Celebrating our 37th Season The Cherry Creek Chorale presents American Songbook II Movies & Masterworks March 10 & 11, 2017 In loving memory of our dear friend and 22-year member, Mary Ann Stevens. Special Guests: Casandra Torske-Clarinet, Dean Vlachos-Percussion, Ben Greene-Bass Alleluia ........................................................................................Randall Thompson Down in the Valley ..................................................................... Kentucky Folk Tune The Tenors and Basses of the Chorale arr. by George Mead Down in the valley, valley so low, Hang your head over, hear the wind blow. Hear the wind blow love, hear the wind blow, Hang your head over, hear the wind blow. Build me a castle, forty feet high, So I can see her, as she goes by. As she goes by love, as she goes by, So I can see her, as she goes by. If you don't love me, love whom you please, But throw your arms round me, give my heart ease. Give my heart ease, dear, give my heart ease, Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease. Down in the valley, valley so low Hang your head over, hear the wind blow. Rainsong ........................................................................................... Houston Bright Clouds hang heavy above the plain, They bring the smell of a summer rain, And my heart, it is heavy too, And my spirits are heavy too. (See how the rains do pour, As if forevermore.) Clouds drift low in a shadowed spell, They bring the mem'ry of one farewell, When a spirit from life withdrew, When the soul of my love withdrew. Raindrops fall from a sodden sky, They drum a querulous lullaby, As in mem’ry of one who sleeps, As if crooning to one who sleeps. Sleep ..................................................................................... Music by Eric Whitacre Lyrics by Charles Anthony Silvestri The evening hangs beneath the moon, A silver thread on darkened dune. With closing eyes and resting head I know that sleep is coming soon. Upon my pillow, safe in bed, A thousand pictures fill my head, I cannot sleep, my mind's aflight; and yet my limbs seem made of lead. If there are noises in the night, A frightening shadow, flickering light; Then I surrender unto sleep, Where clouds of dream give second sight. What dreams may come, both dark and deep, Of flying wings and soaring leap As I surrender unto sleep. Somewhere ....................................................................Music by Leonard Bernstein from West Side Story Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim arr. by Robert Edgerton Somewhere, there's a time for us, Someday a time for us. Time together with time to spare, Time to learn, time to care. Someday, somewhere, we'll find a new way of living, We'll find a way of forgiving, somewhere. There's a place for us, a time and place for us, Hold my hand and we're halfway there. Hold my hand and I'll take you there, Somehow, someday, somewhere. John Saw Duh Numbuh ............................................................................... Spiritual arr. by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw soloist: Uri Ayn Rovner John saw duh numbuh dat no man could numbuh, Comin'up on high. John saw duh hundred an' forty four thousan'. Comin' up on high. Tell John not to call duh roll till I git dere. Comin' up on high. Oh, dear! What can the matter be? ........................................................... Gail Kubik Choral Scherzo on a Well-Known Tune Oh, dear! What can the matter be? Dear, dear, What can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me a beautiful fairing, A gay bit of lace that the girls are all wearing, He promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons, To tie up my bonny brown hair. He promised he'd buy me a bunch of red roses, A garland of lilies, a basket of poses, He promised he'd bring me a little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons, That tie up my bonny brown hair. The Promise of Living ........................................................ Music by Aaron Copland from The Tender Land Lyrics by Horace Everett The promise of living With hope and thanksgiving Is born of our loving our friends and our labor. The promise of growing With faith and with knowing Is born of our sharing our love with our neighbor. The promise of living The promise of growing Is born of our singing in joy and thanksgiving. For many a year we've known these fields and known all the work that makes them yield, Are you ready to lend a hand? We're ready to work, we're ready to lend a hand. By working together we'll bring in the harvest, the blessings of harvest. We plant each row with seeds of grain, And Providence sends us the sun and the rain, By lending a hand, By lending an arm, Bring out, bring out from the farm, Bring out the blessings of harvest. Give thanks there was sunshine, Give thanks there was rain, Give thanks we have hands to deliver the grain, O let us be joyful, O let us be grateful, Come join us in thanking the Lord for His blessing. The promise of ending In right understanding is peace in our own hearts And peace with our neighbor. O let us sing our song, and let our song be heard. Let's sing our song with our hearts, and find a promise in that song. The promise of living The promise of growing The promise of ending is labor and sharing and loving. Intermission The CherryTones and Friends The Rainbow Connection .................................. Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher from The Muppet Movie (1979) ............................................................... arr. by Casey Kidd Get Happy! A Choral Montage of Songs from the Thirties ........... arr. by Hawley Ades Of Thee I Sing ............................................................. George and Ira Gershwin from Of Thee I Sing (1931) Night and Day ................................................................................... Cole Porter from The Gay Divorcee (1934) Get Happy ............................................................ Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler from The Nine-Fifteen Revue (1930) A George Gershwin Interlude by Chorale Accompanists, Cindy Runkel & Debbie Johnson The Trolley Song ..................................................................... Music by Ralph Blane from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) Lyrics by Hugh Martin The Sopranos and Altos of the Chorale arr. by Alan Billingsley That Old Black Magic ............................................................Music by Harold Arlen from Star Spangled Rhythm (1943) Lyrics by Johnny Mercer arr. by Steve Zegree soloists: Diana Croshaw and Chris Stille They Can't Take That Away from Me ................................. George and Ira Gershwin from Shall We Dance (1937) arr. by Mark Hayes Cheek to Cheek .....................................................................................Irving Berlin from Top Hat (1935) arr. by Kirby Shaw soloists: Lara Erickson, Paul Croshaw and Ruth Most Pennies from Heaven ........................................................Music by Arthur Johnston from Pennies from Heaven (1936) Lyrics by John Burke arr. by Kirby Shaw soloists: Jenee Stewart, Lara Erickson, Monika Coleman, Ruth Most and Nikki Seng You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To ........................................................Cole Porter from Something to Shout About (1943) arr. by Jay Althouse soloists: Nikki Seng, Ruth Most and Chris Stille Program Notes Welcome to the second in our biennial series of concerts from the American Songbook. This time around we’re focusing on two sources: movies and masterworks. Let’s take the movies first. Since there’s so much great movie music out there, our artistic committee came up with a great two-stage filter: Songs had to have been nominated for an Oscar but not have won and be better known than the song that did win. So, for instance, we’re singing “Cheek to Cheek” from the 1935 Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical Top Hat. What song won from that year? “Lullaby of Broadway.” If you were to hear the tune I think you’d recognize it, but I doubt that you’d be able to give the title. But everyone knows “Cheek to Cheek,” don’t they? So it goes with the rest of our movie numbers. 1937 saw “Pennies from Heaven” lose to “The Way You Look Tonight.” The very next year, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” lost to “Sweet Leilani” from Waikiki Wedding. I’d never even heard of that one before, had you? “That Old Black Magic” and “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” were both nominated in 1944, but “You’ll Never Know Just How Much I Love You” won. And, almost unbelievably, “Somewhere/There’s a Place for Us” fromWest Side Story didn’t even get nominated. (So it slipped through the filter. And to be fair, WSS did win a whole host of other Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Film Score.) What did win Best Song that year? “Moon River.” Our “masterworks” are all, indeed, masterpieces, some of them better known than others, and they cover a huge range of American music, from true folk music, which has no known author or set form, to the most carefully-crafted examples of choral music. You’ll undoubtedly hear some old favorites and probably discover some new ones. We are performing works by some of the greatest names in the past 100 years: Randall Thompson, Alice Parker and Robert Shaw (as arrangers), and Aaron Copland. Two names you might not recognize are Gail Kubik and Houston Bright, and we are happy to get their music out to as wide of an audience as possible. Finally, we are performing a piece by one of the most popular American composers at work today: Eric Whitacre. The emotions encompassed in these songs go all the way from lighthearted love (“Oh, dear! What can the matter be?”) to grief (“Rainsong”) to exaltation (“Alleluia” and “John Saw Duh Numbuh”), and just about everything in between. If you’re intrigued by our selections and would like to find out more about them, we encourage you to visit our website, cherrycreekchorale.org, and click on the “Behind the Music” tab.