the eager hope che spregiata già teme. which scorns fear.

Soffrir’io più non voglio I no longer want to suffer la ferità crudele the cruel wound d’un cor cinto d’orgoglio, of a heart bound by pride; d’un anima infedele’ an unfaithful soul. Né tra scoglio né tra scoglie No longer between rocks, affidar più le vele I will not trust the sails della mia libertate of my liberty senza certa pietate. without the certainty of compassion. ~ Anonymous ~ translation by Jordyn Elizabeth Beranek copyright © 2014

11 Translations, continued

La Vendetta Revenge La vendetta è un dolce affetto, Revenge is a sweet thing, il dispetto vuol dispetto, one ill turn deserves another, il rifarsi è un gran diletto. and getting back is a great delight! Vane son scuse e ragioni In vain are excuses and reasons per placar donna oltraggiata, to try to placate an outraged woman; non pensar che ti perdoni! don’t believe that she will forgive you! Donna mai non vendicata The woman that has never taken revenge pace ha in bocca e guerra in petto. has peace in her mouth and war in her heart. Non perdona in vendicarsi When taking revenge, she won’t forgive all'amante più gradito even the most welcome lover che l'adora e vuol rifarsi who adores her and wants to make up quand'il fiero insuperbito when the fierce and proud fellow verso lei perd'il rispetto. loses respect for her. ~ Giulio Strozzi ~ translation Candace Magner

Miei pensieri, e che bramate? My thoughts, for what do you yearn? Non mi state più a stordire. No longer stun me. le bellezze ch'adorate The beauties which you adore non vi vogliono aggradire. no longer want to please you. Se goder voi non sperate, If you have no hope for your own joy, miei pensieri, e che bramate? my thoughts, for what do you then yearn? Miei capricci, omai cessate My fancies, cease now di seguir chi vi dà pene: to follow one who gives you pain: quelle luci dispietate those unmerciful eyes mai per voi non sian' serene. would never be calm for you. Se in amor voi delirate, If you are delirious with love, miei capricci, omai cessate. my fancies, cease now! Mie speranze, v'ingannate! My hopes, you are deceived! Quel bel sen' non è per voi: That beautiful breast is not for you: altre labra venturate other fortunate lips godon' ora i pomi suoi. now enjoy its fruits. Troppo, ah troppo, vaneggiate! Ah, it is too much, you are raving! Mie speranze, v’ingannate! My hopes, you are deceived! ~ Anonymous ~ translation Candace A Magner

12 Translations, continued

Mi fa rider Hope makes me laugh Mi fa rider la speranza, Hope makes me laugh, Che per forza vuol ch'io speri, wanting to force me to be hopeful, E ch'io semini i pensieri and for me to sow my thoughts Nel terren dell'incostanza. in the ground of inconstancy. Sempre vol quest'importuna That pest always wants Ch'io contrasti col mio fato, me to contend with fate, E ch'io segua un cor intrato and to pursue an intractable heart Al dispetto di fortuna. in despite of fortune. Ma senza godere But since I don't enjoy Ch'io peni ogni dì, suffering every day, Non è di dovere, it's not an obligation, Non dico così; it isn't, I say; Non piace al mio core Such barbarous treatment Ch'è scaltr'amatore doesn't suit my heart, Si barbara usanza. which is astute in love. Mi fa rider la speranza... Hope makes me laugh... Favolosi precipitii Phaeton's fall* Furon quelli di Fetonte, [Phaeton] was a myth, E bugiardi in Flegetonte [Phlegethon] and Tityos's sufferings** Son le pene ancor di Tizi. [Tityos] in the Phlegethon*** are also fiction, Io sì che nel pianto but I really drown Sommergomi ogn'hora, perpetually in tears, E sempre pur tanto and my ardor L'ardor mi divora, devours me continuously, Che provo un inferno so that I'm in an inferno Che dura in eterno, that lasts for eternity E sempre s'avanza. and keeps getting worse. Mi fa rider la speranza.... Hope makes me laugh... ~ Giovanni Pietro Monesi ~ translation Richard Kolb

* Phaeton, a human son of Apollo, tried to drive the chariot of the sun, and was killed by Zeus when he lost control and crashed the chariot into the sea. ** Tityos: A giant in the underworld, punished for attempting to rape Leto by having vultures eternally devour his liver. *** Phlegethon: river of fire in the underworld.

