Jeb Sturgill, baritone Tara Benere, soprano

Texts and Translations
bon Saint Michel veuillez descendre
avec Saint Georges sur l’autel
de la Madone au bleu mantel.
D’un rayon du ciel bénissez ma lame
et son égale en pureté
et son égale en piété
comme en pudeur et chasteté:
(O grands Saint Georges et Saint Michel)
L’ange qui veille sur ma veille,
ma douce Dame si pareille
a Vous, Madone au bleu mantel!
good Saint Michael, I pray you to descend
with Saint George upon the altar
of the Madonna of the blue mantle.
With a beam from heaven, bless my sword
and its equal in purity
and its equal in piety
as in modesty and chastity:
(O great Saint George and Saint Michael!)
the angel who watches over my watch,
my sweet Lady who is like
you, Madonna of the blue mantle!
Chanson à boire
Foin du bâtard, illustre Dame,
qui pour me perdre à vos doux yeux
dit que l’amour et le vin vieux
mettent en deuil mon cœur, mon âme!
Je bois à la joie!
La joie est le seul
où je vais droit...
lorsque j’ai bu!
Foin du jaloux, brune maîtresse,
qui geind, qui pleure et fait serment
D’être toujours ce pâle amant
qui met de l’eau dans son ivresse!
Drinking Song
To hell with the bastard, illustrious Lady,
who, to lose me in your sweet eyes
says that love and old wine
will bring to grief my heart and my soul!
I drink to joy!
but Joy is the sole aim
that I pursue...
when I’ve drunk!
To hell with the jealous fool, dark mistress,
who whines, who weeps and makes oaths
to always be the pale lover
who puts water into his intoxication!
Upcoming Events
Sunday, March 29
MUSIC | STUDENT RECITAL: Paul Wolf, tenor
Squires Recital Salon, 4:00 p.m.
Monday, March 30
MUSIC | MUSIC ON MONDAYS: Douglas Humpherys, piano
Squires Recital Salon, 7:30 p.m.
Liberal Arts and
Human Sciences
College of
SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS
MUSIC | THEATRE | CINEMA
presents
A JUNIOR RECITAL
Jeb Sturgill, baritone
Tara Benere, soprano
assisted by
Travis Whaley, piano
Meghan Nash, piano
Thank you to Main Street Inn, Blacksburg,
lodging sponsor of the visiting artist series.
Connect with us!
Phone: 540-231-5200 • email: [email protected] • web: www.performingarts.vt.edu
Tickets: Moss Arts Center Events 540-231-5300 or artscenter.vt.edu
Squires and Burrus Events: 540-231-5615 or tickets.vt.edu
Request our e-newsletter by emailing: [email protected]
The forty-sixth music program of the
2014–2015 SEASON
Sunday, March 29
1:00 p.m.
Squires Recital Salon
Program
JUNIOR RECITAL
presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the bachelor of arts degree in music
Jeb Sturgill, baritone
student of Brian Thorsett
Tara Benere, soprano
student of Ariana Wyatt
Die Zauberflöte...............................................................Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja
(1756–1791)
Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen
Le Secret................................................................................................Gabriel Faurè
Chanson d’amour
(1845–1924)
Aurore
Le Pays de Rêves
Don Pasquale................................................................................ Gaetano Donizetti
Bella siccome un angelo
(1797–1848)
Don Giovanni................................................................................................... Mozart
Batti, batti, o bel Masetto
Messiah................................................................................George Frideric Handel
The Trumpet Shall Sound
(1685–1759)
From The Sea................................................................................ John Woods Duke
I. All beauty calls you to me
(1899–1984)
II. Listen I love you
III. I am so weak a thing
IV. All things in all the world can rest
V. Oh, my love
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée...................................................................... Maurice Ravel
Chanson romanesque (1875–1937)
Chanson épique
Chanson à boire
My Fair Lady...................................................................................Frederick Loewe
I Could Have Danced All Night
(1901–1988)
Memphis The Musical...............................................David Bryan and Joe DiPietro
Memphis Lives In Me
(b. 1962) and (b. 1961)
Please silence cell phones and other audible electronic devices.
Audio/video recording and flash photography are not permitted during the performance.
Texts and Translations
You thought it something delicate and free,
Soft as the sound of fir-trees in the wind,
Fleeting as phosphorescent stars in foam.
Yet in my heart there was a beating storm
Bending my thoughts before it, and I strove
To say too little lest I say too much,
And from my eyes to drive love’s happy shame.
