School of Music
U N C G
Farin Rebecca Loeb
soprano
Ināra Zandmane, piano
assisted by:
Patrick Parker, organ
Graduate Recital
Saturday, March 1, 2008
5:30 pm
Organ Hall, School of Music
Program
Exsultate, Jubilate K165/158a W.A. Mozart
Exsultate jubilate (1756-1791)
Fulget, amica dies
Tu virginum corona
Alleluia
Patrick Parker, organ
Allison Willet, violin
Annalisa Chang, violin
Elizabeth Green, viola
John Gemperline, cello
Stephanie Condelli, oboe
Thomas Turnachik, oboe
E pur... Piangerò from Giulio Cesare G.F. Handel
(1685-1759)
Mignon Lieder Op. 98a R. Schumann
Heiss mich nicht reden (1810-1856)
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Kennst du das Land?
Intermission
Romance de Mignon Henri Duparc
Au pays où se fait la guerre (1848-1933)
Ode de Ronsard Anonymous
(16th century)
Three Frost songs John Frantzen
The Pasture (b.1964)
October
To The Thawing Wind
Farin Rebecca Loeb is a student of Levone Tobin Scott
________
In partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Master of Music in Performance
W.A. Mozart
Exsultate Jubilate K165/158a
1. Exsultate
Exsultate, jubilate,
O vos animae beatae
exsultate, jubilate,
dulcia cantica canendo;
cantui vestro respondendo
psallant aethera cum me.
2. Fulget amica dies (Recitativo)
Fulget amica dies,
jam fugere et nubila et procellae;
exortus est justis inexspectata quies.
Undique obscura regna bat nox,
surgite tandem laeti qui timuistis adhuc,
et jucundi aurorae fortunatae.
frondes dextera plena et lilia date.
3. Tu virginum corona
Tu virginum corona,
tu nobis pacem dona,
tu consolare affectus,
unde suspirat cor.
4. Alleluja
Alleluja
G.F. Handel
E pur... Piangerò from Giulio Cesare
Libretto by Nicola Haym (1678-1729)
E pur così in un giorno
perdo fasti e grandezze? Ahi fato rio!
Cesare, il mio bel nume, è forse estinto;
Cornelia e Sesto inermi son, né sanno
darmi soccorso. O dio!
Non resta alcuna speme al viver mio.
Piangerò la sorte mia,
sì crudele e tanto ria,
finché vita in petto avrò.
Ma poi morta d'ogn'intorno
il tiranno e notte e giorno
fatta spettro agiterò.
Exalt and Jubilate
1. Exalt
Exalt and jubilate
O you blessed souls,
Rejoice, be glad,
Singing sweet songs;
In response to your singing
Let the heavens sing forth with me.
2. Shines the friendly day
The friendly day shines forth,
both clouds and storms have fled now;
for the righteous there has arisen an
unexpected calm.
Dark night reigned everywhere [before];
you who feared till now,
and joyful for this lucky dawn
give garlands and lilies with full right hand.
3. You, o crown of virgins
You, o crown of virgins,
You grant us peace,
You console our feelings,
from which our hearts sigh.
4. Alleluja
Alleluja
Thus...I will weep from Giulio Cesare
Thus, in a single day,
Must I lose ceremony and greatness? Alas,
wicked fate!
Caesar, my beloved god, is probably dead,
Comeiia and Sextus are defenseless
And cannot come to my aid. O god!
There is no hope left to my life.
I will weep for my fate,
So cruel and so harsh,
As long as I have breath in my breast.
But when I am dead, be all around him
The tyrant, night and day
Be agitated by my specter.
Robert Schumann
Mignon Lieder (op.98a)
Text by J.W. von Goethe (1749-1832)
Heiss mich nicht reden
Heiss mich nicht reden, heiss mich schweigen,
Denn mein Geheimnis ist mir Pflicht,
Ich möchte dir mein ganzes Innre zeigen,
Allein das Schicksal will es nicht.
Zur rechten Zeit vertreibt der Sonne Lauf
Die finstre Nacht, und sie muss sich erhellen,
Der harte Fels schließt seinen Busen auf,
Missgönnt der Erde nicht die tiefverborgnen
Quellen.
Ein jeder sucht im Arm des Freundes Ruh,
Dort kann die Brust in Klagen sich ergiessen,
Allein ein Schwur drückt mir die Lippen zu,
Und nur ein Gott vermag sie aufzuschliessen
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Weiss, was ich leide!
Allein und abgetrennt
Von aller Freude,
Seh ich ans Firmament
Nach jener Seite.
Ach! der mich liebt und kennt,
Ist in der Weite.