Translations continue on page 16 13 PROGraM

Sonata Decima in F , Op. 16 Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704) • • • Non sò se quel sorriso Francesca Caccini (1587-1640) • • • Harpsichord Suite No. 4 in F Major Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729) Tocade Allemande Courante I Sarabande Gigue Minuet Alison DeSimone, harpsichord • • • La Vendetta Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) Miei pensieri Mi fa rider • • • Sonata Duodecima for Solo in D minor, Op. 16 Isabella Leonarda

InteRmissioN Che si puó fare Barbara Strozzi • • • But a Day (2019) Ingrid Stölzel (b. 1971) • • • Suite de Danse Mademoiselle Duval (1718 – 1775) from Les Génies ou Les Caractères de l’amour Air pour les genies Air Tendre Passapieds I & II Passacaille Tambourin I & II Minuet I & II • • • • • •

Reception following in the Garden Room on the lower level. Performers

Victoria Botero – Soprano Alison DeSimone – Harpsichord Ingrid Stölzel – Composer

Baroque Violin William Bauer and Monty Carter Baroque Viola Nell French Baroque Celo Trilla Ray-Carter Theorbo and Baroque Guitar Jeffrey Noonan Harpsichord Charles Metz

Support for this performance and our educational outreach program is provided in part by the Missouri Arts Council, Village Church Arts Alliance, the Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund, and Early Music America.

Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund Translations, continued

Che si può fare? What can you do? Che si può fare? What can you do? Le stelle rubelle The stars, intractable, Non hanno pietà. have no pity. Che s'el cielo non dà Since the gods don't give Un influsso di pace al mio penare, a measure of peace in my suffering, Che si può fare? what can I do?

Che si può dire? What can you say? Da gl'astri disastri From the heavens disasters Mi piovano ogn'hor; keep raining down on me; Che le perfido amor Since that treacherous Cupid Un respiro diniega al mio martire, denies respite to my torture, Che si può dire? what can I say?

Così va rio destin forte tiranna, That's how it is with cruel destiny Gl'innocenti condanna: the powerful tyrant, it condemns the innocent: Così l'oro più fido thus the purest gold Di costanza e di fè, lasso conviene, of constancy and faithfulness, alas, lo raffini d'ogn'hor fuoco di pene. is continually refined in the fire of pain.

Sì, sì, penar deggio, Yes, yes, I have to suffer, Sì, che darei sospiri, yes, I must sigh, Deggio trarne i respiri. I must breathe with difficulty. In aspri guai per eternarmi In order to eternalize my trials Il ciel niega mia sorte heaven witholds from me Al periodo vital the final period of death Punto di morte. to my lifespan

Voi spirti dannati You spirits of the damned, Ne sete beati you're blessed, S'ogni eumenide ria since all the cruel Eumenides * Sol' è intenta a crucciar l'anima mia. are intent only on torturing my soul.

Se sono sparite Since the furies of Dis * Le furie di Dite, have disappeared, Voi ne gl'elisi eterni you spend your days in the Elysian fields I dì trahete io coverò gl'inferni. while I molder in hell.

Così avvien a chi tocca Thus it happens that he who follows Calcar l'orme d'un cieco, the shadow of a blind god Al fin trabbocca. stumbles in the end. ~ Sig. Brunacci ~translation Richard Kolb

* In Aeschylus's Eumenides, the Furies of Dis, guardians of the underworld were offered a position of honor in Athens by Athena. Upon their acceptance, they were transformed into the Eumenides, or "soothed ones." The reference here combines Aeschylus's account with that of Dante's Inferno.

16 Translations, continued But a Day (Larghetto)

Grant me but a day, love, But a day, Ere I give my heart, My heart away, Ere I say the word I'll ne'er unsay.

Is it earnest with me? Is it play? Did the world in arms Cry to me, "Stay!" Not a moment then Would I delay.

Yet, for very love, I say thee nay. Ere I give my heart, My heart away, Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861 –1907) Grant me but a day, love, But a day!

Program Notes, continued The second half of tonight’s concert begins with a set of two complementary pieces, composed nearly four centuries apart. While Strozzi’s Che si può fare and Stölzel’s “But a Day” originated from different cultures, eras, and continents, each composer carefully honors the text by expressing the central idea of suffering, despair, and hopelessness. These emotions permeate each work in a manner that reflects each composer’s individual style.

