Lauren Ritch
soprano
Jeremy Whitener
tenor
Michael Parker, piano
Junior Recital
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
5:30 pm
Recital Hall, Music Building
Program
There The Brisk, Sparkling Nectar from Choices of Hercules George Frideric Handel
(1685-1759)
Lauren Ritch
Verzagen, Op. 72, No. 4 Johannes Brahms
Ständchen, Op. 106, No. 1 (1833-1897)
Wie bist du meine Königin, Op. 32, No. 9
Jeremy Whitener
from Poem d'un Jour, Op. 21 Gabriel Fauré
Rencontre (1845-1924)
Toujours
Adieu
Lauren Ritch
Le Charme Amédée-Ernest Chausson
Les Papillons (1855-1899)
Amour d’Antan
Jeremy Whitener
V'amo Arturo Toscanini
Presentimenti (1868-1957)
Son Gelosa
Lauren Ritch
Three Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6 Roger Quilter
Come Away Death (1877-1953)
O Mistress Mine
Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind
Jeremy Whitener
If I Were A Bell From Guys and Dolls Frank Loesser
(1910-1969)
Before I Gaze At You Again From Camelot Frederick Loewe
(1901-1988)
Girl in 14G Jeanine Tesori
(b. 1961)
Lauren Ritch
The Song That Goes Like This from Monty Python’s Spamalot Eric Idle
(b. 1943)
Lauren Ritch and Jeremy Whitener
Lauren Ritch is a student of Ms. Levone Tobin-Scott
Jeremy Whitener is a student of Dr. Carla Lefevre
________
In partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Bachelor of Music in Music Education
George Frederick Handel:
There the Brisk Sparkling Nectar
Text by Thomas Morell (1703-1784)
There the brisk sparkling nectar drain,
Cool'd with the purest summer snows,
There, tir'd with sporting on the plain,
Beneath the woodbine's shade repose.
There, as serene thou liest along,
Soft warbling voices melting lays
Shall sweetly pour the tender song
To love or beauty's rapt'rous praise.
Johannes Brahms:
Verzagen
Text by Karl von Lemcke (1831-1913)
Ich sitz’ am Strande der rauschenden See
Und suche dort nach Ruh;
Ich schaue dem Treiben der Wogen
Mit dumpfer Ergebung zu.
Die Wogen rauschen zum Strande hin,
Sie schäumen und vergehn,
Die Wolken, die Winde darüber,
Die kommen und verwehn.
Du ungestümes Herz, sei still
Und gib dich doch zur Ruh,
Du sollst mit Winden und Wogen dich
trösten,
Was weinest, was weinest du?
Ständchen
Text by Franz Theodor Kugler (1808-1858)
Der Mond steht über dem Berge,
So recht für verliebte Leut;
Im Garten rieselt ein Brunnen,
Sonst stille weit und breit.
Neben der Mauer im Schatten,
Da steh’n der Studenten drei
Mit Flöt’ und Geig’ und Zither,
Und singen und spielen dabei.
Die Klänge schleichen der Schönsten
Sacht in den Traum hinein;
Sie schaut den blonden Geliebten
Und lispelt: “Vergiss nicht mein!”
Wie bist du, meine Königin
Text by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800-
1875)
Wie bist du, meine Königin,
Durch sanfte Güte wonnevoll
Du lächle nur Lenzdüfte wehn,
Durch mein Gemüte wonnevoll!
Despair
I sit by the shore of the rushing sea
And there I search for peace;
I look at the drifting waves,
With a dull resignation.
The waves are rushing to the shore,
They foam and vanish again;
The clouds, the winds above,
They come and blow away.
You, violent heart, be still
And be resigned in peace.
Let the waves and winds console you,
Why do you weep, why do you weep?
