the notes here

PROGRAM NOTES, TEXTS, and TRANSLATIONS
for the SENIOR RECITAL of M. EVAN MEISSER, BARTIONE
Della guerra amorosa (1709)
George Frideric Handel
I. Recitativo: Della guerra amorosa…
(1685–1759)
II. Aria: Non v’alletti un’occhio nero…
III. Recitativo: Fuggite, si fuggite. Ahi! di quanto veleno…
IV. Aria: La bellezza è come un fiore…
V. Recitativo/Finale: Fuggite, sì fuggite! A chi servo d’amor…
George Frideric Handel travelled to Italy sometime in 1706, and by the beginning of 1707 was
living and working in Rome. There the Cardinals Carlo Colonna and Benedetto Pamphili were
among the influential patrons for whom Handel provided compositions. While his first
commissions were sacred works, he was soon composing secular cantatas. By May of 1707,
Handel began receiving the patronage of the Marchese Francesco Ruspoli, for whom he was to
provide secular cantatas for his weekly musical gatherings. Dalla guerra amorosa is believed to
one of those secular cantatas. Dalla guerra amorosa revolves around a lover retreating from love
itself, his endeavor with another has left him only pain. The cantata’s delicate and distressing
premise is illustrated promptly with numerous cautionary warnings in each recitative along with
the aria “La bellezza è come un fiore” in which the lover describes the journey of a beautiful
flower and how in the end everything turns to dust.
1. Recitativo
Dalla guerra amorosa,
or che ragion mi chiama,
O miei pensieri,
fuggite pur, fuggite.
Vergognosa non è
In amor fuga,
che sol fuggendo un’alma
del crudo amor pùo riportar la palma.
From the amorous war
now reason tells me,
O my thoughts,
flee now, flee.
Flight is not shameful
in matters of love,
for only in retreat from cruel love
can a soul return victorious.
2. Aria
Non v’alletti un occhio nero
Né i suoi sguardi, lusinghiero,
che da voi chieda pietà.
Che per far le sue vendette,
e con arco e con saette,
ivi amor nascoso sta.
Do not be enticed by a dark eye
Nor its glances, alluring,
that ask mercy of you.
For to wreak his vengeance,
With both bow and arrow,
Love dwells hidden there.
3. Recitativo
Fuggite, si fuggite,
ahi! Di quanto veleno,
amore asperge i suoi piaceri.
Ah! quanto ministra
Duol e piante a chi lo segue,
e le sue leggi adora.
Flee, yes flee,
Oh! With how much poison
Love sprinkles his pleasures.
Ah! How much pain and weeping
He bestows on he who follows him,
And loves his rule.
Se un volto v’innamora,
sappiate o pensier miei,
che ciò che piace
in brev’ora svanisce,
e poi dispiace.
If a face infatuates you,
know O my thoughts,
that that which now pleases
in a little vanishes,
and then displeases.
4. Aria
La bellezza è com’ un fiore,
sul mattin vivace e bello,
sul mattin di primavera,
che la sera langue e more,
si scolora e non par quello.
Beauty is like a flower,
In the morning fresh and fine,
on a spring morning,
which by evening droops and dies,
fades and seems no more.
5. Recitativo/Finale
Fuggite, sì fuggite!
A chi servo d’amor,
vive in catena,
è dubbioso il gioir,
certa la pena
Selections from Spanisches Liederbuch (1891)
I. Geistliche Lieder:
1.Nun bin ich dein [Juan Ritz]
3. Nun wandre, Maria [Ocaña]
Flee, yes flee!
To him who is a servant of love,
living enchained,
joy is uncertain,
pain certain.
Hugo Wolf
(1860-1903)
Hugo Wolf finished and published the Spanisches Liederbuch in 1891. The Spanisches
Liederbuch is comprised of a collection of Spanish poems of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, the translations into German were by Paul Heyse and Emanuel Geibel. Only seventeen
of the poems had identified authors. During the time Wolf worked on this composition it is
apparent that his level of skill had better developed so that he could enable the underlying ideas
in each poem. This is clearly seen by the returning rhythmic motives and the more dramatic use
of harmony in the accompaniment to support the general sense of each poem. “Nun bin ich dein”
by Juan Ritz was the opening song for the Spanisches Liederbuch Wolf decided to start the lied
with the oldest poem in the entire collection of sacred and secular songs. “Nun bin ich dein” is in
an unusual 4/2 meter, slow tempo, and opening harmonies in the first few beats alone help to
manifest the mood in which the effect of resolving all that has gone before into an unshakeable
certitude. “Nun wandre, Maria” demonstrates Wolf’s ability to recreate a situation. In this case,
Joseph speaks to his dear wife who is in need of loving comfort. Wolf emphasizes the
indescribable tenderness between the two as if the music was a response to the cries of distress.