All things in all the world can rest
All things in all the world can rest, but I,
Even the smooth brief respite of a wave
When it gives up its broken crown of foam,
Even that little rest I may not have.
And yet all quiet loves of friends, all joy
In all the piercing beauty of the world
I would give up--go blind forevermore,
Rather than have God blot from out my soul
Remembrance of your voice that said my name.
Oh, my love
Oh, my love
To whom I cannot come with any gift
Of body or of soul, I pass and go.
But sometimes when you hear blown back to you
My wistful, far-off singing touched with tears,
Know that I sang for you alone to hear,
And that I wondered if the wind would bring
To him who tuned my heart its distant song.
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée
Chanson romanesque
Si vous me disiez que la terre
a tant tourner vous offensa,
je luis dépêcherais Pança:
vous la verriez fixe et se taire.
Si vous me disiez que l’ennui
vous vient du ciel trop fleuri d’astres,
déchirant les divins cadastres,
je faucherais d’un coup la nuit.
Si vous me disiez que l’espace
ainsi vidé ne vous plaît point,
chevalier dieu, la lance au poing,
j’étoilerais le vent qui passe.
Mais si vous disiez que mon sang
est plus à moi qu’à vous ma Dame,
je blêmirais dessous le blame
et je mourrais vous bénissant.
O Dulcinée.
Romantic Song
If you were to tell me that the earth
with all it’s turning, offended you,
I would dispatch (Sancho) Panza there;
You would see it fixed and silent.
If you were to tell me that you grew annoyed
of a sky too flowery with stars,
destroying the divine order,
I would sweep the night away with one blow
If you were to tell me that space
thus emptied, did not please you,
knight of God, lance in hand,
I would stud stars into the wind as it passes
But if you said that my blood
is more mine than yours, my lady,
I would blanch at the reproach,
And I would die, blessing you.
Oh Dulcinae
Chanson épique
Bon Saint Michel qui me donnez loisir
de voir ma Dame et de l’entendre,
bon Saint Michel qui me daignez choisir
pour lui complaire et la défendre,
Epic Song
Good Saint Michael, who gives me the liberty
to see my Lady and to hear her,
good Saint Michael, who deigns to choose me
to please her and to defend her,
Texts and Translations
Alma innocente, ingenua,
Che se medesma ignora.
Modestia impareggiabile
Bontá che v’innamora.
Ai miseri pietoso,
Gentil, dolce, amoroso!
Il ciel l’ha fatta nascere
Per far beato un cor!
A soul innocent and ingenuous
That ignores itself.
Modesty incomparable
Goodness that makes one fall in love.
To the poor piteous,
Gentle, sweet, loving!
Heaven made her be born
To make a heart beat!
Don Giovanni
Batti, batti, o bel Masetto
Batti, batti, o bel Masetto,
La tua povera Zerlina;
Starò qui come agnellina
Le tue botte ad aspettar.
Lascierò straziarmi il crine,
Lascierò cavarmi gli occhi,
E le care tue manine
Lieta poi saprò baciar.
Ah, lo vedo, non hai core!
Pace, pace, o vita mia,
In contento ed allegria
Notte e dì voglaim passar.
Beat me, dear Masetto,
Beat me, dear Masetto,
beat your poor Zerlina.
I’ll stand here as meek as a lamb
And bear the blows you lay on me.
You can tear my hair out,
put out my eyes,
yet your dear hand
Gladly I’ll kiss.
Ah! I see you’ve no mind to:
Let’s make peace, dearest love!
In happiness and joy
Let’s pass our days and nights.
From The Sea
All beauty calls you to me
All beauty calls you to me, and you seem,
Past twice a thousand miles of shifting sea,
To reach me. You are as the wind I breathe
Here on the ship’s sun-smitten topmost deck,
With only light between the heavens and me.
I feel your spirit and I close my eyes,
Knowing the bright hair blowing in the sun,
The eager whisper and the searching eyes.
Listen, I love you
Listen, I love you. Do not turn your face
Nor touch me. Only stand and watch awhile
The blue unbroken circle of the sea.
Look far away and let me ease my heart
Of words that beat in it with broken wing.
Look far away, and if I say too much,
Forget that I am speaking. Only watch,
How like a gull that sparkling sinks to rest,
The foam-crest drifts along a happy wave
Toward the bright verge, the boundary of the world.
I am so weak a thing
I am so weak a thing, praise me for this,
That in some strange way I was strong enough
To keep my love unuttered and to stand
Altho’ I longed to kneel to you that night
You looked at me with ever-calling eyes.
