LOVE, LONGING, AND LAMENT A GRADUATE RECITAL ON COVID-19 EMOTION MARCH 13, 2021 JULIANNA SHAMEL, SOPRANO Program Notes Ball State University, MM Recital “Ah, non credea mirarti…Ah, non giunge” Vincenzo Bellini From La Sonnambula (1801-1835) La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) is an opera semiseria in two acts and premiered to the public in 1831. This aria appears at the end of Act II as Amina is sleep-walking high across an unstable mill bridge after her lover, Elvino, called off their engagement. The melody at the very beginning is a typical Bellini cantilena: elongated and with small intervals without doubling by the instruments. When Amina wakes, and Elvino puts the ring back on her finger after realizing his mistake, the cabaletta (fast second section) begins with a sparse accompaniment, fast leaps, trills, and coloratura. If we relate this piece to our time in quarantine, the slow section may remind you of the drab days inside longing for the life we had. The fast section could be the feelings of reuniting with close family, entering the grocery store, or perhaps just going to Target. Ah,non credea mirarti Ah, I didn't believe I'd see you s ì presto estinto, o fiore; Wither so quickly, oh blossom! passasti al par d'amore, You have faded away just like love, che un giorno solo duro. Which only lasted a day. Potria novel vigore Maybe my tears could il pianto mio recarti Lend you new life, ma ravvivar l'amore But to revive love il pianto mio, ah no, non puo. My tears oh no, they cannot do so... Ah, non giunge uman pensiero Ah, human thought can't manage al contento ond'io son piena: (To grasp) the depth of my happiness: a miei sensi io credo appena; I can barely believe my own senses; tu m'affida o mio tesor. You do trust me, oh my darling! Ah, mi abbraccia, e sempre insieme, Ah, hold me and, always together, sempre uniti in una speme, Always united in a single hope, della terra, in cui viviamo From this land in which we live ci formiamo un ciel d'amor. We shall build a Heaven of love.. Paper Wings Jake Heggie From The Faces of Love (1961-Present) This song cycle is the fruit of a great friendship between Heggie and mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. She wrote the texts and commissioned Heggie to create the music. Each piece is autobiographical, recalling a specific time in von Stade’s childhood or her daughter’s. I had the incredible pleasure of briefly speaking to Heggie about these works. “Bedtime Stories” begins with a quotation of a lullaby from the Chants d’Auvergne and explains the story of three- year-old Lisa getting out of bed on a frosty night to join her parents out by the fire. The lullaby was the only thing that would soothe Lisa to sleep at night. Heggie said he imagined her trying to get Lisa to sleep, but resorts to telling her bedtime stories without luck. “Paper Wings” brings us back to when von Stade lived in Greece during her childhood. Heggie said the musical influence is in the spirit of Signorina, the nanny. “The music for Mitten Smitten,” he said, “has a bit of mysticism woven in to reflect the magic of the mysterious mittens presented to Lisa by her Uncle Tim. The final song describes how von Stade had to be rescued by a fireman after climbing onto her roof as a child and how history repeated itself when Lisa made the same mistake. This song is inspired by Beethoven’s Für Elise – “in this case,” Heggie states, “For Lisa”. This set can draw parallels to mothers at home with their children during the quarantine. Bedtime Stories Soun, soun, beni At last we looked and there It was a cold, cold night There stood a girl no more than three So cold we had a fire A blanket on her head, her eyes A cold, cold night She though, we couldn’t see We sat and talked Ah, but who? All was safe and good Oh, who was that girl? Then, something happened Oh child, it was you Something soft went by Oh, magic, magic child A second’s wait You stayed “nothing there, it must have been a dream” We smiled Again a breeze, a tiny move Lisa What could it have been? Paper Wings When I was young, I lived in Greece with One day, signorina made me wings out of my mother paper That’s right, Greece That’s right, paper wings We lived in a house, a house with a great And for days and days I pretended to fly big balcony over the rooftops of Athens And Signorina, was my nanny Mitten Smitten My Uncle Tim