This tenderness can be seen in the melodic line since it never spans more than a fourth and in the
dynamics since it only shifts between pp and mf showing Josephs calm reserved attribute as well
as his helpless anxiety.
1. Nun bin ich dein
Nun bin ich dein,
Du aller Blumen Blume,
Und sing allein
Allstund zu deinem Ruhme;
Will eifrig sein,
Mich dir zu weihn
Und deinem Duldertume.
Now I am yours,
Flower of all Flowers,
and sing solely
at all times to your praise;
I will be zealous,
dedicate myself to you
and to your sufferance.
Frau auserlesen,
Zur dir steht all mein Hoffen,
Mein innerst Wesen
Ist allezeit dir offen.
Komm, mich zu lösen,
Vom Fluch des Bösen,
Der mich so hart betroffen!
Lady Elect,
in you is all my hope,
my innermost being
is forever open to you.
Come, free me
from the curse of the Evil One
who has so sore afflicted me!
Du Stern der See,
Du Port der Wonnen,
Von der im Weh
Die Wunden Heil gewonnen,
Eh ich vergeh,
Blick aus der Höh,
Du Königin der Sonnen!
Star of the Sea,
Haven of Delights,
From whom, in agony,
The afflicted have found salvation,
Before I pass away,
Look from on high,
Queen of Suns!
Nie kann versiegen
Die Fülle deiner Gnaden;
Du hilfst zum Siegen
Dem, der mit Schmach beladen.
An dich sich schmiegen,
Zu deinen Füßen liegen,
Heilt allen Harm und Schaden.
Never can the abundance
Of your mercy run dry;
you help towards triumph
him who is laden with shame.
To cling to you,
to lie at your feet,
heals all infirmity and grief.
Ich liede schwer
Und wohlverdiente Strafen.
Mir bangt so sehr,
Bald Todesschlaf zu schlafen.
Tritt du einher,
Und durch das Meer
O führe mich zum Hafe!
I suffer severe
and well-merited punishments.
I am in such dread
Of sleeping soon death’s sleep.
Come forth,
And through the sea,
Bring me, oh, to harbor!
3. Nun wandre, Maria
Nun wandre, Maria,
Nun wandre nur fort.
Schon krähen die Hähne,
Und nah ist der Ort.
Nun wandre, Geliebte,
Du kleinod mein,
Und balde wir werden
In Bethlehem sein.
Dann ruhest du fein
Und schlummerst dort.
Schon krähen die Hähne
Und nah ist der Ort.
Wohl seh ich, Herrin,
Die Kraft dir schwinden;
Kann deine Schwerzen,
Ach, kaum verwinden.
Getrost! Wohl finden
Wir herberg dort.
Schon krähen die Hähne
Und nah ist der Ort.
Wär erst bestanden
Dein Stündlein, Marie,
Die gut Botschaft,
Gut lohnt ich sie.
Das Eselein hie
Gäb ich drum fort!
Schon krähen die Hähne,
Komm! Nah ist der Ort.
Onward, now, Mary,
just onward, now, on,
the cocks are crowing,
and the place is near.
Onward now, beloved,
my jewel,
and soon shall we be
in Bethlehem.
Then shall you rest well
there, and slumber.
The cocks are crowing,
and the place is near.
Well I see, Lady,
your strength is waning;
your pains I cannot,
alas, subdue.
Take heart! We shall find
lodging there.
The cocks are crowing
and the place is near.
Would it were over,
Mary, your hour,
those good tidings
would I reward well.
The donkey here
would I give for that!
