II TOURING PROGRAM. Dale Warland, conducting :00 p.rn. Saturday, October 28, 1989 Cordier Auditorium

Transcription

1 II TOURING PROGRAM Dale Warland, conducting :00 p.rn. Saturday, October 28, 1989 Cordier Auditorium

2 PROGRAM. I. THREE PSALM SETTINGS II Padre G.B. Martini Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina ( ) Enite ton Kyrion Byzantine Chant (Frank Desby) Jubilate Deo Benjamin Britten ( ) II. -MADRIGALSANCIENT AND MODERN Claudio Monteverdi Si ch'io vorrei morire ( ) Goffredo Petrassi Nonsense (b. 1904) 1. There was an Old Man of Cape Horn 2. There was an Old Maid of Stroud R. Murray Schafer Gamelan (b. 1933) III. Trois Chansons Bretonnes Henk Badings (b. 19'07) 1. La nuit en mer (The Night at Sea) 2. La complainte des ames (The Lament of the Souls) 3. Soir d' ete (Summer Evening)

3 IV. AN AMERICAN TRIPTICH Now Welcome Summer (1957) Jacob Avshalomov (b. 1919) Two Motets (1984) " 1. Mosella (Ansonius, A.D.) 2. Te Vigilans Oculis (Petronius Arbiter, William Hawley (b. 1950) A.D.) Come to me, my love Norman Dello joio (b. 1913) INTERMISSION V. GLORIOUS GERSHWIN I Got Rhythm Gerry Rubino) Someone to Watch Over Me Somebody Loves Me Nice Work if You Can Get It I've Got a Crush on You Love is Here to Stay S'Wonderful (Phil Mattson) VI. CABARET SINGERS Selections will be announced from the stage..

4 VII. FOLK MUSIC Latvian (Mack Wilb.erg) Who is Crying? American (Michael Hennagin) Walking on the Green Grass Icelandic (Leland Sateren) Sleep, My Young One, Gently Rest What Would You Do if You Married a Soldier? Irish (Mack Wilberg) PROGRAM TEXTS Domini, ad adjuvandum me festina (Lord, my God, assist me now) Enite non Kyrion (Psalm 148) o Lord, make haste Praise ye the Lord of the Heavens. Alleluia. to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, World without end. Amen. Alleluia! Si ch' io vorrei morire I wish to die. Now I kiss my beloved... I say again: I wish to die. Trois Chansons Bretonnes 1. La nuit en mer (Night on the sea) The breeze swells our sail Here is the first star, shining on the wave that rocks us. Friends, let us sail in silence. In the night all sounds are stilled as though all on earth had died people like things, birds like roses, all are sleeping. But the sea is the Living A moving immensity Forever storming the jetties Disdainful of long nights' work and days- Nothing exists save her that the great Beacon and its sad reflection in the finest place My friends, let us toss out the net then, wrapped in our sails, bare brow to the stars, Let us sleep! Let us dream in deepest peace of our loved ones in this world Let us sleep in our schooners as children in their cradles And tomorrow at high tide We will meet at the store Triumphant!