Es schwindelt mir, es brennt
Mein Eingeweide.
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt
Weiss, was ich leide!
Kennst du das Land?
Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn,
Im dunkeln Laub die Gold-Orangen glühn,
Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht,
Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht?
Kennst du es wohl?
Dahin! dahin
Möcht ich mit dir, o mein Geliebter, ziehn.
Kennst du das Haus? Auf Säulen ruht sein
Dach.
Es glänzt der Saal, es schimmert das Gemach,
Und Marmorbilder stehn und sehn mich an:
Was hat man dir, du armes Kind, getan?
Kennst du es wohl?
Dahin! dahin
Möcht ich mit dir, o mein Beschützer, ziehn.
Kennst du den Berg und seinen Wolkensteg?
Das Maultier sucht im Nebel seinen Weg;
Tell me not to speak
Tell me not to speak - Tell me to be silent,
for my secret is to me a duty
I want to you to show my whole insides
but Fate does not will it.
At the right time, the sun's course will dispel
the dark night, and it must let itself be lit
The hard rock will open its bosom; and
does not begrudge the earth the deep hidden
springs.
One seeks peace in the arms of a friend;
there one can pour out one's heart in weeping.
Only a vow locks my lips,
And now only a god can to open them.
Only one who knows loneliness
Only one who knows longing
Knows what I suffer!
Alone and cut off
From all joy,
I look into the firmament
Toward that direction.
Ach! he who loves and knows me
Is in that side
It overwhelms me
It burns my entrails
Only one who knows longing
Knows what I suffer!
Know you the place?
Know you the place where the lemons
blossom
In dark leaves the orange golden glows,
A gentle breeze blows from the azure sky,
The myrtle is still, and the laurel stands high?
Know you it well?
To there! To there
Want I with you, oh my beloved, to go.
Know you the house, its roof rests on
columns?
Its hall glows and its rooms shimmer,
And marble figures stand and look at me:
What have people done, dear child, to you?
Know you it well?
To there! To there
Want I with you, oh my protector, to go
Know you the mountain and its cloud-bar?
The mule seeks, in the mist, its way;
In Höhlen wohnt der Drachen alte Brut;
Es stürzt der Fels und über ihn die Flut!
Kennst du ihn wohl?
Dahin! dahin
Geht unser Weg! O Vater, lass uns ziehn!
Henri Duparc
Romance de Mignon
Text by J.W. von Goethe (1749-1832), trans.
Le connais-tu, ce radieux pays
Où brille dans les branches d'or des fruits?
Un doux zéphir embaume l'air
Et le laurier s'unit au myrte vert.
Le connais-tu, le connais-tu?
Là-bas, là-bas, mon bien-aimé,
Courons porter nos pas.
Le connais-tu, ce merveilleux séjour
Où tout me parle encor de notre amour?
Où chaque objet me dit avec douleur:
Qui t'a ravi ta joie et ton bonheur?
Le connais-tu, le connais-tu?
Là-bas, là-bas, mon bien-aimé,
Courons porter nos pas
Henri Duparc
Au pays où se fait la guerre
Text by Théophile Gautier (1811-1872)
Au pays où se fait la guerre
Mon bel ami s'en est allé.
Il semble à mon coeur désolé
Qu'il ne reste que moi sur terre.
En partant au baiser d'adieu,
Il m'a pris mon âme à ma bouche
Qui le tient si longtemps, mon Dieu?
Voilà le soleil qui se chouche,
Et moi toute seule en ma tour
J'attends encore son retour.
Les pigeons sur le toit roucoulent,
Roucoulent amoureusement,
Avec un son triste et charmant;
Les eaux sous les grands saules coulent...
Je me sens tout près de pleurer,
Mon coeur comme un lys plein s'épanche,
Et je n'ose plus espérer,
Voici briller la lune blanche,
Et moi toute seule en ma tour
J'attends encore son retour
Quelqu'un monte à grands pas la rampe.
Serait-ce lui, mon doux amant?
Ce n'est pas lui, mais seulement
Mon petit page avec ma lampe...
Vents du soir, volez, dites-lui
In caves dwells the dragons' ancient brood;
The cliff rocks plunge under the rushing flood!
Know you it well?
To there! To there
Goes our path! Oh father, let us go.
Song of Mignon
Do you know it, the radiant country
Where shines, in the branches, gold of fruits?
A soft zephyr is in the air
And laurel unites with green myrtle
Do you know it? Do you know it?
To there, to there, my best beloved
Let us run, to carry our steps
Do you know it, this marvelous place
Where everything speaks to me of our love
Where each object says to me with sadness
Who has stolen your joy and happiness?