The cocks are crowing,
come! The place is near
[Translation: Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau]
Tanzlied des Pierrot
from Die tote Stadt (1920)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
(1897–1957)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die tote Stadt was based off of Georges Rodenbach short novel
Bruges-la-Morte. The three act opera first premiered on December 4, 1920, in both Hamburg and
Cologne. Die tote Stadt’s theme of overcoming the loss of a loved one resonated with all
audiences after the pain and grief of World War I. Korngold’s style throughout the opera is
heavily related to a mix of Puccini, Strauss, and Mahler from the marvelous orchestration that
pours out emotions and the memorable melodic lines. “Tanzlied des Pierrot” begins in the
second act when Marietta’s troupe comes to visit, the clown Fritz starts the celebration with a
beautiful aria followed by a toast. Much like the theme of the entire opera, “Tanzlied des Pierrot”
helps to tell Fritz’s story and describes his passion and love lost. The melodic lines of the entire
aria help to illustrate the joy, pain, and deceit that have followed him in his journey for love and
adventure.
Mein sehnen, mein wähnen,
Es träumt sich zurück.
My yearning, my mad wanderlust
Go far back in my dreams.
Im Tanze gewannich,
verlor ich mein Glück.
Im tanze am Rhein, bei Monden khein,
gestand mir’s aus Blauaug ein inniger Blick,
gestand mir’s ihr bittend Wort: o bleib,
o geh mir nicht fort,
bewahre der heimat still blühendes Glück.
In dancing, I knew happiness,
Now I’ve lost it.
While dancing by the Rhine in the moonlight…
The loving look in her blue eyes told me everything.
Her glance confessed her plea. Oh stay
Don’t go far away from me.
Cherish the happiness you know in your native land.
Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen
es träumt sich zurück.
My longing, my mad wanderlust
Go far back in my dreams.
Zauber der Ferne warf
in die Seele den Brand,
Zauber der des Tanzes lockte,
ward komödiant.
Folgt ihr, der wundersüßen,
lernt unter Tränen küßen.
Rausch und Not Wahn und Glück:
Ach, das ift Gauklers Geschick.
The magic of things far away
Still bring a burning to my soul.
The magic of dance lured me
And I became Pierrot, the clown.
I followed my beloved muse,
and learned to through my tears
Ecstasy and pain madness and joy
That is a clown’s destiny
Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen
es träumtsich zurück.
My yearning, my mad wanderlust
Go far back in my dreams.
[Translation: Nico Castel]
Ô vin, dissipe la tristesse
from Hamlet (1868) [M. Carré/J. Barbier]
Ambroise Thomas
(1811–1896)
Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet was one of many attempts during the nineteenth century to adapt a
Shakespearean play into a dramatic opera. Most efforts to this end met with little or no success,
but Thomas' work endured at the Paris Opera until the early twentieth century. The work's
premiere on March 9, 1868, was met with critical and public acclaim; audiences particularly
loved Ophelia's mad scene, which Thomas had specifically adapted to the talents of the Swedish
soprano Christine Nilsson. Critics hailed the opera as a masterpiece, and it was viewed as the
composer's greatest work to that point. Hamlet's success came on the heels of acclaim for
Thomas' Mignon (1866), and this “one-two” musical punch catapulted the composer into the first
ranks of French opera. The rest of the opera sticks to the original plot in the clear dramatic
intensity that is evoked. The aria “Ô vin, dissipe la tristesse” begins when the players or actors
enter to mime the play The Murder of Gonzago. In order to cause no suspicion toward Claudius
and Gertrude, Hamlet begins a drinking song, and act foolishly thus the leading the chorus into
an uproar.
Ò vin, dissipe la tristesse
Qui pèse sur mon coeur!
A moi les rèves de l'ivresse
Et le rire moqueur!
O liqueur enchanteresse,
Verse l'ivresse
Et l'oubli dans mon coeur!
Douce liqueur!
La vie est sombre
Les ans sont courts;
De nos beaux jours
Dieu sait le nombre
Chacun hélas! Porte ici-bas
Sa lourde chaîne!
Cruels devoirs,
Longs désespoirs
De l'âme humaine!
Loin de nous, noirs présages!
Ah!
Oh wine, dissipate the sadness
that lies heavy upon my heart!
To me give the dreams of intoxication
and the mocking laughter!
O enchanting liqueur,
pour drunkeness
and forget fulness into my heart!
Sweet liqueur!