Serenade
The moon shines above the mountain
Just right for people in love
In the garden ripples a fountain
Elsewhere silence, far and wide
Beside the wall in the shadow
Three students are standing
With flute and violin and zither
And they play, and sing while playing
The strains are stealing gently
Into the fairest maiden’s dream
She sees her blond beloved
And whispers: “Forget me not!”
How delightful you are, my Queen
How delightful you are, my queen,
Because of gentle kindness
You need but smile and scents of spring
waft
Blissfully through my heart!
Frisch aufgeblüter Rosen Glanz
Vergleich ich ihn dem deinigin?
Ach, über alles, was da blüht,
Ist deine Blüte wonnevoll!
Durch tote Wüsten wandle hin,
Und grüne Schatten breiten sich,
Ob fürchterliche Schwille dort ohn Ende
brüte,
Wonnevoll, wonnevoll!
Lass mich vergehn in deinem Arm!
Es ist ihm ja selbst der Tod,
Ob auch die herbste Todesqual
Die Brust durchwüte wonnevoll!
Gabriel Fauré:
From Poème d'un Jour, Op.21
Text by Charles Jean Grandmougin
(1850-1930)
Rencontre
J'étais triste et pensif quand je t'ai
rencontrée;
Je sens moins aujourd'hui mon obstiné
tourment.
Ô dis-moi, serais-tu la femme inespérée,
Et le rêve ideal poursuivi vainement?
Ô, passante aux doux yeux, serais-tu donc
l'amie
Qui rendrait le Bonheur au poète isolé,
Er vas-tu rayonner sur mon âme affermie,
Comme le ciel natal sur un coeur d'exilé?
Ta tristesse sauvage, à la mienne pareille,
Aime à voir le soleil decliner sur la mer.
Devant l'immensité ton extase s'éveille,
Et le charme des soirs à ta belle âme est
cher;
Une mystérieuse et douce sympathie
Déjà m'enchaîne à toi comme un vivant lien,
Et mon âme frémit, par l'amour envahie,
Et mon coeur te chérit sans te connaîre bien!
Toujours
Vous me demandez de ma taire,
De fuir loin de vous pour jamais,
Et de m'en aller, solitaire,
Sans me rappeler qui j'aimais!
Demandez plutôt aux étoiles
De tomber dans l'immensité,
À la nuit de perdre ses voiles,
Au jour de perdre sa clarté,
Demandez à la mer immense
De dessécher ses vastes flots,
Et, quand les vents sont en démence,
D'apaiser ses sombres sanglots!
The splendor of unfolded roses,
Shall I compare it to yours?
Oh, above all else that blossoms,
Your flowering is delightful!
If you walk through arid deserts,
Green shadows will spread,
Where horrible heat waves endlessly
extend,
What joy! What bliss!
Let me perish in your arms!
Within them, even death,
Even the bitterest deadly torture
Would seem an ecstasy!
Encounter
I was sad and pensive when
I met you,
I sense less to-day my persistent
Torment;
Tell me, were you the girl I met by chance
The ideal dream I have vainly sought?
A passer-by with gentle eyes, were you the
Friend
Who brought happiness to a lonely poet,
And did you shine upon my vacant heart
Like the native sky on an exiled spirit?
Your shy sadness, so like my own,
Loves to watch the sun set over the ocean.
Facing this vastness your rapture awakens,
And the charm of the evenings is dear to
your beautiful soul.
A mysterious and gentle sympathy
already binds me to you like a living
bond;
My soul trembles with overpowering love,
And my heart cherishes you without
knowing you well!
Always
You ask me to be quiet,
To flee from you forever
And depart in solitude
Without thinking of the one whom I love!
You might more easily ask the stars
To fall into the infinite,
The night to lift its veils,
The day to rid itself of its brightness!
Ask the immense ocean
To dry up its vast waves,
And, when the winds rage in madness,
To still their mournful cries!
Mais n'espérez pas que mon âme
S'arrache à ses âpres douleurs
Et se dépouille de sa flamme
Comme le printemps de ses fleurs!