5 2. La Complainte des ames (The souls' lament) Virgin Mary, Oh good mother, Oh good mother of Jesus, Here is the bitter lament Sung by those who no longer - longer longer We come this autumn night to knock at Friends' doors It is Jesus Christ who commands us to awaken the sleeping Ah! You who sleep in the black night Ah! Do you dream from time to time that in the burning flames of Purgatory are, perhaps, all your parents They are there Your fathers, your mothers Fire above, fire below Hoping in vain for the prayers that they have a right to expect from you Do you dream that, perhaps, they say to all Christians here below: "Pray for us, though you don't know us, because us guys don't do it! We have been deserted in Purgatory Pray for those who don't pray! Pray for us! Pray ceaselessly! For us guys are ingrates." r 3. Soir d'ete (Summer evening) Lison, my pet, let's come down from the hill For the day is sinking to the rosy horizon Let us profit by the time before it dies: Come my Lison, to our abode! In the immense peace of evening, romance arises Little crickets, and the open plain, embraced by Phoebus, savors the ecstasy of the last rays From eyes come wheedling voices: They are lullabies, little birds, And its door closes And Rose, the farmer's wife, Sings the same thing between two cradles! It's that very pure time when, through the branches passes the murmur of the great, calmed wind. Langorous time Time when the lover rests happily on the arm of the Beloved; It's the moving time when everything enchants us, When the chimes ring the Angelus from afar And it's the gray time when the soft breeze is imbued and misted with the scent of hay: It's the time when all are loving, When weary of blasphemy, The Wicked himself is a little better: The heart is divested of all which defiles it The Soul kneels before the Lord! Lison, my little one, let us quickly pray So as not to be left from Eternity, And may it urge us to flee this life At this enraptured time of a summer evening. Now Welcome Summer Now welcome, summer, with thy sunne soft, That hast this winter's weather overshake, And driv' n away the longe nightes black! Saint Valentyn, that art full high on lofte; Thus, singen smalle fowles for thy sake. Well have they cause for to gladden ofte, Since each of them recovered hath his make; Full blissful may they singen when they wake. Now welcome, summer... Two Motets 1. Mosella (Ausonius, A.D.) What color that shoal, with the late shadow banished by Hesperus, and verdure filling the hills of the Moselle! everything floats, rippling together in motion, the distant vine-leaf trembles, and the grape swells in the glittering water. 2. Te vigilans oculis (Petronius Arbiter, A.D.) My eyes watch for you, by night my soul desires you, alone and overcome, my limbs tossing in bed. I have seen myself with you, in the imagination of sleep: in dreams you appear - if only you would truly come to me.

6 PROGRAM NOTES by Brian Newhouse Three Psalm Settings The Bible's 150 Psalms are a remarkable creation: songs of anguish, confession, trust and thanksgiving that have comforted and inspired believers for centuries. Their rich and vivid imagery has fired the imaginations of countless composers as well. Giovanni Battista Martini, teacher of }.C. Bach and the young Mozart, was one of the most well-known 18th century musicians. His Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina (Lord, my God, assist me now) was composed in 1729, just weeks before his ordination as a priest in Bologna, Italy. Its rich, florid counterpoint dramatically underscores the psalmist's cry for divine help. Frank Desby, in his 1951 Enite-ton-Kyrion (Praise ye the Lord), employs the ancient language and unique modal scales of the Greek Orthodox Church to haunting effect. By contrast, Benjamin Britten's Jubilate-Deo (0 Be Joyful in the Lord) is ebullience itself - a confident hymn of praise, made all the richer by brief passages of awe and reverence. Madrigals Ancient and Modern The high, ornate walls of Italian cathedrals resonated throughout the Renaissance with the solemn tones of elaborate Mass settings. Outside the Church though, the tiny madrigal was the most important form of music-making: during the 16th and much of the 17th centuries these little songs of (often unrequited) love set the standard for musical development in Europe. Claudio Monteverdi was the central musical figure of that age and his many beautiful madrigals offer a textbook of the style as it developed into the powerful, new Baroque era. The richly sensual Si-ch'io-vorrei-morire (Yes, That I Would Die) shows Monteverdi's mastery of the form, with bold, almost painfully beautiful, dissonances highlighting the text. Symphony, opera and concerto eventually replaced the diminutive madrigal, yet many composers today still delight in its brevity and expressive possibilities. Italy's Goffredo Petrassi wrote the humorous Nonsense in 1952, using bold harmonies and unusual melodic leaps as a vehicle for the silly texts. Canadian R. Murray Schafer's 1979 Gamelan ingeniously imitates the evocative gongs, chimes, and drums of an Indonesian orchestra with the simplest means: a five-note scale and the onomatopoetic words "dong, deng, dung, dang, ding." Trois Chansons Bretonnes by Henk Badings Dutchman Henk Badings' early years were tragic and far-removed from music, yet in the fields of teaching and composition he eventually became one of our century's pioneers. He was orphaned as a boy, and his guardian actively discouraged his musical talents. While studying geology and paleontology in college though, he began to teach himself music theory and harmony, and several months before graduation he stunned the Dutch press and public with his striking Symphony No.1. He left science a few years later, and was one of the early musical explorers to utilize recorded tape in performance with traditional ensembles. A signiflcant part of his large catalogue is devoted to diverse "Tape and... " creations. In the mid-1970's he turned from high technology to the simple beauty of voices with piano, in his Three-Songs-of-Brittany. This is suave, elegant music-filled with subtle harmonic shifts expressively tracing every nuance of the French text. An American Triptich Born in China in 1919, Jacob Avshalomov has enjoyed a diverse career in American music since coming here in For several decades he conducted the Portland Oregon Junior Symphony, while serving on prestigious national arts and humanities councils. Not surprisingly, his catalogue of compositions is regrettably small: there are just 15 choral works and even fewer orchestral and chamber pieces. His 1957 Now Welcome Summer offers a myriad of rewarding challenges not only to the singers but to a virtuoso flutist who soars above all as the heartening "smalle fowles" in Chaucer's poem. New Yorker William Hawley's luxuriant Two-Motets were written in 1984 for the Gregg Smith Singers. Himself a singer, Hawley's music is richly crafted, gracious for both voice and ear. He writes: "I set two Latin texts by the Roman lyric poets Ausonius and Petronius Arbiter, which I found evocative of a certain ethos close to my own at the time." A native New Yorker, Norman Dello Joio has enjoyed a long, prosperous career as a composer and educator. Formerly dean of music at Boston University, he has won the Pulitzer Prize and many other awards.