Life is somber;
The years are short.
Of our beautiful days
God knows the number.
Each person, alas! Carries here
his heavy chain
Cruel duties,
Slow despairs
Of the human soul!
Away from us, black omens!
Ah!
[Translation: Nico Castel]
Calligrammes (1948) [Guillaume Apollinaire]
I. L’espionne
II. Mutation
III. Vers le sud
IV. Il pleut
V. La grace exile
VI. Aussi bien que les cigales
VII. Voyage
Francis Poulenc
(1899–1963)
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc composed the music for Guillaume Apollinaire’s collection of
poems later in his life in 1948. The name of Apollinaire’s collection is called Poems of War and
Peace: 1913-1916 which was first published in 1918. Each poem is set in the form of visual
poetry specifically a calligram in which the spatial arrangement and typeface of the words on the
page play just as much of a role in the meaning of each poem as the words themselves. Poulenc
composed in multiple genres was inspired by several periods of inspiration and experimentation
throughout his career.
I. L’espionne
I. The spy
Pâle espionne de l'Amour
Ma mémoire à peine fidèle
N'eut pour observer cette belle
Forteresse qu'une heure un jour
Pale spy of Love
My memory scarcely faithful
Had to observe this beautiful
Fortress only one hour one day
Tu te déguises
À ta guise
Mémoire espionne du coeur
Tu ne retrouves plus l'exquise
Ruse et le coeur seul est vainqueur
You disguise yourself
In your guise
Spying memory of the heart
You will no longer find again the exquisite
Trick and the heart alone is victorious
Mais la vois-tu cette mémoire
Les yeux bandés prête à mourir
Elle affirme qu'on peut l'en croire
Mon coeur vaincra sans coup férir
But do you see this memory
Eyes blindfolded, ready to die
It affirms that one can believe in it
My heart will conquer without bloodshed.
II. Mutation
II. Mutation
Une femme qui pleurait
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Des soldats qui passaient
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Un éclusier qui pêchait
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Les tranchées qui blanchissaient
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Des obus qui pétaient
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Des allumettes qui ne prenaient pas
Et tout
A tant changé
En moi
Et tout a tant changé
Tout
Sauf mon amour.
A woman who was crying
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Soldiers who were passing by
Eh! Oh! Ha!
A lockkeeper who was fishing
Eh! Oh! Ha!
The trenches that were turning white
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Shells that were exploding
Eh! Oh! Ha!
Matches that were not taking
And all
Has changed so much
In me
Eh! Oh! Ha!
And everything has changed so much
Everything
Except my love.
Eh! Oh! Ha!
III. Vers la sud
III. Toward the South
Zénith
Tous ces regrets
Ces jardins sans limites
Où le crapaud module un tendre cri d'azur
La biche du silence éperdu passe vite
Un rossignol meurtri par l'amour chante sur
Le rosier de ton corps
dont j'ai cueilli les roses
Nos coeurs pendent ensemble au même
grenadier
Et les fleurs de grenade en nos regards
écloses
En tombant tour à tour ont jonché le sentier
Zenith
All these regrets
These gardens without limits
Where the toad varies a tender azure cry
The doe of the boundless silence passes quickly
A nightingale wounded by love sings on
The rosebush of your body from
which I have picked the roses
Our hearts hang together on the same pomegranate tree
And the pomegranate flowers in our dawning glances
While falling by turns have littered the path.
IV. Il pleut
IV. It rains
Il pleut des voix de femmes comme si elles
étaient mortes même dans le souvenir
c'est vous aussi qu'il pleut merveilleuses
rencontres de ma vie ô gouttelettes
et ces nuages cabrés se prennent à hennir
tout un univers de villes auriculaires
écoute s'il pleut tandis que le regret et
le dédain pleurent une ancienne musique
écoute tomber les liens qui te retiennent
en haut et en bas.
It is raining of the voices of women as if
they were dead even in memory
It is you also that it rains marvelous
meetings of my life, oh little drops
And these reared-up clouds take themselves
to neighing an entire universe of auricular cities
Listen if it rains while regret and disdain
cry an ancient music
Listen to the falling of the bonds that
restrain you from top to bottom.
V. La grâce exile
V. Grace in exile
Va-t-'en va-t'en mon arc-en-ciel
Allez-vous-en couleurs charmantes
Cet exil t'est essentiel
Infante aux écharpes changeantes.