Adieu
Comme tout meurt vite, la rose
Déclose,
Et les frais manteaux
Diapers des prés;
Les longs soupirs, les bienaimées,
Fumées!
On voit dans ce monde léger
Changer,
Plus vite que les flots des grèves,
Nos rêves,
Plus vite que le givre en fleurs,
Nos coeurs!
À vous l'on se croyait fidèle,
Cruelle,
Mais hélas! les plus longs amours
Sont courts!
Et je dis en quittant vos charmes,
Sans larmes,
Presqu'au moment de mon aveu,
Adieu!
Ernest Chausson:
Le Charme
Text by Armand Silvestre (1837 – 1901)
Quand ton sourire me surprit,
Je sentis frémir tout mon être,
Mais ce qui domptait nous esprit,
Je ne pus d'abord le connaître.
Quand ton regard tomba sur moi,
Je sentis mon âme se fondre,
Mais ce que serait cet émoi,
Je ne pus d'abord en répondre.
Ce qui me vainquit à jamais,
Ce fut un plus douloureux charme;
Et je n'ai su que je t'aimais,
Qu'en voyant ta première larme.
Les Papillons
Text by Theophile Gautier (1811 – 1872)
Les papillons couleur de neige
Volent par essaims sur la mer;
Beaux papillons blancs, quand pourrai-je
Prendre le bleu chemin de l'air?
Savez-vous, ô belle des belles,
Ma bayadère aux yeux de jais,
S'ils me voulaient prêter leurs ailes,
Dites, savez-vous où j'irais?
Sans prendre un seul baiser aux roses,
But do not hope that my soul
Will free itself from its bitter sorrows,
And douse its flame.
As the spring-time can shed its flowers!
Farewell
How quickly everything dies, the rose
Unclosed,
And the fresh colored mantles
Of the Meadows;
Long sighs, those we love,
Disappear in smoke!
We see, in this frivolous world,
Change.
Quicker than the waves on the beach,
Our dreams,
Quicker than frost on the flowers,
Our hearts.
One believes oneself faithful to you,
Cruel,
But alas! The longest of love affairs
Are short!
And I say on quitting your charms,
Without tears,
Close to the moment of my avowal,
Farewell!
The Charm
When i caught your smile,
I felt all my being atremble,
But what has conquered my mind
I did not know at first.
When your glance rested on me,
I felt my soul melting,
But what this emotion might be
I could not explain at first.
What conquered me forever
Was a much sadder charm;
And I only realized I loved you
When I saw you shed your first tear.
The Butterflies
The butterflies snow-white
Float in swarms over the sea
Lovely white butterflies, which may I
Take to the blue road of the sky?
Do you know, beauty of beauties
My dancing girl with eyes of fade,
If they would lend me their wings,
Tell me, do you know where I would go?
Without taking a single kiss to the roses,
À travers vallons et forêts,
J'irais à vos lèvres mi-closes,
Fleur de mon âme, et j'y mourrais.
Amour d’Antan
Text by Maurice Bouchor (1855 – 1929)
Mon amour d'antan, vous souvenez-vous?
Nos coeurs ont fleuri tout comme deux
roses
Au vent printanier des baisers si doux,
Vous souvenez-vous de ces vieilles choses?
Voyez-vous toujours en vos songes d'or
Les horizons bleus, la mer soleilleuse
Qui baisant vos pieds, lentement s'endort?
En vos songes d'or peut-être oublieuse ?
Au rayon pâli des avrils passés
Sentez-vous s'ouvrir la fleur de vos rêves,
Bouquet d'odorants et de frais pensers?
Beaux avrils passés là-bas, sur les grêves!
Arturo Toscanini:
V'amo
Text by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Vanno e vengono I giorni, I mesi, gli anni;
Pur mai l’amour in me
Non si struggle, nutrito Sol
D’affanni!
Sol una volta ancor vederti tio bramo,
Inginocchiarme a te,
E dir morendo a te: Signora,
Io v’amo.