Do you know it? Do you know it?
To there, to there, my best beloved
Let us run, to carry our steps
To the land where war is made
To the country where war is made
My beautiful love is gone
It seems to my desolate heart
That nothing remains but me on the earth
When leaving, at our kiss goodbye,
He took my soul from my mouth
What holds him so long, O God?
There is the sun setting.
And I, all alone in my tower,
I still await his return.
The pigeons on the roof coo
Coo lovingly
With a sad and charming sound;
The waters under the large willows flow
I feel ready to cry;
My heart, like a full lily, overflows
And I no longer dare to hope.
Here gleams the white moon.
And I, all alone in my tower,
I still await his return.
Someone climbs the ramp with heavy steps.
Could it be him, my sweet love?
It isn't him, but only
My little page with my lamp.
Evening winds, fly, tell him
Qu'il est ma pensée et mon rêve,
Toute ma joie et mon ennui.
Voici que l'aurore se lève,
Et moi toute seule en ma tour
J'attends encore son retour.
Anonymous (16th cent)
Ode de Ronsard
Text by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Mignonn', allon voir si la rose
Qui cette nuit avait declose
Sa robe de pourpr' au soleil,
A point perdu, cette vesprée,
Le plis de sa robe pourprée,
Et son teint au vostre pareil.
Las, voyés comm' en peu d'espace,
Mignonn', ell' a dessus la place,
Las, las, ses beautés laissé cheoir!
Ô vrayement maratre nature,
Puis qu'une telle fleur ne dure,
Que du matin jusques au soir!
Donc, si vous me croiés, mignonne:
Tandis que vostr' age fleuronne
En sa plus verte nouveauté,
Cueillés, cueillés vostre jeunesse,
Comm' à cette fleur, la viellesse
Fera ternir vostre beauté.
John Frantzen
Three Frost Songs
Text by Robert Frost (1874-1963)
1. The Pasture
I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.
I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother. It’s so youn
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.
2. October
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
To-morrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
To-morrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know;
That he is my thoughts and my dream,
All my joy and my trouble
Here is the dawn rising.
And I, all alone in my tower,
I still await his return.
Ode of Ronsard
Mignonne, let us see if the rose
That this night unfolded
Its crimson dress in the sun
Has lost, at vesper-time,
The folds of its crimson dress
And its colour, so like yours.
Alas! See how in little space
Mignonne, she has, all on the place
Alas, alas, let her beauty fall
O truly cruel nature
When such a flower doesn’t last
From morning until evening.
So if you believe me, Mignonne
While your age flowers
In its greenest newness,
Gather, gather your youth.
As it has this flower, old age
Will tarnish your beauty
.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away;
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.
3. To the Thawing Wind
Come with rain, O loud Southwester!
Bring the singer, bring the nester;
Give the buried flower a dream;
Make the settled snow-bank steam;
Find the brown beneath the white;
But whate’er you do to-night,
Bathe my window, make it flow,
Melt it as the ices go;
Melt the glass and leave the sticks
Like a hermit’s crucifix;
Burst into my narrow stall;
Swing the picture on the wall;
Run the rattling pages o’er;
Scatter poems on the floor;
Turn the poet out of door.
Program Notes
Exsultate, Jubilate has become one of Mozart’s most famous sacred works for soprano. It was
written in 1773 for castrato Venanzio Rauzzini during Mozart’s travels in Italy. In 1780, Mozart
revised the work, to a form which is rarely performed today. The revised version had two different
sets of text for the first movement, and replaced the oboes with flutes. The motet, as performed
today, has the original text and orchestration (with the horn and viola parts reduced from two to
one). The tempi are relative to each other, within the work. It begins with an Allegro for the jubilant
“Exsultate” movement. After a recit, it slows slightly to Andante for the adoring “Tu virginum”.
Finally, it builds to Molto Allegro for the finale of “Alleluja”. While the tempo never reaches the
breakneck speed that a purely instrumental Molto Allegro would in Mozart’s music, the energetic
effect in the voice is just as exciting.
Giulio Cesare in Egetto was first performed in London in 1724, to great acclaim. The opera is
again popular today, and arias such as “Piangerò” are still accessible to performers and
audiences. At this point in the opera, Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt feels that all hope is lost. Her
brother, Tolomeo, has just imprisoned her for helping Cesar, who she now thinks is dead. In this
recit, Cleopatra reels from the quickly deteriorating circumstances. As the aria begins, she
laments her fate and sees nothing but grief and tears ahead until she dies. This section is
musically slow and lamenting, but without a “lament figure” as would have been found earlier in
composers such as Purcell. While the text repeats, the musical lines move fluidly and renew the
dramatic intention. In the second section, Cleopatra vows that after she is dead, she will haunt
and torment her brother for being tyrannical. This section is full of coloratura, as would be
expected in a “rage aria” in da capo form. Cleopatra rages at the thought of her brother and is
adamant about torturing him after death. A return to the A section brings back Cleopatra’s current
sadness, which is what she is left with at the end of the aria.