Go away, go away, rainbow.
Go away, charming colours.
You need this exile,
Princess with the many-hued scarves.
Et l'arc-en-ciel est exilé
Puisqu'on exile qui l'irise
Mais un drapeau s'est envolé
Prendre ta place au vent de bise.
And the rainbow went into exile,
as those who lend their colours are exiled,
but a flag flew off
to take its place in the wind.
VI. Aussi bien que les cigales
VI. As well as the cicadas
Gens du midi gens du midi vous n'avez
donc pas regardé les cigales que vous
ne savez pas creuser que vous ne savez
pas vous éclairer ni voir
Que vous manque-t'il donc pour voir
aussi bien que les cigales
Mais vous savez encore boire comme
les cigales ô gens du midi gens du soleil
gens qui devriez savoir creuser et voir
aussi bien pour le moins aussi bien que les cigales
Eh quoi! vous savez boire et ne savez plus
pisser utilement comme les cigales
le jour de gloire sera celui où vous saurez
creuser pour bien sortir au soleil
creusez voyez buvez pissez comme les cigales
gens du midi il faut creuser voir boire pisser
aussi bien que les cigales pour chanter comme elles
La joie adorable de la paix solaire.
People of noon people of noon you
have not thus watched the cicadas that you
do not know how to dig that you do not know
how to illuminate yourselves nor to see
So, what are you missing [that you need]
to see as well as the cicadas
But you still know how to drink like
the cicadas oh people of noon people of the sun
people who must know how to dig and see
as well as for the least as well as the cicadas
And what! You know how to drink and no longer know
how to urinate usefully like the cicadas
The day of glory will be the one when you know how
to dig in order to go out well into the sun
You dig you see you drink you piss like the cicadas
People of noon you must dig see drink piss
As well as the cicadas to sing as they do
The lovable joy of the peace of the sun.
VII. Voyage
VII. Journey
Adieu Amour nuage qui fuis et n'a pas
chu pluie féconde
refais le voyage de Dante.
Goodbye love cloud that flees and has not
dropped fertile rain
Make again the voyage of Dante.
Télégraph
Oiseau qui laisse tomber ses ailes partout
Telegraph
Bird that lets fall its wings everywhere
Où va donc ce train qui meurt au loin
Dans les vals et les beaux bois frais du
tendre été si pâle?
Where goes then this train that dies far away
In the valleys and the beautiful cool woods of the
tender summer so pale?
C'est ton visage que je ne vois plus.
The sweet night, moonlit and full of stars,
It is your face that I no longer see.
[Translations: Winifred Radford]
Despite and Still, Op. 41 (1969)
I. A Last Song [Robert Graves]
II. My Lizard [Theodore Roethke]
III. In the Wilderness [Robert Graves]
IV. Solitary Hotel [James Joyce]
V. Despite and Still [Robert Graves]
Samuel Barber
(1910–1981)
Despite and Still was composed in June 1968 and was first premiered on April 27, 1969, by
Leontyne Price in New York. The cycle although originally criticized for its unrelated poetry
was soon understood as the themes of lost love, loneliness, and reclusion which could all
considered as glimpses into the later years of Barber’s life. “A Last Song” the first song in the
cycle can be interpreted as expressing the feelings of an artist being pushed to continually
produce creative works even in old age. The second song, “My Lizard,” is from a poem by
Theodore Roethke, the light texture throughout the song helps to illustrate the hopes that his love
lives long and happily after he is gone. “In the Wilderness” by Graves shows Barbers curiosity
into religion during the later years of his life the subject of the song being the suffering of Jesus.
“Solitary Hotel” is paragraph from James Joyce’s Ulysses the piece helps to illustrate the
loneliness and separation of an old man. “Solitary Hotel” is driven by the flavorful tango
accompaniment and the confusion between a man and a woman. “Despite and Still” is the final
song in the cycle; the song describes two lovers who couldn’t be together because of their
personal differences and desirers. “Despite and Still”—along with “A Last Song” and “In the
Wilderness”—are connected by Barber’s emotions in which he harmonically blurred the songs
with multiple chords being played on top of each other and rapid modulations disrupting the
tonality of each piece.