FLAX AND FIRE s o n g s o f d e v o t i o n

Stuart Jackson, tenor Jocelyn Freeman, piano FLAX AND FIRE Songs of Devotion Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) 1 Purcell realisation: ‘Man is for the woman made’ (1947, Motteux) 1.03 2 Canticle 1 ‘My Beloved is Mine’, Op.40 (1947, Quarles) 7.41 3 Um Mitternacht (c.1960, Goethe) 3.50

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) 4 Peregrina 1, No.33 from Mörike-Lieder (1888, Mörike) 2.01 5 An die Geliebte, No.32 from Mörike-Lieder (1888, Mörike) 3.26 6 Verschwiegene Liebe, No.3 from Eichendorff-Lieder (1889, Eichendorff) 2.29 7 Nimmersatte Liebe, No.9 from Mörike-Lieder (1888, Mörike) 2.10

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Tri Sonetti del Petrarca, S270a (1842-46) 8 i Pace non trovo 6.29 9 ii Benedetto sia ‘l giorno 6.35 10 iii I vidi in terra 6.39

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) 11 Mein schöner Stern!, Op.101 No.4 from Minnespiel (1849, Rückert) 2.52 12 Widmung, Op.25 No.1 from Myrthen (1840, Rückert) 2.28 13 Stirb’, Lieb’ und Freud!, Op.35 No.2 from Kernerlieder (1840, Kerner) 5.31 14 Geisternähe, Op.77 No.3 from Lieder und Gesänge, iii (1850, Halm) 2.19

William Denis Browne (1888-1915) 15 To Gratiana dancing and singing (1913, Lovelace) 4.35

Total time 60.12

Stuart Jackson, tenor Jocelyn Freeman, piano 2 Flax & Fire is a recital of songs centred around devotion and passion, with the title inspired by a line from Britten’s Canticle 1, “For I was flax and he was flames of fire”. All the songs encompass a profound feeling of love. In many songs this essence is so intense that it leads to transformation or idolisation, or the infatuation is so strong that we might question the perspective of the object of these affections. As with all matters of the heart there are numerous undercurrents and layers within the immense affection. Flax & Fire provided us with a chance to explore these textures in detail. The opening three Britten songs illustrate a firm sense of belonging, combined with minutiae of inner conflict. Conflict increases to a near-crippling sense of distancing in Mein schöner Stern, Geisternähe and Stirb’, Lieb’ und Freud’!, and to counterbalance this we include several musical antitheses, such as Widmung and Nimmersatte Liebe. The near-religious fervour of Liszt’s centrally-placed sonnets epitomises passionate courtship, whilst To Gratiana dancing and singing concludes the journey with arresting adoration. Jocelyn Freeman, 2020 

Benjamin Britten has been described as the greatest English composer since Henry Purcell, and although a substantial passage of time separates the two, they shared similar musical preoccupations and principles. Britten said of Purcell: “He was open to many influences, he was a practical composer, he wrote for many different occasions... all that I find immensely sympathetic. Above all, I love his setting of words. I had never realised before I first met Purcell’s music that words could be set with such ingenuity, with such colour.” In 1959, Britten wrote of the warm response he and his partner, tenor Peter Pears, received for their performances of Purcell: “In practically every one of our concerts, given the length of three continents over the last twenty years, Peter Pears and I have included a group of Purcell’s songs… It is pleasant to get 3 cheers at the end of Purcell’s ‘Alleluia’ in the home of Schubert and Wolf, requests for a repeat of ‘Man is for the woman made’ in the birthplace of Mozart… and an impressive silence as the last bars of ‘Job’s Curse’ die away in Düsseldorf, where Schumann spent many years.” On the challenge of realising Purcell’s music, Britten explained that “the realiser must soak himself in the composer’s idiom in order to provide natural Purcellian harmonies for the melodies. Nor must he be afraid of those very Purcellian qualities of clarity, strangeness, tenderness and attack.” Man is for the woman made was realised by Britten in 1947, and his sensitivity to Motteux’s text is reflected in the subtly different settings of each verse: “In each successive verse of ‘Man is for the woman made’ I have invented new figuration to match the increasing dottiness of the words.” Purcell’s influence is apparent in Britten’sCanticle I, ‘My Beloved is Mine’, also dating from 1947 and described by Pears in 1952 as Britten’s finest vocal work to date. In 1963, Britten explained that: “The First Canticle was a new invention in a sense although it was certainly modelled on the Purcell Divine Hymns; but few people knew their Purcell well enough to realise that.” While he was writing the work, Britten recorded: “My Canticle goes nicely now & I’m in love with the form”. He and Pears first performed it on 1 November 1947 at a memorial concert for the Rev. Dick Sheppard, one of the founders of the Peace Pledge Union. The 17th-century text, by Quarles, is partly derived from the Song of Solomon, and the music reflects the imagery of two streams overlapping until they merge, weathering a stormy central section but ending as one. Britten contemplated several Goethe settings but only completed one, in 1960: Um Mitternacht. Spare piano chords accentuate a haunting vocal line, tracing a man’s journey from a small boy marvelling at the stars to a grown man drinking in the beauty of his beloved with the same sense of wonder.