Presentimenti
Text by Antonio Ghisianzoni (1824-1893)
Io ti chieggo se m’ami, e mi rispondi
Io t’amo, t’amo assai.
Io ti chieggo se sempre m’amerai
Tu taci e il viso ascondi.
De’ toui silenzi o dolce mia fanciulla
Il triste arcan io scerno
Tu sai che m’ami e sai che al par del nulla
Avvi quaggiù d’eterno.
Son gelosa!
text by Rocco E. Pagliara (1855-1914)
Mi trema il cor, se il guardo tuo soltanto
Indifferente un’altra affisa in volto;
D’improvviso mi vien sul ciglio il pianto,
Se volgere ad un’altra il dir
T’ascolto.
Across valleys and woods
I would go to your half-closed lips,
Flower of my soul, and there I would die.
Love of Yester-year
My love of yester-year, do you remember?
Our hearts blossomed quite like two roses
In the wind of Spring, of kisses so sweet,
Do you remember these things gone-by?
Do you still see in your golden dreams
The blue horizons, the sunlit sea
Which, while kissing your feet, slowly fall
asleep?
In your golden dreams, are you perhaps
forgetful?
In the pale rays of April gone by
Do you feel the flower of your dreams
unfolding,
A bouguet of fragrant and newborn
thoughts?
Beautiful Aprils gone by, down there on the
strand
I Love You
Days, months and years come and go;
Yet the love I feel
Is never consumed, nourished only by
Distress.
I long to see you just once again,
To kneel before you,
Then to die while saying to you: Lady,
I Love you.
Forebodings
I ask if you love me and you reply
I love you very much.
I ask if you will always love me
You are silent and hide your face.
From your silence my sweet lady
I understand the sad reason
You know you love me and you know that
Nothing in this world can last forever.
I am jealous!
My heart trembles if you simply look
At the face of another woman;
Suddenly tears come to my eyes.
If I hear you simply speak to another
woman.
Il guardo tuo, la voce armonioso
Voglio solo per me.
Ah! Io t’amo, io t’amo tanto e son
Gelosa, son gelosa di te!
Se ti vedo partir, da me lontano
Parmi che vada via con te la luce.
Come una forza di poter sovrano
A te d’appresso il pensier mio conduce.
Invidio I fior e l’erba rugiadosa,
Che calpesti col piè.
Ah! Io t’amo, io t’amo tanto e son
Gelosa, son gelosa di te!
Non chiedermi perchè tacer vogl’io,
Talor ravvolta in torbidi pensieri:
Che cerchi trepidante il guardo mio,
Sul labbro tuo, fra I tuoi capelli neri
Di baci e di carezze altrui ascosa
Una traccia sol v’e.
Tu mi vedrai morire, io son gelosa,
Son gelosa di te!
Roger Quilter:
Three Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6
Text by William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
Come Away, Death
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.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O, prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true
Did share it.
Not a flower, not a flower sweet,
On my black coffin let there be strown.
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corpse, where my bones shall be
thrown.
A thousand, thousand sighs to save,
Lay me, O, where
Sad true lover never find my grave,
To weep there!
O Mistress Mine
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.
What is love? 'Tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies not plenty;
Then, come kiss me, sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
Your gaze, your harmonious voice
I want only for myself.
Ah! I love you, I love you so much and I am
Jealous, I am jealous of you.
If I see you go far from me
I feel the light goes away with you.
As if pulled by sovereign power
My thoughts go with you.
I envy the flowers and the dewy grass
You trample underfoot.
Ah! I love you, I love you so much and I am
Jealous, I am jealous of you.
Do not ask why I wish to be silent
Sometimes dark thoughts absorb me
As my anxious gaze searches
On your lips and among your dark hair
For just a trace of kisses and caresses
From someone else.
You will see me die, I am jealous
I am jealous of you!
Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind
Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green
holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving
mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As a friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green
holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving
mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Frank Loesser:
If I Were a Bell
Text by Frank Loesser (1910-1969)
Ask me how do I feel
Ask me now that we're cosy and clinging
Well sir, all I can say, is if I were a bell I'd Be
ringing!
From the moment we kissed tonight
That's the way I've just gotta behave
Boy, if I were a lamp I'd light
And If I were a banner I'd wave!
Ask me how do I feel, little me with my
Quiet upbringing
Well sir, all I can say is if I were a gate I'd Be
swinging!
And if I were a watch I'd start popping my
Springs!
Or if I were a bell I'd go ding dong, ding
Dong ding!
Ask me how do I feel from this chemistry
Lesson I'm learning.
Well sir, all I can say is if I were a bridge I'd
Be burning!
Yes, I knew my moral would crack
From the wonderful way that you looked!
Boy, if I were a duck I'd quack!
Or if I were a goose I'd be cooked!
Ask me how do I feel, ask me now that
We're fondly caressing
Pal, if I were a salad I know I'd be Splashing
my dressing
And if I were a season, I’d surely
Be spring!
And, if I were a bell I'd go ding dong, ding
Dong ding!
Frederick Loewe:
Before I Gaze at You Again
Text by Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986)
Before I gaze at you again
I'll need a time for tears.
Before I gaze at you again
Let hours turn to years.
I have so much forgetting to do
Before I try to gaze again at you.
Stay away until you cross my mind
Barely once a day.
Stay away till I wake and find
That I can smile and say:
That I shall gaze at you again
Without a blush or qualm.
My eyes will shine like new again,
My manner poised and calm.
Stay far away
My love far away
Till I forget
I gazed at you today!
Jeanine Tesori:
Girl in 14G
Text by Dick Scanlan (b. 1960)
Just moved in to 14G
So cozy, calm, and peaceful
Heaven for a mouse like me
With quiet by the lease-full
Pets are banned parties too
And no solicitations
Window seat with garden view
A perfect nook to read a book
I’m lost in my Jane Austen when I hear
Say it isn't so. Not the flat below
From an opera wanna be in 13G.
A matinee of some cantata
Wagner’s Ring and Traviata.
Ah….
My first night in 14G
I’ll put up with Puccini
Brew myself a cup of tea
Crochet until she's fini
Half past eight, not a peep
Except the clock tick-tockin
Now I lay me down to sleep
A comfy bed to rest my head
A stretch, a yawn, I’m almost gone when
Do wee zwah…
Now the girl upstairs, wakes me unawares
Blowing down from 15G her reveille
She's scattin' like her name is Ella
Guess who answers a cappella
Zoot do…
Ah…
I'm not one to raise my voice,
Make a fuss or speak my mind
But might I query, would you mind if
Could you kindly
STOP!
That felt good
STOP!
13, 15, 14G
A most unlikely trio
No quite three part harmony
All day and night we're singing
Zoot do...
Stop!
Ah...
I've had my fill of peace and quiet
Shout out loud, "I've changed my diet!"
All because of 14G
Eric Idle:
The Song That Goes Like This
From Monty Python’s Spamalot
Once in every show
There comes a song like this
That starts out soft and low
And ends up with a kiss
Oh where is the song that goes like this?
A sentimental song
That casts a magic spell
They all will hum along
We’ll overact like hell
For this is our song that goes like this
Now we can go straight
Into the middle-eight
A bridge that is too far for me
I’ll sing it in your face
While we both embrace
And then we change the key!
Now we’re into E
That’s awfully high for me
For everyone can see
We should have stayed in D
For this is our song that goes like this
I can’t believe there’s more
It’s far too long I’m sure
That’s the trouble with this song
It goes on and on and on
Singing our song that is too long
We’ll be singing this til dawn
You’ll wish that you weren’t born
Let’s forget this damn refrain
Before we go insane
The song always ends like this!
