DePauw Chamber Singers DePauw University Chorus DePauw University Orchestra

Transcription

1 School of Music DePauw Chamber Singers DePauw University Chorus DePauw University Orchestra Gregory Ristow, director of choirs Orcenith Smith, director of orchestra Pamela Coburn, soprano 129th Concert Season Sunday, May 4, p.m. Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts Kresge Auditorium

2 PROGRAM From Nocturnes Claude Debussy I. Nuages ( ) II. Fêtes Orcenith Smith, conductor Gloria for Soprano, Mixed Chorus Francis Poulenc and Orchestra ( ) I. Gloria II. Laudamus te III. Domine Deus IV. Domine Fili unigenite V. Domini Deus, Agnus Dei VI. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris Pamela Coburn, soprano Gregory Ristow, conductor Out of respect for the performers, audience and recording technician, all photography and audio/video recording are prohibited during the performance. Please disengage all electronic equipment before the beginning of the concert. Thank you. PROGRAM NOTES by Orcenith Smith and Gregory Ristow French composer Claude Debussy developed his artistic content by gradually discovering how his musical voice could align with symbolist poets and impressionist painters. These ideas, when combined, were artistic reactions against realism and included small brush stroke depictions of objects in varying light and shadows. Additionally influenced by the unusual musical scales of a Javanese Gamelan Orchestra that played at the Paris Exhibition in 1889, Debussy s music became a unique aesthetic, suggesting musical fragments that, when pieced together, created muted descriptions of shadowy visual locations or events. Inspired in 1899 by paintings entitled Nocturnes by the American-born James McNeill Whistler, Debussy chose to describe in his musical language the ever moving, ever-changing Nuages (Clouds). Fêtes (Festivals) describes a view of an iridescent atmosphere charged with rolling energies and flashes of light. That scene is interrupted by a temporary parade of unknown elements that illuminate another world before the original energies overtake and return the music to the opening elements and gradually disappear.

3 The Gloria is Francis Poulenc s most popular and frequently performed choral work. It was premiered by the Boston Symphony in Written at the beginning of the Fifth Republic in France, at a time of relative international peace and prosperity, its extroverted ebullience captures the joyous optimism of the time: Nuclear power offered unlimited clean energy. Highways and skyscrapers rose throughout America and Europe. Intercontinental air travel became affordable thanks to the introduction of commercial jets. And the era of space exploration was just beginning. The music alternates between playful quirkiness and profound solemnity, a juxtaposition of the cabaret and traditional Catholic church styles that so strongly influenced Poulenc. Unlike most of his Les Six colleagues (six post-impressionist composers working in Paris in the 1920s), Poulenc was not formally trained as a musician and had not attended the Paris Conservatory. Instead, he incorporated disparate elements from the music he loved to form his own unique sound: extended harmonies (seventh and ninth chords) from café music, perpetual motion figuration from the baroque era and Romantic chant harmonizations from French church organists. He delighted in these odd marriages, saying, From childhood onward I ve associated café tunes with the Couperin suites in a common love, without distinguishing between them. And, he bragged in interviews about his lack of a fixed compositional approach. He sometimes referred to himself as the Poulenc-Janus, and this two-sided personality comes through in his Gloria. But this should not be interpreted as flippancy on Poulenc s part or any lack of seriousness in treatment of the Gloria text. Rather, this duality enhances the parallel themes of thanks and awe that we find in the prayer, as well as in the zeitgeist of the early 1960s. Poulenc was pleased with his Gloria, one of the last major works he completed before his death in He wrote, The Gloria is without doubt the best thing I have done.... The ending, among other things, is astonishing. Since its first performances, audiences around the world have agreed. Pamela Coburn, lyric soprano, studied voice at DePauw University, the Eastman School of Music, and the American Opera Center of the Juilliard School, and studied German Lieder with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Her international career in opera, oratorio, and recital has taken her to the world s most renowned opera houses and concert halls, and has led her back to her alma mater as the James B. Stewart Distinguished Visiting Professor of Music. After her striking success as Rosalinde in Strauss s Die Fledermaus at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich with Carlos Kleiber conducting, Professor Coburn appeared at the Vienna State Opera, Carnegie Hall and Metropolitan Opera in New York, in Munich, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Paris, Toulouse, London and Tokyo s New National Theatre as well as the Salzburg and Richard-Strauss Festival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Among the most prominent conductors Ms. Coburn has worked with are: Carlos Kleiber, Sir

4 Colin Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Carlo Maria Giulini, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Eschenbach, Riccardo Muti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Georg Solti, Guiseppe Sinopoli, Helmuth Rilling, Erich Leinsdorf, James Conlon, Bernhard Haitink Christian Thielemann, Charles Dutoit, Ken Nagano and Isaac Karabichevsky. Her exceptionally wide opera repertory ranges from the works of Monteverdi to Penderecki. Especially worth mentioning are the roles of the Countess in Mozart s Le Nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Cleopatra in Händel s Giulio Cesare and Nitocris in Belshazzar, Alice in Verdi s Falstaff, the Countess in Strauss Capriccio and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Arabella, Ellen Orford in Britten s Peter Grimes, Freia in Wagner s Das Rheingold, as well as Queen Rosamunde in Penderecki s Ubu Rex and the widow in the Merry Widow. Her concert repertory includes nearly all the works of the respective musical literature starting from Bach (Passions, Cantatas) to Beethoven (e.g. Missa Solemnis, Ninth Symphony), Schumann (e.g. Paradise and Peri), Mahler Symphonies, Britten (War Requiem) to Szymanowski (Stabat Mater) and contemporary works (e.g., Udo Zimmermann). Coburn has made numerous recordings, among them Gounod s Faust with Sir Colin Davis, Beethoven s Fidelio with Bernard Haitink and Leonore with Marc Soustrot, Beethoven s Missa Solemnis and Bruckner s Te Deum with Helmuth Rilling, Mahler s Eighth Symphony with Lorin Maazel, Strauss s Gypsy Baron with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lehar s The Merry Widow with Helmuth Froschauer, Verdi s Requiem with Enoch zu Guttenberg, and a DVD of Johann Strauss s Die Fledermaus on Deutsche Grammophone with the late Carlos Kleiber. She has held a Distinguished Visiting Professorship at DePauw University since TEXT AND TRANSLATION I. Gloria Glória in excélsis Deo et in terra pax homínibus bonae voluntátis. II. Laudamus te Laudámus te, benedícimus te, adorámus te, glorificámus te, grátias ágimus tibi propter magnam glóriam tuam. III. Domine Deus Dómine Deus, Rex cæléstis, Deus Pater omnípotens. I. Gloria Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will. II. Laudamus te We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give thanks to you for your great glory. III. Domine Deus Lord God, heavely King, O God, almighty Father.