Che si può fare, from Strozzi’s eighth publication, begins with a lament figure, a descending, step-wise, four-note motive, establishing the despair the voice articulates with the first phrase, “What can be done?” The swirling, cascading soprano melody intensifies the meaning and overall mood of the text. Text-painting occurs in the ascending leaps on words such as stelle [stars] and cielo [sky] while melismatic passages, a characteristic ingredient of Strozzi’s compositional affective style, express the emotional depth of penare [sorrows]. Strozzi lends intensity to seemingly neutral words, such as che [what], by repeating them over and over again. Although these words appear unimportant at face value, their repetition in performance intensifies the emotions of the text. Her setting of the text, with its melodic nuances and characteristic metric shifts, represents the disparate feelings of despair and hopelessness, then bitterness and retaliation, and, finally, reluctant resolve.

Program notes continue on page 18 17 Program Notes, continued Ingrid Stölzel draws on Strozzi’s expression of suffering in her commissioned work, “But a Day.” Employing another female voice, Stölzel sets the text of nineteenth-century poet, Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861-1907). Echoing Strozzi’s work, Stölzel engages some of the same tools, using chromaticism, metric shifts, tempo changes, and angular melodic leaps to convey the feelings of suffering, hopelessness, and despair. Like Strozzi, she emphasizes the protagonist’s suffering with repetition, “Grant me, grant me.”

Stölzel explained her text selection process in an interview with KU Today: “When I read the Italian texts it became very clear [that] a lot of it was about love and despair…There’s also hopefulness in that, but some of the words keep coming back: ‘Che si può fare — What can I do? What can I do?' And later: ‘What can I say?' So there was this repetition of words in the original text of the Strozzi piece that I was really drawn to. The second verse is, ‘What can I say? The heavens are raining disasters on me. If love will not grant me a moment of breath to relieve all my suffering, what can I say?’ I was looking for a poem that would do something similar. And then I came across this amazing poem, [Larghetto], by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, and the first thing I read was, ‘Grant me but a day, love, but a day, ere I give my heart away, my heart away.’ It felt like the same text.”

The last piece on tonight’s concert comes from the pen of Mlle. Duval (1718 – 1775). We know little about this French composer, including her first name, but contemporaneous reviews confirm her presence as a composer and harpsichordist in eighteenth-century Paris. Mercure de France described Duval’s Les Génies ou Les Caractères de l’amour, the work featured on tonight’s program, as “varied and extremely well-developed in many respects…the scenes well treated, some violin airs and choruses well composed and quite lively.”

Composed when Duval was eighteen years old, this work typifies the ballet-héroïque, a French opéra-ballet form popular during Louis XV’s reign. As a flourishing art form during the reign of Louis XIV, dance maintained its prominence during Louis XV’s sovereignty. A reflection of the state, dance exalted the monarch and his kingdom as refined, graceful and orderly and reflected the subservience of the individual (dancer or citizen) to both. Duval continues this exaltation of the monarchy through dance and music by creating a piece that reflects this elegance and order at Louis XV’s court.

Typically, the ballet-héroïque features heroic and noble characters, but the events in which the characters operate are lighthearted and festive. Following this convention, Duval populates Les Génies ou Les Caractères de l’amour with exotic characters such as genies, nymphs, and gnomes, highlighting the tricks they play on innocent mortals. Although it claimed the honor as France’s second publicly performed opera by a woman, Les Génies ou Les Caractères de l’amour had only nine performances credited to a problematic libretto. Despite the production’s quick demise, the dances concluding our concert are graceful and charming, a perfect way to end our summer series.