Hugo Wolf first became entranced by the words of Mörike in 1886, after which he set over 50 of the poet’s texts during a great surge of creativity. He wrote in February 1888: “I have just put a new song down on paper. A divine song, I 4 tell you! Quite divinely marvellous! … I feel my cheeks glowing like molten iron with excitement, and this state of inspiration is more an exquisite torment to me than pure pleasure”. He went on: “What will the future unfold for me? … Have I a calling? Am I really one of the chosen? … That would be a pretty kettle of fish”.

Mörike wrote five ‘Peregrina’ poems in the wake of an anguished and ultimately doomed relationship. As Wolf explained in a letter of 1890, whilst touring Swabia in Germany or “Mörike country” as he called it, he did not fully understand three of the poems and so opted to set two as a pair of linked songs, Peregrina I and II. Both were completed by the end of April 1888, and became Nos. 33 and 34 of Wolf’s substantial Mörike-Lieder cycle. Peregrina I sets poetry of deep longing, Wolf’s music reflecting its nuances with subtle harmonic shifts in the piano and a caressing, increasingly passionate vocal line. An die Geliebte comes just before Peregrina I in the Mörike-Lieder and its ecstatic quality is matched by Wolf’s sensual music, the piano’s rippling textures emulating the poem’s vivid imagery: “The springs of fate ripple in melody”. The ardent Nimmersatte Liebe is the ninth in the cycle, heard here alongside Verschwiegene Liebe, to words by Eichendorff. Wolf frequently drew inspiration from Eichendorff’s words and had attempted to set this serenely beautiful poem once before, finally succeeding while staying in Vienna. The result is a song of exquisite tenderness; it became the third of the 20 Eichendorff-Lieder of 1889.