Was I not calm? And if you guessed my love
Notes
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART | Die Zauberflöte
Die Zauberflöte or The Magic Flute, is a German opera written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and
librettist Emanuel Schikaneder. Originally premiered in 1791, this opera falls into the category of
Singspiel, a type of opera that has singing along with spoken dialogue. This is a fairy tale opera that
follows a young prince named Tamino and his sidekick Papageno on their mission to rescue Taminos
beloved, Pamina from the wicked Sarastro. Tamino is given a magic flute that has the power to change
sorrow into joy, and Papageno a set of magic bells for protection. Through a series of interesting and
somewhat comedic events, Tamino finally gets to be with his beloved after Sarastro declares the suns
triumph over night.
The role of Papageno, who was originally played by Emanuel Schikaneder, is an interesting one
to say the least. While Tamino is the “Hero”, Papageno would be considered the humorous “sidekick”.
Der Vogelfänger bin ich Ja is the first aria heard by Papageno in the opera at the beginning of act 1. This
aria gives the background of Papageno’s life as a birdcatcher, but continues to introduce his longing
for the love of a woman. This aria definitely gives a terrific introduction to the opera’s most interesting
and quirky character. Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen is the second aria performed by Papageno toward the
end of act 2. This aria absolutely reinforces the character in the fact that the entire song is telling of
Papageno’s longing for love and how he essentially feels like he will die without the love of a woman.
GABRIEL FAURÈ | Le Secret, Chanson d’amour, Aurore and Le Pays de Rêves
Gabriel Fauré was a prominent composers of the Cecilian movement, which strove to bring music
back to its simpler form in the Romantic period. He was known mainly as a composer but was also
an accomplished organist, pianist and teacher. He is most famously known for his Requiem, Pavane and
his French chanson. These French chanson were referred to as mélodie which he wrote to save French
music. This song cycle contains songs from his middle years, in which most of his famous work was
composed.
The poetry is written by from Paul Armand Silvestre (1837-1901). Silvestre originally was going
to enter the army, but instead went into finance in which he had a successful career. He was then made
inspector of fine arts. As he started writing poetry, he wrote in the Parnassianism style. This style was
created during the positivist period after the romanticism period. This period was started by Théophile
Gautier and his doctrine of “art for art’s sake” and has been regarded as excessively sentimental.
GAETANO DONIZETTI | Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an Italian comic opera, or opera buffa, written in 1843 by Gaetano Donizetti. In this
opera, Don Pasquale has demanded that Ernesto, his handsome nephew, break up with Norina, his
penniless widow of a girlfriend, and marry a woman Don Pasquale has chosen. But Ernesto refuses,
because he and Norina are in love. To teach the boy who’s boss, Pasquale decides to disinherit Ernesto
and get married himself. Dr. Malatesta, foreseeing disaster, takes matters into his own hands and asks
Don Pasquale to let him choose his bride. He explains that he has a very pretty sister who is part of a
convent and wants to introduce her to Don Pasquale. The old man is delighted, and so Dr. Malatesta
begins to lay his trap. The doctor tells Norina she must play the part of his sister, Sofronia, and enlists
his cousin to help arrange a phony marriage. Norina acts meek and submissive when she meets Don
Pasquale, and he marries her immediately. But no sooner have they signed the fake marriage certificate
than she changes character: making the old man’s life a living hell by spending a fortune, partying all
day and night, bossing Don Pasquale around, and even slapping him when he steps out of line. Just
when Don Pasquale thinks he is about to catch her in the wrong, Dr. Malatesta’s plot comes to a head,
Don Pasquale learns an important lesson, and young love prevails over age. Bella Siccome un Angelo is
the aria performed by Dr. Maletesta in act 1 when he is trying to sell the idea of his beautiful (fake)
sister upon Don Pasquale.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART| Don Giovanni
A child prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spent most of his time traveling around Europe with
his family performing. Through this upbringing, he learned the art of composition. This lead him to
be one of the most influential composers of the Classical period. Although he died tragically early,
Notes
he wrote over 600 pieces of different genres contributing some of the best symphonic works, piano
music and operas in the history of music.
Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, tells the story of the “Don Juan” character that has been speckled
throughout history. He is a young, arrogant, promiscuous nobleman who enjoys picking a fight. To
contrast him, Mozart presents the purely comical character, Zerlina, a peasant girl who is seduced by
Don Giovanni. This relationship outlines the new opera style that Mozart created, drama giocoso or
mixing serious and comic action. Up until this point, opera had either been serio or comica.