18 Program Notes, continued With the elegant dances of Mlle. Duval, we come to the end of this 2019 KC Baroque summer series. As I wrote these notes, I consulted with Jeff Noonan who has written program notes for KC Baroque over the last several years. Through our exchanges we discussed the best way to conclude this season’s notes. The following conclusion represents some of our conversations, allowing you to hear from both annotators for the KC Baroque 2019 Summer Series. This season we have heard music written and performed by women, music paid for and promoted by women, and music composed by women of times long past. In addition, KC Baroque has presented twenty-first-century women this season as concert presenters, performers, composers, lecturers, and annotators. In the process of recognizing these women of the past, we have also encountered the ignorance and misogyny in their respective cultures and times. Some of these same mindsets persist today, but, hopefully, we can use the past to reflect on the present. One of the goals of Early Music scholarship and performance is to keep alive the artistic power and joy of previous ages, not for the benefit of the past but for our benefit right now. If KC Baroque has done its job this summer, you have participated in a project that reflects our contemporary culture and our regard for each other through our shared history and humanity. Thanks for being with us. Be sure to join us for Baroque and BBQ on September 28. We look forward to sharing with you plans for next summer! Program Notes by Lacie Eades

GuEst Artists

VICTORIA BOTERO, Soprano From Baroque to New Music, from opera to concert to world music stages, her “clear, beautiful, and thrilling” voice (Wichita Eagle) and “considerable charisma” (Kansas City Star) allows Colombian-American soprano Victoria Botero to deftly navigate a variety of musical genres and styles. The Kansas City Star recently wrote about her presence on the concert stage, “Soprano Victoria Botero is one of Kansas City’s most passionate and caring performers. A concert by Botero is more than just a recital of beautiful songs, it’s a reflection on the human condition.” Victoria enjoys a wide-range of concert work featuring collaborations with many different artists and ensembles. Mozart concert repertoire has figured prominently in her recent work, including performances of the Requiem, Concert Arias, and the Vesperae solennes de confessore. Other highlights include The Cecilia Series, a critically acclaimed concert series featuring the music of women as composers and performers from the medieval to the modern era, and the premiere of a new work with the Atemporchestra at TEDxKC. Victoria’s operatic roles include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Adina in L'elisir d'amore and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Union Avenue Opera, and The Mother, in the world premiere of Susan Kander's The Giver with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Victoria received her B.M in Vocal Performance from The Catholic University of America, an M.A. Voice, and an M.M. Musicology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and is a student of renowned master teacher, Inci Bashar. She apprenticed with Des Moines Metro Opera and Tulsa Opera. Fluent in Spanish and Italian, she has performed in more than 15 languages and dialects. She currently resides in Kansas City.

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ALISON DeSIMONE, Harpsichord Dr. Alison DeSimone, Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, teaches courses in Renaissance and the and opera history with a specialization in eighteenth-century topics. She is currently working on two book projects: a co-edited essay collection, Music and the Benefit Performance in Eighteenth-Century Britain (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press) and the monograph The Power of Pastiche: Musical Miscellany and the Creation of Cultural Identity in Early Eighteenth-Century London (forthcoming, Clemson University Press). Alsion holds a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from the University of Michigan (2013) and a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College. Her research has been recognized with grants and fellowships from the American Association of University Women, The Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan, The Handel Institute of the United Kingdom, and The American Handel Society. She has presented her work both nationally and internationally, and her article on Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s opera Médée won the Leland Fox Award from the National Opera Association and appeared in The Opera Journal in 2011. As a harpsichordist, Dr. DeSimone holds particular interest in French and English keyboard repertories of the seventeenth century, as well as Handel’s keyboard music. She studied with Edward Parmentier at the University of Michigan, and has played with early music groups and musicians in Cincinnati, Ann Arbor, and Poughkeepsie, NY.

INGRID STÖLZEL, Composer Ingrid Stölzel’s compositions have been commissioned by leading soloists and ensembles and performed in concert halls and festivals worldwide. These include the Seoul Arts Center, Merkin Concert Hall, Kennedy Center, the Thailand International Composition Festival, Festival Osmose (Belgium), Vox Feminae Festival (Israel), Dot the Line Festival (South Korea), Ritornello Chamber Music Festival (Canada), Festival of New Music at Florida State (USA), Beijing Modern Music Festival (China), Festival of New American Music (USA), and SoundOn Festival of Modern Music (USA). Her music has been recognized in numerous competitions, among them recently the Suzanne and Lee Ettelson Composer's Award, Red Note Composition Competition, the Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers, and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Competition. Her music appears on various commercial releases including her portrait album “The Gorgeous Nothings” which features her chamber and vocal chamber music. Born and raised in Germany, Stölzel has resided in the United States since 1991. She holds a DMA in composition from the University of Missouri, Conservatory of Music and Dance in Kansas City and a Master of Music in composition from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. She serves on the composition faculty at the University of Kansas School of Music.