On 6 April 1883, Wolf met Franz Liszt and played him some of his songs; Liszt responded by hugging him and offering words of encouragement. Wolf was profoundly influenced by Liszt’s music, although he tempered profuse praise with the argument that Liszt’s output was often “more intellectual than deeply felt”. Liszt’s three-volume collection of piano pieces, the Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage), traces the composer’s emotional journey through key years of his life. Book II, ‘Italy’, is contemplative in tone, and includes Liszt’s responses to great texts such as Dante’s Divine Comedy and Petrarch’s Sonnet 104, one of three of Petrarch’s poems set by Liszt in a triptych of songs, the Tri Sonetti del 5 Petrarca. Petrarch’s sonnets about his unrequited love for a woman named Laura fascinated Liszt for many years, and the Tri Sonetti del Petrarca, S270a, were composed between 1838 and 1842, originally for high voice. A piano transcription of the songs was published in 1846, and Liszt later made substantial revisions to produce a low voice version in the 1860s, published in 1883. We hear the original version. Liszt’s setting of Petrarch’s Sonnet 104 opens with a recitative-like introduction followed by an aria of inflamed passion, conveying Petrarch’s account of the extremities of love with daring harmonies and operatic vocal writing. The second song, Benedetto sia ‘l giorno (‘Blessed be the day’) articulates Petrarch’s celebration of the first time he saw Laura, with Liszt’s tonal shifts mirroring the poet’s additions to his list of blessings. The set concludes with Liszt’s dreamy treatment of a sonnet in which Petrarch’s love finds echoes in the beauty of Nature. Clara Wieck heard Liszt performing in 1838 and wrote: “He can be compared to no other player … he arouses fright and astonishment. He is an original”. Two years later, Robert Schumann wrote to Clara, by then his fiancée: “Oh Clara, what bliss it is to write songs, I can’t tell you how easy it has become for me... it is music of an entirely different kind, which doesn’t have to pass through the fingers – far more melodious and direct.” Schumann was alluding to his recent shift away from composing exclusively for the piano. Many songs followed, after which there was a long hiatus in song-writing until 1849, when Schumann wrote the song cycle Minnespiel, Op.101, to words from the first of six volumes of Gesammelte Gedichte by Rückert. The fourth song is Mein schöner Stern!, in which the poet likens his beloved to a star illuminating his inner darkness. Schumann’s “rich harvest of songs” composed during 1840 include Myrthen, Op.25, part of a wedding present finished in April and published later that year. The first,Widmung , to another Rückert text of profound and uncomplicated devotion, was transcribed by Liszt for solo piano in 1848. Towards the end of 1840, Schumann turned to the poetry of Kerner to produce the Zwölf Gedichte von Justinus Kerner, Op.35, the second of which is the Schubertian Stirb’, Lieb’ 6 und Freud’! in which the poet expresses his love for a woman who has devoted herself to God. Schumann’s Lieder und Gesänge Volume III, Op.77, straddles the fallow period in his song-writing output. The first song dates from 1840, but the remainder are from 1850, including the third, Geisternähe, to poetry by Halm, describing the spirits of two lovers intermingling in the ether, their “harp-like murmuring” evoked in the agile piano part. William Denis Browne was an English composer and critic born in . He died in action during the First World War soon after burying his friend, the poet . Browne’s songs were published posthumously, among them To Gratiana dancing and singing. Setting poetry by Richard Lovelace, this is Browne’s most famous song, composed in February 1913 for his friend, the tenor . In 1908, Browne had participated in a student production of Milton’s Comus, during which he heard 17th-century music from Elizabeth Rogers’s Virginal Book, including an anonymous Allmayne that forms a countermelody realised in this song over a sequence of rich piano chords, above which the voice soars. © Joanna Wyld, 2020 Stuart Jackson The English tenor Stuart Jackson was a choral scholar at Christ Church Oxford, studying Biological Sciences, before completing his training at the Royal Academy of Music in 2013. In 2011, aged 25 and the youngest finalist, he won second prize at the International Song Competition performing with pianist Jocelyn Freeman, and the pair also won second prize at the International Hugo Wolf Lied competition. He has appeared as a recitalist at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St John’s Smith Square, London and at Oxford’s Holywell Room amongst many others. Stuart joined Stuttgart Opera Studio for the 2013/14 season. He is currently a Classical Opera Associate Artist with whom he has recorded the title role in Mozart’s Il Sogno di Scipione and Soliman in Zaide. 7 He has performed all over the world in opera, including with the Royal Opera House, at English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Garsington, the Komische Oper , Stuttgart Opera, Opéra national du Rhin, Opera Australia, Opéra national de Lorraine and Aix en Provence. Some of his favourite performed roles include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Jupiter in Semele and High Priest in Saul. He also performs frequently on the concert platform, performing Bach, Handel, Beethoven and much else all over Europe and the UK, including the Wigmore Hall and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Jocelyn Freeman Award-winning collaborative pianist Jocelyn Freeman is founder-director and curator of SongEasel, a new initiative established to provide a platform for song in South East London. Her artistry has been described as “outstanding”, “brilliant”, “sparkling” and “one to watch”, including accolades from The Observer and International Piano Magazine. Jocelyn’s versatility ranges from Lieder to chamber music and concertos, often championing lesser-known composers alongside standard classical and contemporary repertoire. She has premiered and recorded works by John Brunning, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Rhian Samuel. Her imaginative approach to programming is evident in projects with award-winning artists including Jamal Aliyev, Gareth Brynmor John, Elin Manahan Thomas and Julien Van Mellaerts, and her discography includes releases for Kissan Records, Orchid Classics and Ty Cerdd. Jocelyn is a prize-winning graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Phoebe Benham Fellow 2012 at the Royal College of Music, a Samling Artist and Britten– Pears alumnus. Prizes include the Viola Tunnard Young Artist Award, Marlow International Concerto Competition and the Internationalen Wettbewerb für Liedkunst in Stuttgart with Stuart Jackson. Jocelyn is grateful for the support of the Arts Council England, the Carne Trust, Victor Wood, the Oleg Prokofiev Trust and the Nicholas Boas Foundation. 8 www.jocelynfreeman.co.uk Robin Hawkins

Texts and translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Purcell/Britten 1 Man is for the woman made (Motteux) As the scepter to be sway’d, Man is for the woman made, As for night’s the serenade, And the woman made for man; As for pudding is the pan, As the spur is for the jade, And to cool us is the fan, As the scabbard for the blade, So man is for the woman made, As for digging is the spade, And the woman made for man. As for liquor is the can, Be she widow, wife or maid, So man is for the woman made, Be she wanton, be she stayed, And the woman made for man. Be she well or ill array’d, Whore, bawd or harridan, Yet man is for the woman made, 9 And the woman made for man.