At this point in the opera, Act 1, Scene 4, Zerlina has been seduced by Don Giovanni and is
trying to prove her love to her fiancé, Masetto. The first half of the song is pleading, but in Zerlina’s
way, she has Masetto wrapped around her finger in no time.
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL | Messiah
Messiah is a sacred oratorio from George Frideric Handel that was written in 1741 to a text from
the King James Bible. The oratorio is written in three parts with each part being broken down into
recitatives and arias. Part one tells of the birth of Jesus Christ and the prediction of the virgin birth by
the Old Testament prophets. Part two tells the story of Christ’s passion and death, resurrection and
ascension, and the first spreading of the gospel throughout the world. Part three tells of the promise
of redemption, followed by a prediction of the day of judgment and ending with the final victory over
sin and death and the acclamation of Jesus Christ.
The Trumpet Shall Sound is a bass aria that happens in act three of the work that tells of the
blowing of the trumpet to recall all of the children of God to heaven. It sings of how the dead shall
be raised when the trumpet shall sound. This is very powerful message, which Handel did a wonderful
job setting to music.
JOHN WOODS DUKE| From The Sea
John Woods Duke is a modern American composer who was known for his lectures when he was
a professor at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Of his many influences, the most
prominent is German Lieder. This is also were he found his passion for setting poems of his native
language to music. When asked he answered: “I think it is because of my belief that vocal utterance is
the basis of music’s mystery.” Duke is also known for his opposition of avant-garde music and writing
in the diatonic idiom that naturally came to him. He contributed more than 250 art songs and set
some of the most difficult poetry to music, such as the poems of Emily Dickinson and e.e. cumings.
This song cycle takes the poems of Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) and puts them into lush musical
vision. He takes specific lines from each poem and creates vivid images for the audience to envision.
Although entitled, From the Sea, these poems tell the story of a girl tempted by love.
MAURICE RAVEL | Don Quichotte à Dulcinée
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée is a set of three songs written in 1932 by Maurice Ravel. This set of songs was
commissioned for a film about the Spanish knight, Don Quixote, directed by Austrian film maker
Georg Pabst. The noble lunatic, as many called Quixote, is portrayed as a lover, a holy warrior, and a
drinker. This directly reflects the three songs Chanson Romanesque, Chanson épique, and Chanson à boire.
Chanson romanesque is the first song in this set and is a quajira, which is a Spanish dance with
alternating bars of 6/8 and 3/4. In this song the knight serenades the listener with his love for his
maiden Dulcinae by saying he would do absolutely anything for her and her happiness.
Chanson épique is the second song in the set and is based off of the Spanish Basque. This is where
Quixote shows his nobility. This piece is a prayer sung by Don Quixote to the Saints Michael and
George to protect his purity, piety, modesty, and chastity. He also tells the saints of how his lover’s
beauty is so sweet and pure that she appears angelic like them.
Chanson à boire is the third song and brings out the true character of the Don Quixote we have
all heard about and love. In this song the knight is drunk. He is singing happily that he does not drink
for sadness but instead drinks only for joy.
Aurore
Des jardins de la nuit s’envolent les étoiles,
Abeilles d’or qu’attire un invisible miel,
Et l’aube, au loin tendant la candeur de ses toiles,
Trame de fils d’argent le manteau bleu du ciel.
Texts and Translations
Et, cherchant jusqu’à toi des routes inconnues,
Mêlent au jour naissant leur mourante clarté.
Dawn
The stars fly away from the gardens of night
like golden bees attracted by invisible honey;
and dawn in the distance, stretching her clear canvas,
Weaves with silver thread and the blue cloak of
the sky.
My desires fly off at the morning’s approach
out of the dream-drunk garden of my heart
like a wafting swarm summoned to the red
tinged horizon
By a chant that is plaintive, eternal and far.
They fly to your feet, stars expelled form on high,
exiled from the golden sky in which your
beauty blossoms;
and, seeking uncharted roads to travel to where you are,
They mingle their dying light with awakening day.
Le pays des Rêves
Veux-tu qu’au beau pays des Rêves
Nous allions la main dans la main?
Plus loin que l’odeur des jasmins,
Plus haut que la plainte des grèves,
Veux-tu du beau pays des Rêves
Tous les deux chercher le chemin?
J’ai taillé dans l’azur les toiles
Du vaisseau qui nous portera,
Et doucement nous conduira
Jusqu’au verger d’or des étoiles.