WILLIAM BAUER, Baroque Violin William Bauer specializes in early bowed strings instruments including the Renaissance violin, the Baroque violin and the exotic viola d’amore. He has numerous national and international performance credits as well many recording appearances. Bill’s recent performances include work as a featured soloist with Boston Baroque, Chicago's Ars Antigua, and Atlanta's New Trinity Baroque. In addition to his regular appearances with KCBC, Bill has maintained an important position as an Early Music teacher and performer across the region, directing ensembles in St. Louis and Louisville and offering early string lessons, classes and workshops from Texas to Wisconsin. Highlights of recent seasons included solo appearances in Budapest, Hungary; Berchtesgadden, Germany; Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik Croatia; and the Belgrade Early Music Festival (Serbia). Bill’s most recent solo recording is Vivaldi's in D Minor for viola d’amore with the Washington Bach Sinfonia for the Dorian label. Many of his recordings may be heard as MP3s at arsantiguapresents.com. 20 ARTIST BIOS, continued

MONTY CARTER, Baroque Violin With KC Baroque since its inception, Monty Carter plays a Jacob Weiss violin (Austria, circa 1740). He serves as Concertmaster of the Heritage Philharmonic of Jackson County, Principal Violist and Program Annotator for the Saint Joseph Symphony and freelance musician throughout the area. A studio instructor, ensemble clinician and composer, Monty has taught Applied String studies and String Methods courses at colleges and universities in Kansas and Missouri. He holds the master’s degree in music performance from Louisiana State University, with a bachelor degree from UMKC Conservatory. With his wife, Trilla Ray-Carter, Monty provides performance and instruction services through Carray Music.

NELL FRENCH, Baroque Viola Nell French has performed with KC Baroque since 2010. As a period violist, she has participated in the Bach Cantata Vespers Series, Jewell Early Music Summer Festival, the Kansas City Bachathon, Ensemble Musical Offering (Milwaukee), and Collegeum Vocale (St Louis). As a modern violist, Nell is co-founder and violist with the string trio Fontana, Heritage Philharmonic and the Mountain Duo, as well as serving as an extra with the KC Symphony. She has taught applied music at Missouri Western University and at KCK Community College, and currently maintains a private viola studio. A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and University of Colorado at Boulder, Nell plays a 1792 Jakob Staininger viola with a Tourte reproduction bow by Andrew Dipper.

CHARLES METZ, Harpsichord Charles Metz studied piano at Penn State University, beginning his harpsichord studies through private lessons with the legendary Igor Kipnis. In the process of earning a Ph.D. in Historical Performance Practice at Washington University in Saint Louis Missouri, he studied with Trevor Pinnock. More recently, Charles has worked with Webb Wiggins and Lisa Crawford at the Oberlin Conservatory. He has performed across the country with concerts in Chicago IL, Saratoga NY, Bennington VT, Louisville, KY as well as solo recitals at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., Oberlin Conservatory. With the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, Charles appeared as the featured keyboard soloist in Bach’s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto under conductor Nicholas McGegan. He has appeared with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Ars Antigua Chicago and the Newberry Consort of Chicago. As an early keyboard specialist, Charles currently performs on his historic Italian virginal, and fortepianos. Dr. Metz also earned a doctorate in Optometry and worked for twenty years in his own private practice and Clarkson Eyecare in St. Louis before retiring ten years ago. In addition to his performing activity, Charles serves on the Board of Directors of Chamber Music Society of St. Louis and the Newberry Consort.

JEFFREY NOONAN, Theorbo, Baroque Guitar Jeffrey Noonan has played early plucked instruments for nearly forty years across the country, including numerous appearances with KCBaroque. Based in St. Louis, he has performed regionally with Shakespear’s Bande, Early Music St. Louis, Bourbon Baroque (Louisville), Madison Early Music Festival (Wisconsin), Ars Antigua Chicago and Musik Ekklesia (Indianapolis). In addition, Jeff founded and directed the quintet Such Sweete Melodie; Musicke’s Cordes¸ a violin/theorbo duo; and La petite brise, a trio featuring the Baroque flute. An in-demand accompanist and continuo player, Jeff performs a repertoire ranging from sixteenth-century chanson with solo voice to Handel’s Messiah with the St. Louis Symphony. An expert on the early guitar, Jeff has produced two books and several articles for Oxford Music Online on that subject as well as an edition of eighteenth-century violin sonatas for A-R Editions. Jeff holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame (AB), the Hartt School of Music (BMus) and Washington University in St. Louis (MMus., PhD) He has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and in 2015 the Newberry Library awarded him the Cullen Fellowship to research music manuscripts in its collection. In 2016, the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission awarded him an Artist Fellowship in recognition of his accomplishments in scholarship, pedagogy and performance. ARTIST BIOS, continued

