CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Yaxuan Cui's
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Yaxuan Cui’s Master’s Vocal Recital A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Music, Performance By Yaxuan Cui August 2021 The graduate project of Yaxuan Cui is approved by: _________________________________________ ____________ Professor Ketchie-Saar, Diane Date _________________________________________ ____________ Professor Erica Lazerow Davis Date _________________________________________ ____________ Dr. Hugo Vera, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Table of Contents Signature Page...........................................................................................................................ii Abstract.....................................................................................................................................iv Bibliography...............................................................................................................................1 Appendix A: Program.................................................................................................................3 Appendix B: Texts and Translations..........................................................................................5 iii ABSTRACT Master’s Vocal Recital By Yaxuan Cui Master of Music in Music Performance This paper will provide background knowledge and insights into the musical works included in my Graduate Recital. The songs and arias represent five languages - Italian, English, French, German, and Chinese, as well as present unique stylistic challenges. The first work on my program is an Italian song, “Lungi dal caro bene”, by Antonio Secchi. Antonio Secchi lived from 1761-1833 and little is known know about his life. The song’s title means Far from my Dear Beloved. The lyrics read, “Far from my dear beloved, I cannot live; I am in a sea of pain; Far from my dear beloved, I feel my heart give way. A sweet dark dream steals over me if she is not near; Light fails me.” This song’s form is ternary, ABA, ending with the opening text. The song starts in F major, modulates to C minor in the B section and then returns to F major. “Lungi dal caro bene” is a beautiful melodic song. When singing this song, the singer needs to pay extra attention to the dynamics. The B section is in C minor and is sung more legato, as if speaking directly from the singer’s heart. The third section is a repetition of the first section. The second Italian song is “Tanto Sospirero” by Pietro Paolo Bencini. Bencini was born into a musical family. He became maestro di cappella at several churches in Rome. His compositional output consists mostly of religious music, including several oratorios and cantatas. This song’s lyrics mean, “E’er will I sigh in woe, E’er bitter tears shall flow, Till iv she at last shall know of love I perish; E’en then my soul shall vow, ‘Dear one, I love thee so!’” “Tanto Sospirero” is an arietta, a short aria, and is also a love song. When singing this song, one needs to focused on producing a legato line. The contrast between the dynamics in this song is very important as the lyrics and melodies are repetitive. The third piece, “O del mio amato ben”, was written by Stefano Donaudy. “Stefano Donaudy was a minor, though significant composer, active in the 1890s and the early twentieth century.”1 He is now famous for his collection 36 Arie di Stile Antico and “O del mio amato ben” is a famous piece from that work. His collection, 36 Arie di Stile Antico, was first published by Casa Ricordi in 1918 with revisions in 1922, but using material composed from 1892 onwards. This aria is strophic and has two verses. The text is about a singer’s grief at the loss of his beloved. There are many crescendos and diminuendos and these detailed notations by the composer are very helpful in expressing the longing and sorrow of the text. The last aria is “Una furtiva lagrima”, from Act II, Scene 2 of the Italian opera L'Elisir d'Amore by Gaetano Donizetti, was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Nemorino is a young peasant in love with Adina. Nemorino thinks that he has consumed a love potion when it actually is nothing but a bottle of wine. Unknown to him, he has inherited a large fortune, so whenever he enters a room, women give him their devoted attention. He becomes confident, thinking that the “love potion” has worked, and ignores everyone, including Adina. She becomes hurt and retreats but she returns at the end of the opera, and when Nemorino realizes that Adina loves him, he sings this aria to express his 1 Robert Cummings, “Stefano Donaudy,” accessed November 2, 2020, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stefano-donaudy-mn0001208080/biography v feelings. The lyrics translate to, “A single furtive tear from her eyes sprang. What more need I look for? She