5 IV. Domine Fili unigenite Dómine Fili Unigénite, Jesu Christe, Dómine Deus unigenite, Jesu Christe. V. Dominus Deus, Agnus Dei Dómine Deus, Agnus Dei, Fílius Patris, qui tollis peccáta mundi, miserére nobis; qui tollis peccáta mundi, súscipe deprecatiónem nostram. VI. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris Qui sedes ad déxteram Patris, miserére nobis. Quóniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dóminus, tu solus Altíssimus, Jesu Christe, Cum Sancto Spíritu: in glória Dei Patris. Amen. IV. Domine Fili unigenite Lord, Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ Lord, Only Begotten God, Jesus Christ. V. Dominus Deus, Agnus Dei Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. VI. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris You sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone the Holy One, you alone are Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, With the holy spirit: in the glory of God the Father. Amen. DePauw Chamber Singers Gregory Ristow, director Amanda Hopson, piano SOPRANO Emily Barnash Ann Chase Annelise Delcambre Anna Gatdula Julie Massicotte Julie Strauser ALTO Brooke Addison Miriam Alter Maureen Bailey Patrick Brems Elleka Okerstrom Sarah Pistorius TENOR Dallas Gray Joseph Leppek Lance Orta* Alec Reznich Lucas Wassmer * Tenor soloist for Gloria BASS Dakota Dalton Nick Hinz Blake Lampton Yazid Pierce-Gray Taylor Truster

6 DePauw University Chorus Gregory Ristow, director Owen Hartnett, piano SOPRANO Valeria Aguilar Christine Betterman Isabella Capasso Melanie Case Sydney Cason Stephany Cook Kristin Daines Kimberly DeBusschere Hannah Gauthier Brittny Goon Zoe Grabow Katherine Lesswing Jessica Pagan Madeline Piscetta Maggie Roth Stephanie Sharlow Emma Walker ALTO Rachel Amalfitano Shannon Barry Sara Blanton Lauren Chen Dana Hart Crystal Lau Rachel Lowery Yihan Mei Daniela Moeller Laura Neel Emily Shy Amanda Straw Therese Tazioli Xinyi Wang Laura Witte Han Zhang TENOR Blake Beckemeyer Benjamin Davis Stephen Shannon Derrick Truby BASS Drew Casey Eric Heaton Adam Luhman Danny Marsh Dylan Prentice Shiyu Su

7 DePauw University Orchestra Orcenith Smith, music director VIOLIN Rachel Clark Zoe Cunningham Akil Davis +Paige Drake (D) *Allison Emata (D) *Valentina Guillen (P) Kerri Hemmelgarn Sarah Jylkka Jenny Miller +Susan Miller (P) Marie Schloneger Lindsey Sullivan VIOLA Xeno Carpenter-New Elizabeth Gering Kalen Granger *Tyler Huff (P) Lisa Salazar Reisuke Takeo *Anna Urso (D) VIOLONCELLO Kazuki Hanado Max Jacobsen *Samuel Kelly (P) Peter Kim *Peter Lockman (D) Heidi Meuth (ST) Federico Papi (OC) Catt Anderson-Quiñones Graeme Richmond Robert Wieland BASS *Connor Allen (P) Jacob Peterman Aaron Rabishaw *Burke Stanton (D) FLUTE/PICCOLO Nina Dugan Josh Levine Eleanor Price OBOE/ ENGLISH HORN Matt Acton Tyler Benware Kate King CLARINET/ BASS CLARINET Daniel Hickey Marian Hillebrand Sijia Luo BASSOON Gwen Eberts Andrew Wilkey HORN David Acton (OC) Maureen Bailey Drew Casey Kristen Fairchild Mariah Hersom Alison Sherrick TRUMPET Nick Atsalis Brendan Donnelly Maggie Eppelheimer TROMBONE Leif Anderson Will Johnson Michael Potter Christian Thomas TUBA Will Nicholas TIMPANI/ PERCUSSION Ben Blackketter Andrew Bosomworth Carly Tebelman HARP Alex Miller Alicia Petrone PIANO/KEYBOARD Lizzie Wen STAGE MANAGER Samuel Kelly +Concertmaster D = Debussy * String Principal P = Poulenc (OC) Off-campus second semester (ST) Student Teaching

8 FIFTH HOUSE ENSEMBLE with Bobbie Lancaster, Tad Robinson, Many Other Community Artists & Musicians, The DePauw University Orchestra & Choirs plant a seed, watch it grow... Harvest: A Celebration of the People, Places & Stories of Putnam County MOTHER S DAY SUNDAY, MAY 11@3 PM Green Center Kresge Auditorium General Admission $10 15 Students, Seniors & Children Free