TRILLA RAY-CARTER, Baroque Cello Trilla is the founder and director of the Kansas City Baroque Consortium, and co-founder of the Jewell Early Music Summer Festival. Locally, she has served as principal cellist of the Liberty Symphony, the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, and has held teaching positions at Cottey College, KCK Community College and William Jewell College. Trilla has performed and taught throughout Europe including , the former Yugoslavia, and Germany. Before returning to the Midwest, she worked in Los Angeles as a studio musician. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University, Appleton WI with graduate studies in performance at California State University and the UMKC Conservatory of Music. In 2007 and 2008, she participated in the International Baroque Institute at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, where she worked with leading baroque specialists Phoebe Carrai, Elizabeth Blumentstock, Jed Wentz and Gonzalo Ruiz. Trilla was chosen to participate in Artist Inc. KC, an artist entreprenuership training program for which she earned a $1000 Peer Recognition Award for her project development and design for the estabishment of KC Baroque as a non-profit performing arts organization and the launch of this annual summer concert series.

Program Booklets from Concert I & II are now online at kcbaroque.org.

kcbaroque.org [email protected]

Kansas City Baroque Consortium 10413 WALROND AVENUE KANSAS CITY, MO 64137 www.kcbaroque.org DONORS

Concert Underwriter $3,000-$10,000 Gigue: $100-$499, continued Eileen Chase & William J. Stefchik Judy Johnson * Charles J. Metz JoZach Miller Missouri Arts Council George Moss, in honor of Dr. William Moss, who brought music to our family Continuo Circle: $2,000-$2,999 Richard Mundis, MD Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund Dean and Janet Nash Susan Neuburger Chaconne: $1,000-$1,999 Dale & Marcia Ramsey Francis Family Foundation Ann Marie Rigler, in honor of Eric T. Williams Ann Friedman * Susan Neuberger Sharon M. Lundy John & Fiona Schaefer Bill & Pam Pogson Abigail & Charles Singleton * Eric T. Williams & Ann Marie Rigler Minuet: up to $99 Carolyn Cook Albert and C. Dale Albert Gavotte: $500-$999 Angela Bahner Linton T. Bayless Jr. MD & Sarah Deubner * Martha Barrett Alison DeSimone * Katherine Beebe Nicholas Good Valerie Bottinger, in memory of Dr. Robert Bidwell M. Ann Martin Autumn Burleson Shalon Fund Jan Cohick Peter Tremaine Ian and Jennifer Coleman Herbert & Lisa Young Dianne and Jerry Daugherty Kristin M. and John P. Dow, Jr. Gigue: $100-$499 John Green Anonymous Paula Haas Anonymous Rev. Anne Hutcherson Mark & Valerie Andruss Michael McGrath Mark Ball Richard & Clare Bell Network for Good, Anonymous donations Sandra & Eddie Carter Jennifer Owen Trilla & Monty Carter, Haley Shaw in memory of E. Wayne & Barbara Ray Mike Sigler Early Music America Kayl Soukup and Carl Cook Ellen & John French Brenda J. Ward Jeffrey L. & Sarah J. Hon Adrienne Worstell Klusman Insurance Agency David & Suzanne Johnson on behalf of Judy Johnson

Kansas City Baroque Consortium is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Your tax-free charitable donation to KC Baroque supports our efforts to serve the metropolitan area with lively and meaningful concerts, and supports our vibrant local and regional artistic community. A Benefit for KC BAROQUE BAROQUE &

Saturday, September 28 6:30 to 9:30 pm St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

An Evening of FOOD, FUN & FIDDLING AROUND AWARD Winning BBQ by Chef Tom Silent Auction Live Music & Entertainment with members and Friends of KC Baroque

TICKETS AT $75 kcbaroque.org

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