J’ai taillé dans l’azur les toiles
Du vaisseau qui nous conduira.
Mais combien la terre est lointaine
Que poursuivent ses blancs sillons!
Au caprice des papillons
Demandons la route incertaine:
Ah! combien la terre est lointaine
Où fleurissent nos visions!
Vois-tu: le beau pays des Rêves
Est trop haut pour les pas humains.
Respirons à deux les jasmins,
Et chantons encor sur les grèves.
Vois-tu: du beau pays des Rêves
L’amour seul en sait les chemins.
Land of Dreams
Would you like to go hand in hand
To the beautiful land of dreams?
Beyond the fragrance of jasmine,
higher than the seashore’s moan,
would you like us together to seek
The way to that beautiful land?
I’ve cut out from the blue sky that sails
of the ship that will carry us;
it will gently sail us as far
As the golden orchard of the stars.
I’ve cut out from the blue sky that sails
Of the ship that will carry us.
But how distant the earth is now,
Trailing its white wake behind it!
Let us ask the capricious butterflies
for help in finding our way.
Ah, how distant the earth is
On which our visions blossom!
You see, the beautiful land of dreams
Is too high for human footsteps
Together let us smell the jasmine
And sing again on the seashore.
You see, love alone knows the path
To the beautiful land of dreams.
Don Pasquale
Bella siccome un angelo
Bella siccome un angelo
In terra pellegrino.
Fresca siccome un giglio
Che s’apre sul mattino.
Occhio che parla e ride,
Sguardo che i cor conquide,
Chioma che vince l’ebano,
Sorriso incantator!
Beautiful as an angel
Beautiful as an angel
On earth as a pilgrim.
Fresh as a lily
That opens upon morning.
Eyes that speak and laugh,
Glances that conquer the heart,
Hair that surpasses ebony,
Enchanting smile!
Du jardin de mon coeur qu’un rêve lent enivre
S’envolent mes désirs sur les pas du matin,
Comme un essaim léger qu’à l’horizon de
cuivre,
Appelle un chant plaintif, éternel et lointain.
Ils volent à tes pieds, astres chassés des nues,
Exilés du ciel d’or où fleurit ta beauté
Texts and Translations
der gäb ich gleich den Zukker her.
Und küsste sie mich zärtlich dann,
Wär’ sie mein Weib und ich ihr Mann.
Sie schlief an meiner Seite ein;
ich wiegte wie ein Kind sie ein.
To her I would immediately give the sugar.
And if she kissed me tenderly then,
She would be my wife and I her husband.
She would fall asleep by my side;
I would rock her to sleep like a child.
Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen
Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen
Wünscht Papageno sich
O so ein sanftes Täubchen
Wär Seligkeit für mich.
Dann schmeckte mir Trinken und Essen;
Dann könnte’ ich
mit Fuersten mich messen,
Des Lebens als Weiser mich freun,
und wie im Elysium sein.
Ach, kann ich denn keiner von allen
den reizenden Mädchen gefallen?
Helf ’ eine mir nur aus der Not,
Sonst gräm ich mich wahrlich zu Tod.
Wird keiner mir Liebe gewähren,
So muss mich die Flamme verzehren;
Doch küsst mich ein weiblicher Mund,
so bin ich schon wieder gesund.
A girl or a little wife
A girl or a little wife
Wishes Papageno
O, such a soft little dove
Would be bliss for me.
Then drink and food would taste good to me;
Then I could
Measure myself with princes,
Enjoy life as a wiseman,
And feel like I’m in Elysium.
Ah, can I not please any of all
Those charming girls?
If only someone would help me out in this need,
Otherwise I will worry myself to death.
If no one will grant me love,
Then the flame must consume me;
Still, if a womanly mouth kisses me,
Then I will be immediatly healthy again.
The Poems of Armand Silvestre
Le Secret
Je veux que le matin l’ignore
Le nom que j’ai dit à la nuit,
Et qu’au vent de l’aube, sans bruit,
Comme un larme il s’évapore.
Je veux que le jour le proclame
L’amour qu’au matin j’ai caché,
Et sur mon coeur ouvert penché
Comme un grain d’encens il l’enflamme.
Je veux que le couchant l’oublie
Le secret que j’ai dit au jour,
Et l’emporte avec mon amour,
Aux plis de sa robe pâlie!
The Secret
I want the morning not to know
the name that I told to the night;
in the dawn wind, silently,
May it evaporate like a teardrop.