loves me! Yes, she loves me, I see it.” This song has a long introduction and requires the performer to illustrate the depth of Nemorino’s feelings from his new found discovery. The second set of songs on my program is in English and the first three songs were written by Roger Quilter, an English composer. “Roger Quilter's output of songs, more than one hundred in total, added to the canon of English art songs that are still sung today. Among the most popular are "Love's Philosophy", "Fair House of Joy", "Come Away Death", "Go, Lovely Rose", "Weep You No More", "By the Sea", and his setting of "O Mistress Mine".”2 The first song is “Take, o take lips away”. “This text is from Measure for Measure, the only one of Shakespeare’s plays to be set in Vienna, and is sung by a boy to Mariana, the woman whom Angelo promised to marry before he abandons her, thus reneging on his promise. The tone, therefore, is bittersweet, and slightly more on the melancholy side.”3 The lyrics read, “Take, o take those lips away, That so sweetly were forsworn; And those eyes, the break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn: But my kisses bring again, Seals of love, but sealed, But sealed in vain!” In “Take, o take those lips away”, there is an “Andante espressivo” written in the score. Andante means “a relatively slow, moderately paced tune”, and “The Italian musical term espressivo is an indication to sing expressively, and may also encourage physical expression by the performer. Espressivo allows a performer to convey the 2 “Roger Quilter,” Wikipedia, accessed November 2, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Quilter. 3 “A Short Analysis of the Shakespeare Song ‘Take, Oh Take Those Lips Away’,” Interesting Literature, accessed November 2, 2020, https://interestingliterature.com/2019/07/a-short-analysis-of-the-shakespeare-song-take-oh-take-those-lips-away/ . vi mood of a musical composition by taking slight liberties with its articulation and dynamics.”4 This song is not technically difficult so the singer should pay special attention to the specific dynamic markings made by the composer. The second Roger Quilter song is “O Mistress mine”. This song is from a set of Three Shakespeare Songs, Op.6, along with “Come away, death,” and “Blow, blow, thou winter wind”. This song is sung by Feste from Twelfth Night Act II, scene III. The lyrics are from a poem that has two verses and conveys the idea of carpe diem (“Youth’s a stuff will not endure”, line 12).5 “Quilter’s piano accompaniment is structured with a dotted rhythm melody that serves as a brief introduction, followed by simple chords. The vocal line is equally uncomplicated, built with broken chords and simple rhythms and intervals. The first line of the text is repeated to complete the song, almost as a wistful afterthought.”6 This song is strophic and the first verse begins, “O Mistress mine where are you roaming? O stay and hear, your true love’s coming, That can sing both high and low. Trip no further pretty sweeting. Journeys end in lovers’ meeting, Every wise man’s son doth know.” The author wants to express the positive attitude that the lover is trying to convey to his beloved to stay with him and not run away. The second part is “What is love, ‘tis not hereafter, Present mirth, hath present laughter: What’s to come, is still unsure. In delay there lies no plenty, Then come kiss me sweet and twenty: Youth’s a stuff will not endure.” This poem expresses that 4 Brandy Kraemer, “Espressivo,” last modified June 19, 2017, https://www.liveabout.com/espressivo-definition-2701908. 5 Patricia M., Blanca G. and Claudia M., "Comment on "O Mistress Mine," by William Shakespeare," Marco Polo, accessed November 2, 2020, https://marcopologencana.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/o-mistress-mine-by-william-shakespeare/. 6 Carol Kimball, Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006). vii time flies, and that we should cherish and celebrate love now in the present rather than wait for the future. The last song of Roger Quilter is “Come away, death.” This song is very different from the previous one because of its emotional depth. “‘Come away death’, is about a man who dies for his uncaring love, and wants to be buried far away anonymously.”7 The song is full of the singer's despair. This song is strophic and consists of two verses. The lyrics begin with, “Come away, come away, death, And in sad cypress let me be laid. Fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid.” The ending text is “Lay me, O, where Sad true lover never find my grave, To weep there!” Shakespeare portrays the character as wanting to spare the feelings of the lover who spurned him, even in the hour of his death. The last English selection is “Total eclipse” from Samson by Handel. Samson is a three-act oratorio by George Frideric Handel, and is considered to be one of his finest dramatic works.