Britten 2 Canticle 1 ‘My Beloved is Mine’ (Quarles) Ev’n like two little bank-divided brooks, He is my Altar; I, his Holy Place; That wash the pebbles with their wanton streams, I am his guest; and he, my living food; And having rang’d and search’d a thousand I’m his by penitence; he mine by grace; nooks, I’m his by purchase; he is mine, by blood; Meet both at length at silver-breasted Thames, He’s my supporting elm; and I his vine; Where in a greater current they conjoin: Thus I my best beloved’s am; thus he is mine. So I my best-beloved’s am; so he is mine. He gives me wealth; I give him all my vows: Ev’n so we met; and after long pursuit, I give him songs; he gives me length of days; Ev’n so we joyn’d; we both became entire; With wreaths of grace he crowns my longing No need for either to renew a suit, brows, For I was flax and he was flames of fire: And I his temples with a crown of Praise, Our firm-united souls did more than twine; Which he accepts: an everlasting sign, So I my best-beloved’s am; so he is mine. That I my best-beloved’s am; that he is mine If all those glitt’ring Monarchs that command The servile quarters of this earthly ball, Should tender, in exchange, their shares of land, I would not change my fortunes for them all: Their wealth is but a counter to my coin: The world’s but theirs; but my beloved’s mine.

Nor Time, nor Place, nor Chance, nor Death can bow My least desires unto the least remove; He’s firmly mine by oath; I his by vow; He’s mine by faith; and I am his by love; He’s mine by water; I am his by wine, Thus I my best-beloved’s am; thus he is mine.

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10 Britten 3 Um Mitternacht (Goethe) At Midnight Um Mitternacht ging ich, nicht eben gerne, At midnight, as a very little boy, I would walk, Klein kleiner Knabe, jenen Kirchhof hin Far from willingly, past that churchyard Zu Vaters Haus, des Pfarrers; Stern an Sterne, To father’s vicarage; star on star, Sie leuchteten doch alle gar zu schön; How beautifully they all shone; Um Mitternacht. At midnight.

Wenn ich dann ferner in des Lebens Weite When further on in life I had to go Zur Liebsten mußte, mußte, weil sie zog, To my beloved, had to because she drew Gestirn und Nordschein über mir im Streite, me on, Ich gehend, kommend Seligkeiten sog; I saw the stars and Northern Lights compete; Um Mitternacht. I came, I went, drinking in her bliss; At midnight. Bis dann zuletzt des vollen Mondes Helle So klar und deutlich mir ins Finstere drang, Until at last the moon’s full radiance Auch der Gedanke willig, sinnig, schnelle Pierced my darkness so clearly and brightly, Sich ums Vergangne wie ums Künftige schlang; That also my thoughts, willingly, meaningfully, Um Mitternacht. swiftly Embraced the past and the future; At midnight.

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11 Wolf 4 Peregrina 1 (Mörike) Peregrina 1 Der Spiegel dieser treuen, braunen Augen The surface of these faithful brown eyes Ist wie von innerm Gold ein Widerschein; Seems to mirror the gleam of inner gold; Tief aus dem Busen scheint ers anzusaugen, Seems to draw it from deep within your breast Dort mag solch Gold in heilgem Gram gedeihn. There, in hallowed grief such gold may thrive. In diese Nacht des Blickes mich zu tauchen, To plunge into this dark night of your gaze, Unwissend Kind, du selber lädst mich ein – Innocent child, you yourself invite me – Willst, ich soll kecklich mich und dich entzünden, Wish me boldly to consume us both in fire, Reichst lächelnd mir den Tod im Kelch der Smile as you offer me death in the chalice Sünden! of sin!