I want the day to proclaim
the love that I hid from the morning
and (bent over my open heart)
To set it aflame, like a grain of incense
I want the sunset to forget
the secret I told to the day
and to carry it away with me love
In the folds of its pale robe!
Chanson d’amour
J’aime tes yeux, j’aime ton front,
Ô ma rebelle, ô ma farouche,
J’aime tes yeux, j’aime ta bouche
Où mes baisers s’épuiseront.
J’aime ta voix, j’aime l’trange
Grâce de tout ce que tu dis,
Ô ma rebelle, ô mon cher ange,
Mon enfer et mon paradis!
J’aime tout ce qui te fait belle,
De tes pieds jusqu’à tes cheveux,
Ô toi vers qui montent mes vœux,
Ô ma farouche, ô ma rebelle!
Love Song
I love your eyes, I love your brow,
Oh my rebellious one, Oh my wild one,
I love your eyes, I love your mouth
Where my kisses exhaust themselves.
I love your voice, I love the strange
Gracefulness of all that which you say,
Oh my rebellious one, oh my dear angel,
My hell and my paradise!
I love all that make you beautiful,
from your feet up to your hair;
Oh you towards whom rises my desires
Oh my wild one, oh my rebellious one!
Notes
FREDERICK LOEWE | My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady, a momentous hit on Broadway in 1956, and is also one of the oddest. Based on George
Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, it tells the story of a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle and her speech
lessons with Professor Henry Higgins. Although it falls under the romantic (musical) comedy, the two
main characters spend the entire musical fighting each other. It has been revived on Broadway multiple
times and even made into a movie version starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.
Near the end of Act 1, Eliza has finally mastered the proper Received Pronunciation (standard
accent of Standard English in the United Kingdom) and Doolittle, Higgins and Pickering, a friend,
celebrate this accomplishment by dancing around Higgins’ study. Being so swept off her feet by
Higgins’ excitement she cannot fathom going to bed. As the maid tries to get her to go to bed, all Eliza
can do is recall the happiness of the evening.
DAVID BRYAN and JOE DIPIETRO | Memphis The Musical
Memphis: The Musical is a Broadway show written by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro that played from
2009 to 2012. This musical is about a radio disc jockey named Huey Calhoun, (this character is loosely
based on Dewey Phillips) who was one of the first white DJs to play black music on the radio in the
1950’s. As we all know, this was a very controversial time in history and did not sit well in the public eye.
This music is a love story between Huey and a young African American woman named Felicia who
never agrees to marry Huey because of prejudice. They go through laughs, an intense breakup, and
then an epic return to fame through the newfound career of Felicia, and ends with the world famous
saying by Huey, “Hockadoo!”
Memphis Lives In Me is the final solo of the musical sung by Huey after probably the hardest point
in his life. After losing his job, he ponders leaving his home of Memphis and going elsewhere. He
eventually realizes that Memphis is his home and he would never leave, no matter the reason. This is
the origin of the phrase and song Memphis Lives In Me.
~notes provided by Jeb Sturgill and Tara Benere
Texts and Translations
Die Zauberflöte
Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja
Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja,
Stets lustig heissa hopsasa!
Ich Vogelfänger bin bekannt
bei Alt und Jung im ganzen Land.
Weiß mit dem Lokken umzugehn
und mich aufs Pfeiffen zu verstehen!
Drum kann ich froh und lustig sein,
Denn alle Vögel sind ja mein.
Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja,
Stets lustig heissa hopsasa!
Ich Vogenfänger bin bekannt
Bei Alt und Jung im ganzen Land.
Ein Netz für Mädchen möchte ich;
Ich fing sie dutzendweis für mich!
Dann sperrte ich sie bei mir ein
Und alle Mädchen wären mein.
Wenn alle Mädchen wären mein,
So tauschte ich brav Zukker ein.
Die welche mir am liebsten wär,
The birdcatcher I am indeed,
The birdcatcher I am indeed,
Always happy, heidi heh hey!
I, the birdcatcher, am well known
To old and young throughout the land.
Know how to get around the bird decoys
And be understood on the fife.
Therefore I can be happy and funny,
For all the birds are indeed mine.
The birdcatcher I am indeed,
Always happy, heidi heh hey!
I, the birdcatcher, am well-known
To old and young throughout the land.
A net for girls is what I would like;
I’d catch them by the dozen for me!
Then I would lock them up with me
And all the girls would be mine.
If all the girls were mine,
Then I’d dutifully trade for some sugar.
The one I liked the best,