7 Glorious Gershwin George Gershwin was that rare musical genius who not only captured the spirit of his time, but whose musical virtuosity created a body of work that is widely performed and loved today. Beginning in 1928 with "The Real American Folk Song is a Rag," Gershwin set the standard 32-bar song more than forty times, often with lyrics created by his brother, Ira. Throughout his writing, he gracefully moved between the two worlds of "popular" and "serious" music to create works that epitomized the American spirit. With this music The Dale Warland Singers continue their commitment to stylistic integrity and vocal flexibility. Our thrill is to combine our highest level of performance with these memorable tunes which, like love itself, is here to stay. THE DALE WARLAND SINGERS Dale Warland Music Director Sigrid Johnson Associate Conductor Jerry Rubino Pianist and Cabaret Singers Conductor Soprano Tenor Sigrid Johnson Deborah Loon Barb Nelson Julie Olson Lea Anna Sams-McGowan Lisa Sawatsky Linda Steen Kathy Josselyn Laurie Rejzer Paul Gerike John Henley Gary Kortemeier Tom Larson David Reece Timothy Sawyer Steve Sandberg Alt.o Joanne Halvorsen Karen Johnson Lynette Johnson.Anna Mooy Joan Quam-McKenzie Stephanie Reuer Donelle Zimdars Bass Steve Burger Wayne Dalton Christopher Hopkins Brian Newhouse Jerry Rubino Arthur Rudolph-LaRue Frank Steen

8 DALE WARLAND Since his student days as' conductor of the St. Olaf College Viking Chorus, Dale Warland has devoted his professional life to attaining the highest musical level in choral singing. Consummate musicianship and lofty goals have been Dr. Warland's tools in building the finest choral group in the country: The Dale Warland Singers. In addition to his active schedule as music director of The Dale Warland Singers, Warland meets a full international schedule as a guest conductor, teacher and composer. In the season, Warland will conduct some of the world's finest choirs: the Cameran Singers of Israel, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and the select choir for the World Symposium on Choral Music. Dr. Warland served as professor of music at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and recently received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from St. Olaf College as well as the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Southern California..THE DALE WARLAND SINGERS Founded in 1972, The Dale Warland Singers became a Twin Cities cultural force and has emerged as America's premier choral ensemble. Their broad repertoire moves from major classical works, through international folk music, to the ensemble's forte: 20th Century American music. Under Dale Warland's leadership, the ensemble has thrilled choral music lovers not just in their Twin Cities home, but throughout North America and Europe. Tours, radio broadcasts and 16 recordings have won Dale and his singers millions of fans worldwide. In August 1990, the choir will travel to Sweden, Finland and the Soviet Union to serve as the sole United States representative at the World Symposium on Choral Music.,. t J...u, ;A.."ARtS.. ". //}O.7'7.r.:.t : '...;~....' '.. )It".r IDWEST This project is supported by Arts Midwest members and friends in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.