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Wolf 5 An die Geliebte (Mörike) To the beloved Wenn ich, von deinem Anschaun tief gestillt, When I, deeply calmed at beholding you, Mich stumm an deinem heilgen Wert vergnüge, Take silent delight in your sacred worth, Dann hör ich recht die leisen Atemzüge Then I truly hear the gentle breathing Des Engels, welcher sich in dir verhüllt. Of that angel concealed within you.

Und ein erstaunt, ein fragend Lächeln quillt And an amazed, a questioning smile Auf meinem Mund, ob mich kein Traum betrüge, Rises to my lips: does not a dream deceive me, Dass nun in dir, zu ewiger Genüge, Now that in you, to my eternal joy, Mein kühnster Wunsch, mein ein’zger, sich My boldest, my only wish is being fulfilled? erfüllt? My soul then plunges from depth to depth, Von Tiefe dann zu Tiefen stürzt mein Sinn, From the dark distances of Godhead I hear Ich höre aus der Gottheit nächtger Ferne The springs of fate ripple in melody. Die Quellen des Geschicks melodisch rauschen. Dazed I raise my eyes Betäubt kehr ich den Blick nach oben hin, To heaven – where all the stars are smiling; Zum Himmel auf – da lächeln alle Sterne; I kneel to listen to their song of light. Ich kniee, ihrem Lichtgesang zu lauschen. 12 Wolf 6 Verschwiegene Liebe (Eichendorff) Silent Love Über Wipfel und Saaten Over treetops and cornfields In den Glanz hinein - Into the gleaming light – Wer mag sie erraten, Who may guess them, Wer holte sie ein? Who catch them up? Gedanken sich wiegen, Thoughts go floating, Die Nacht ist verschwiegen, The night is silent, Gedanken sind frei. Thoughts are free.

Errät es nur eine, If only she could guess Wer an sie gedacht Who has thought of her Beim Rauschen der Haine, In the rustling groves, Wenn niemand mehr wacht When no one else is awake Als die Wolken, die fliegen – But the scudding clouds – Mein Lieb ist verschwiegen My love is silent Und schön wie die Nacht. And lovely as night.

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13 Wolf 7 Nimmersatte Liebe (Mörike) Insatiable love So ist die Lieb! So ist die Lieb! Such is love! Such is love! Mit Küssen nicht zu stillen: Not to be quieted with kisses: Wer ist der Tor und will ein Sieb What fool would wish to fill a sieve Mit eitel Wasser füllen? With nothing else but water? Und schöpfst du an die tausend Jahr, And were you to draw water for some Und küssest ewig, ewig gar, thousand years, Du tust ihr nie zu Willen. And were you to kiss for ever and ever, You’d never satisfy love. Die Lieb, die Lieb hat alle Stund Neu wunderlich Gelüsten; Love, love, has every hour Wir bissen uns die Lippen wund, New and strange desires; Da wir uns heute küssten. We bit until our lips were sore, Das Mädchen hielt in guter Ruh, When we kissed today. Wie’s Lämmlein unterm Messer; The girl kept nicely quiet and still, Ihr Auge bat: „Nur immer zu! Like a lamb beneath the knife; Je weher, desto besser!“ Her eyes pleaded: “Go on, go on! The more it hurts the better!” So ist die Lieb! und war auch so, Wie lang es Liebe gibt, Such is love! and has been so Und anders war Herr Salomo, As long as love’s existed, Der Weise, nicht verliebt. And wise old Solomon himself Was no differently in love.

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14 Liszt 8 Pace non trovo (Petrarca) I find no peace Pace non trovo, et non ò da far guerra; I find no peace, and am not inclined for war; e temo, et spero; et ardo, et son un ghiaccio; And I fear, and I hope, and burn, and am et volo sopra ‘l cielo, et giaccio in terra; turned to ice, et nulla stringo, et tutto ‘l mondo abbraccio. And I soar in the air, and lie upon the ground; And I hold nothing, though I embrace the Tal m’à in pregion, che non m’apre né serra, world. né per suo mi riten né scioglie il laccio; et non m’ancide Amore, et non mi sferra, Love has me in a prison, which he neither né mi vuol vivo, né mi trae d’impaccio. opens nor locks; He neither claims me for his own, nor loosens Veggio senza occhi, et non ò lingua et grido; my halter; et bramo di perir, et cheggio aita; And Love neither slays me, nor unshackles me; et ò in odio me stesso, et amo altrui. He would not have me live, yet he torments Pascomi di dolor, piangendo rido; me. egualmente mi spiace morte et vita: I see without eyes; and cry without a tongue; in questo stato son, donna, per voi. I long to perish, and plead for help; I hate myself and love another.