But I was small and I’d never seen He once gave me some mittens anything like them They were from India Where were the fingers? and very special I put them on…strange Route to the Sky When I saw how she’d done it, I nearly My mother taught me to fly fainted Not even knowing that she had done so So I went out after her I climbed on the rood Then, we were both stuck A complicated route to the sky Two trucks an ambulance But the fireman got me down, oh the Two station wagons of rescue teams fireman got me down came to the house Lisa was eight when she climbed through And the fireman got us down a window our onto the roof Sil est un charmon gazon [Hugo] {1859} Franz Liszt Comment disaient-ils [Hugo] {1859} (1811-1886) Franz Liszt composed over eighty songs in German, French, Italian, Hungarian, Russian, and English. Even though most of his songs are set to German poems, his French songs are some of his most significant works, especially the songs set to poems by Victor Hugo. In this setting of Victor Hugo’s poem “Sil est un charmon gazon,” the melodic line at the end of each verse gently descends to create a feeling of stepping on to the garden path and coming to rest in a botanical sanctuary. This song was one of the many pieces that Liszt revised to create better emphasis and French language flow. The second verse is much more exciting since the poem discusses love and the joining of two people. The sweeping melody builds to the final refrain to reveal the speaker asking to make their soul a nest to rest the heart. “Comment disaient-ils” is another playful tune with Hugo’s poetry. This piece is a conversation between a group of restless men and flirtatious women. If you listen closely, you will hear the piano underscoring each group with their motifs. A bouncing staccato line displays the image of little boats rocking back and forth on the waves to underscore the men rowing. This motif is interrupted quickly with a quiet flowing line that mocks a plucked classical guitar to underscore the women. The first piece can be related to dreaming of the outdoors, love, and touch from others. The second piece can draw parallels between a husband and wife being stuck inside together and the communication between them. Sil est un charmon gazon S'il est un charmant gazon If there's a lovely grassy plot Que le ciel arrose, watered by the sky Où brille en toute saison where in every season Quelque fleur éclose, some flower blossoms, Où l'on cueille à pleine main where one can freely gather Lys, chèvrefeuille et jasmin, lilies, woodbines and jasmines... J'en veux faire le chemin I wish to make it the path Où ton pied se pose ! on which you place your feet. S'il est un rêve d'amour, If there is a dream of love Parfumé de rose, scented with roses, Où l'on trouve chaque jour where one finds every day Quel que douce chose, something gentle and sweet, Un rêve que Dieu bénit, a dream blessed by God Où l'âme à l'âme s'unit, where soul is joined to soul... Oh! j'en veux faire le nid oh, I wish to make it the nest Où ton cœur se pose ! in which you rest your heart. Comment disaient-ils Comment, disaient-ils, How, the men said, With our Avec nos nacelles, skiff, Fuir les alguazils? Ramez! To flee from the police? Row! Ramez! disaient-elles. Row! the women said. Comment, disaient-ils, How, the men said, Oublier querelles, Misère To forget quarrels, Misery, and et périls? Dormez! danger? Sleep! Sleep! the Dormez! disaient-elles. women said. Comment, disaient-ils, How, the men said, Enchanter les belles Sans To charm the beautiful women philtres subtils? Aimez! Without artful potions? Love! Aimez! disaient-elles. Love! the women said. Ramez! Dormez! Aimez! Row! Sleep! Love! the women disaient-elles. said. Mignon’s Lied [Goethe] {1842} Franz Liszt Freudvoll und Leidvoll [Goethe] {1848} (1811-1886) “Mignon’s Lied” is an example of strophic writing by Liszt. The three stanzas in this song repeat the same sequence of musical materials that parallel the poet’s ternary decision in the original text. There is almost an intensified expression of longing throughout this entire piece related to the desired longing for normalcy during the 2020 pandemic. This was a piece that Liszt revised due to an issue with poor syllabic stress in the German language. Liszt uses varied timbres and colors to illustrate Mignon’s colorful vision and captures her nostalgia for her homeland.