Schumann’s Mignon Lieder from 1851 are based on the poems and songs recited by the
character of Mignon in Goethe’s novel Wilhelmmeisters Lehrjahre. While they appear in reverse
order in the original novel, along with other poems, this is the order most often published in
Goethe anthologies due to its dynamic portrayal of Mignon. Schumann creates this change of
character musically as well. In “Heiss mich nicht reden”, Mignon begs that she not to be asked to
reveal a terrible secret she is bound by “fate” and “duty” to keep. She says that in good time she
will find peace in being open. The middle song, “Nur wer die Sehnuscht kennt”, uses the same
falling motive as the first song. The motive is used more pervasively as Mignon painfully explains
her “loneliness” and longing for a distant home, until she can no longer repeat her words. The last
song “Kennst du das Land?”, figuratively explains Mignon’s story. The imagery tells of her actual
kidnapping and rape in her home of Italy and subsequent life of performing and personal fear.
She opens herself completely to Wilhelm, addressing him as “beloved”, “protector”, and “father”
as she finally accepts the role she needs Wilhelm to play in her life so that she can be the child
she truly is in safety.
“Romance de Mignon” is one of the songs Henri Duparc refused to publish during his life. When
he destroyed many of his songs later in life due to mental illness, however, this one survived. The
text is a French translation of the same text as “Kennst du das Land”. Duparc’s Mignon recalls
her idyllic homeland and the grand, sad, places she has seen in Germany. She does not,
however, recall her kidnapping, revealing a more delicate sensibility. This song is strophic, as is
Schumann’s version. Also, the phrase “la-bas” echoes its Schumann counterpart of “Dahin” with
the same interval on the leap between syllables. The major difference from the Schumann set
(and the original text) is that Duparc repeats the word for “beloved” in the second verse, instead
of “protector”. Finally like Schumann, he also never allows the vocal line to completely close at
the end of the song, as if to imply there is more to the story than can be said.
Duparc created very few songs especially for a mezzo-soprano voice. One of these is “Au pays
où se fait la guerre”. While it is commonly performed by sopranos, the lower tessitura sets the few
higher sustained pitches as singularly emotional. The varied semi-strophic form is so varied in
emotion, time, and inflection that the form is almost necessary to preserve any unity. It is
interesting that at the end of each verse, the repeated word that is the first to be musically varied
is “encore”. This word is especially important because it can have a dual meaning. It can either
indicate that she is “still” waiting, or waiting “again”, for him to return. Perhaps Duparc’s variations
imply that both meanings are relevant. As with Mignon’s “la-bas”, “son retour” never is realized in
the course of the piece, even on it’s last, lonely iteration.
“Ode de Ronsard” is an anonymous song from the 16th century based on one of Ronsard’s most
famous poems. The text tells the young Mignonne (the word for “cute” in French, used here as
the girl’s name and also as an adjective) to take a lesson from the fading rose and enjoy her
youth and beauty before it quickly fades. The Old French spellings are printed in the texts. It
should be noted that while Ronsard wrote “qui cette nuit” in the opening lines, he is talking about
the rose about to open. Thus, some modern editions print this line as “qui ce matin”, still referring
to the early dawn of Ronsard’s probably intention. This is one of the oldest and most famous solo
works of the tradition of this type of song (or typos). The original varied harmony and
accompaniment through out the strophic structure is generally maintained in this edition, and
transferred from lute to piano.
The Three Frost Songs by John Frantzen are based on poems by Robert Frost and were first
performed (in this incarnation) in 1999 by John’s brother Gerry, a tenor. Since then they have
been most frequently performed by sopranos. The set truly creates a musical and personal
journey. The melodic and harmonic languages emphasize the open sincerity of the texts. The
resulting sound is that of art song in an American expressive idiom using sophisticated colour
based in the European tradition. The texts and their musical inflections also relate John’s own
history and experience as an adult composer: nostalgia for his upbringing in Iowa, growing into
adulthood and its personal responsibilities, and frustrations with himself (as a person and artist)
as well as the world around him. These experiences are close to any artist, and John uses his
own music and choices of texts to evoke them for the performer and audience.