I feed on grief; weeping I laugh; Death, like life, repels me. You have reduced me, my lady, to this state.

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15 Liszt 9 Benedetto sia ‘l giorno (Petrarca) Blessed be the day Benedetto sia ‘l giorno, e ‘l mese, e l’anno, Blessed be the day, the month, the year, E la stagione, e ‘l tempo, e l’ora, e ‘l punto And the season, and the time, and the hour, E ‘l bel paese e ‘l loco, ov’io fui giunto and the moment, Da’duo begli occhi che legato m’ànno; And the lovely landscape, and the spot where I was enthralled E benedetto il primo dolce affanno By two lovely eyes that have enslaved me. Ch’i’ ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto, E l’arco e la saette ond’ i’ fui punto, And blessed be the first sweet pang I suffered, E le piaghe, ch’infino al cor mi vanno. When Love overwhelmed me, The bow and the arrows which stung me, Benedette le voci tante, ch’io And the wounds which penetrate my heart. Chiamando il nome di Laura ho sparte, E i sospiri e le lagrime e ‘l desio. Blessed be the many voices that have echoed When I have called Laura’s name, E benedette sian tutte le carte And the sighs and the tears, and the longing, Ov’io fama le acquisto, e il pensier mio, Ch’è sol di lei, si ch’altra non v’ha parte. And blessed be all those writings, In which I have spread her fame, and my thoughts. Which stem from her alone.

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16 Liszt 10 I’ vidi in terra (Petrarca) I beheld on earth angelic grace I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi, I beheld on earth angelic grace E celesti bellezze al mondo sole; And heavenly beauty unmatched in this world, Tal che di rimembrar mi giova, e dole: Such as rejoice and pain my memory, Che quant’io miro, par sogni, ombre, e fumi. Which is clouded with dreams, shadows, mists.

E vidi lagrimar que’ duo bei lumi, And I beheld tears spring from those lovely eyes, Ch’han fatto mille volte invidia al sole; Which is clouded with dreams, shadows, mists. Ed udì’ sospirando dir parole And I heard words uttered with such sighs, Che farian gir i monti, e stare i fiumi. That mountains would be moved and rivers halted. Amor! senno! valor, pietate, e doglia Facean piangendo un più dolce concento Love, wisdom, valour, pity and grief D’ogni altro, che nel mondo udir si soglia. Created in that lament a sweeter concert Than any other to be heard on earth. Ed era ‘l cielo all’armonia s’intento Che non si vedea in ramo mover foglia. And heaven was so intent on that harmony, Tanta dolcezza avea pien l’aer e ‘l vento. That not a leaf was seen to move on the bough; Such sweetness had filled the air and the wind.

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17 Schumann 11 Mein schöner Stern! (Rückert) My lovely star! Mein schöner Stern! My lovely star! Ich bitte dich, I beg of you, O lasse du O do not let Dein heitres Licht Your serene radiance Nicht trüben durch Be dimmed by Den Dampf in mir, Dark clouds in me, Vielmehr den Dampf Rather help, In mir zu Licht, My lovely star, Mein schöner Stern, To transfigure the dark Verklären hilf! Into light!

Mein schöner Stern! My lovely star! Ich bitte dich, I beg of you Nicht senk’ herab Not to descend Zur Erde dich, To earth, Weil du mich noch Because you still Hier unten siehst, See me down here, Heb’ auf vielmehr Rather lift me Zum Himmel mich, Up to heaven, Mein schöner Stern, My lovely star, Wo du schon bist! Where you already are!

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18 Schumann 12 Widmung Dedication Du meine Seele, du mein Herz, You my soul, you my heart, Du meine Wonn’, o du mein Schmerz, You my rapture, O you my pain, Du meine Welt, in der ich lebe, You my world in which I live, Mein Himmel du, darein ich schwebe, My heaven you, to which I aspire, O du mein Grab, in das hinab O you my grave, into which Ich ewig meinen Kummer gab! My grief forever I’ve consigned! Du bist die Ruh, du bist der Frieden, You are repose, you are peace, Du bist vom Himmel mir beschieden. You are bestowed on me from heaven. Dass du mich liebst, macht mich mir wert, Your love for me gives me my worth, Dein Blick hat mich vor mir verklärt, Your eyes transfigure me in mine, Du hebst mich liebend über mich, You raise me lovingly above myself, Mein guter Geist, mein bess’res Ich! My guardian angel, my better self!

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19 Schumann 13 Stirb’, Lieb’ und Freud’! (Kerner) Die, love and joy! Zu Augsburg steht ein hohes Haus, In Augsburg stands a lofty house Nah’ bei dem alten Dom, By the old cathedral, Da tritt am hellen Morgen aus And out into the shining morn Ein Mägdelein gar fromm; Comes a pious maid. Gesang erschallt, Hymns ring out, Zum Dome wallt To the cathedral goes Die liebe Gestalt. That lovely one. Dort vor Marias heilig’ Bild By Mary’s blessed image Sie betend niederkniet, She kneels to pray, Der Himmel hat ihr Herz erfüllt, Her heart is filled with Heaven, Und alle Weltlust flieht: All earthly joy flees: „O Jungfrau rein! ‘O Virgin pure, Lass mich allein Grant that I be Dein eigen sein!“ Yours alone.’ Alsbald der Glocken dumpfer Klang And as muffled bells Die Betenden erweckt, Call the worshippers, Das Mägdlein wallt die Hall’ entlang, Down the aisle walks the maid, Es weiss nicht, was es trägt; Not knowing what she wears: Am Haupte ganz Upon her head, Von Himmelsglanz, All Heavenly bright, Einen Lilienkranz. A lily crown. Mit Staunen schauen all’ die Leut’ All gaze and marvel Dies Kränzlein licht im Haar. At that bright crown in her hair. Das Mägdlein aber wallt nicht weit, But the maid does not go far, Tritt vor den Hochaltar: To the high altar she steps: „Zur Nonne weiht ‘Make me a nun, Mich arme Maid! Poor maid that I am! Stirb’, Lieb’ und Freud’!“ Die, love and joy!’

Gott, gib, dass dieses Mägdelein God grant that maid Ihr Kränzlein friedlich trag’, Wear her crown in peace; Es ist die Herzallerliebste mein, My true love she is, Bleibt’s bis zum jüngsten Tag. And may she still be till Judgement Day. Sie weiss es nicht, She does not know Mein Herz zerbricht, My heart breaks 20 Stirb’, Lieb’ und Licht! Die, love and light! Schumann 14 Geisternähe (Halm) Close in spirit Was weht um meine Schläfe What drifts around my brow Wie laue Frühlingsluft, Like a gentle Spring breeze, Was spielt um meine Wangen What plays around my cheeks Wie süsser Rosenduft? Like the sweet scent of roses?

Es ist dein holder Gedanke, It is your dear thoughts Der tröstend mich umspielt, That comfortingly play about me, Es ist dein stilles Sehnen, It is your silent yearning Was meine Schläfe kühlt! That cools my brow!

Und was wie Harfen klänge And the harp-like murmuring Um meine Sinne schwirrt, In my mind Mein Name ist’s, der leise Is my own name softly Von deinen Lippen irrt. Escaping your lips.

Ich fühle deine Nähe! I feel your presence! Es ist dein Wunsch, dein Geist, It is your desire and spirit, Der mich aus weiter Ferne Drawing me from afar An deinen Busen reisst. Close to your heart. 

Browne 15 To Gratiana dancing and singing (Lovelace) See! with what constant motion Such sweet command, and gentle awe, Even, and glorious, as the sun, As when she ceas’d, we sighing saw Gratiana steers that noble frame, The floor lay pav’d with broken hearts. Soft as her breast, sweet as her voice That gave each winding law and poise, So did she move; so did she sing And swifter than the wings of Fame. Like the harmonious spheres that bring Unto their rounds their music’s aid; Each step trod out a lover’s thought Which she performed such a way, And the ambitious hopes he brought, As all th’ enamoured world will say: 21 Chain’d to her brave feet with such arts; The Graces danced, and Apollo play’d. Gerald Collet Matthew Ibbotson

22 Producer: Andrew Keener Sound engineer: Robin Hawkins Recorded in Snape Maltings Concert Hall on 19th and 20th April 2018 Cover photography: Francesco Ungaro from Pexels

With deepest thanks to the Carne Trust, Victor Wood, and the Viola Tunnard Award for their generous support of this project.

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