Sunday, May 7, 2017 7:00 p.m Margaret Schlofner Senior Recital DePaul Recital Hall 804 West Belden Avenue Chicago
Sunday, May 7, 2017 7:00 p.m. DePaul Recital Hall Margaret Schlofner, soprano Senior Recital Gregory Shifrin, piano and harpsichord Francisco Malespin, cello PROGRAM Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) L Impatience (between 1715 and 1720) Récitatif Air gai Récitatif Air tendre Récitatif Air léger Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) Goethe Lieder (1890) 24. Blumengruß 26. Die Spröde 27. Die Bekehrte 32. Phänomen Gregory Shifrin, harpsichord Francisco Malespin, cello Gregory Shifrin, piano Intermission
Margaret Schlofner May 7, 2017 Program Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) Op. 33 (1873-1880) 2. Våren 5. Langs ei Å Gregory Shifrin, piano William Walton (1902-1983) 3 Songs to Poems by Edith Sitwell (1932) 1. Daphne 2. Through Gilded Trellises 3. Old Sir Faulk Gregory Shifrin, piano Margaret Schlofner is from the studio of Elizabeth Byrne. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Music. As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.
Margaret Schlofner May 7, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) L Impatience Duration: 13 minutes L Impatience is the third of seven total cantatas in Jean-Philippe Rameau s musical output. This cantata was written in 1715, which is only nine years after the French cantata came into existence, thanks to Jean-Baptiste Rousseau in 1706. French cantatas differed from German or Italian cantatas because of their sweet lyricism, simplicity, and relatively even-keeled quality. Rameau s cantatas were no exception. L Impatience follows the standard pattern of a happy song followed by a sad song, followed by an energetic song, all separated by short récitatif s. Lively and technically-advanced obbligato lines are representative of Rameau s cantata style, and this is clearly exhibited in L Impatience s cello part with its never-ceasing, sometimes swung, sixteenth note figures. Although his cantatas didn t particularly break new ground or push any boundaries of French music, they were impeccably composed. Rameau flawlessly modulates between tonalities and musical figures while following all of the rules of composition of the time. This is no surprise because several years later his Traité de l harmonie (Treatise on Harmony) was published. This enormous treatise was 450 pages long and explained composition using the principles of tonality. The treatise was immediately and widely accepted in France and served as a guidebook for composers of the time. Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) Goethe Lieder Duration: 10 minutes Hugo Wolf wrote his 51-song collection, Goethe Lieder, in just one year. Wolf is well-known for text-painting and taking great inspiration from the poetry, all qualities epitomized by this song collection. The first and fourth songs performed in this recital, Blumengruß and Phänomen, demonstrate flawless text painting: Blumengruß utilizes a steady, strong accompaniment figure that exudes the humble mood of the poem, while also representing the stooping figure that comes to mind when imagining
Margaret Schlofner May 7, 2017 Program Notes flower-picking. Phänomen s text painting is informed by Goethe s fascination with nature and humankind, and the many ways they connect. The poem speaks of a rainbow and its rim which, though white, contains all colors. This is exhibited in Wolf s composition in many ways. For one, a chord is built on each of the twelve tones of an octave at least once throughout the song s mere sixteen measures. This is a kind of musical rainbow, since one song utilizes all tones of an octave, just as a rainbow utilizes all colors in the light spectrum. In the first line, the vocal line drastically drops twice, symbolizing the sun s stooping to meet the rain, and in the next line, when farbig beschattet ( shaded color ) is sung, the color of the tone is shaded with flats. The middle two songs, Die Spröde and Die Bekehrte, are a pair, the latter being a sequel to the former. Die Spröde sings of a coy shepherdess rebuking the advances of several suitors, but the music, with its many grace notes and frequent accidentals, suggests a hint of hesitation, indicating that the shepherdess may not be so sure of herself. Its sequel, Die Bekehrte, tells a tale of the same shepherdess, this time in first person. The flute melody mentioned in the song is represented by the piano s opening figure and repeated by the singer s so la la motive, which is no longer the flippant, grace note-clad motive she sang in the previous song. Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) Op. 33 Duration: 8 minutes Opus 33 is representative of Edvard Grieg s heavily-norwegian influenced style, with its text centered around nature and the Norwegian countryside, and its incorporation of simple, folk-like melodies into an overall melodic idea. Langs ei Å was set in June of 1877 while Grieg was staying in Loftus, a small village in Norway. This was the beginning of his most heightened nationalistic, nature-praising period of composition. For all of Op. 33, Grieg used the poetry of Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, whose style is well matched with Grieg s since they both favor themes of Norway and nature. Both Langs ei Å and Våren are songs with a strong, grand feel, and both
Margaret Schlofner May 7, 2017 Program Notes have first-person texts reflecting on nature and the way in which it coincides with life and humankind. They both feel atmospheric, starting with calm, subdued melodies that slowly build up to a powerful climax toward the end of the song or strophe. In both songs, these climatic moments are marked by changes in tonality, heightened dynamics followed by sudden softness, and the highest pitches of the songs. Langs ei Å compares trees in the forest to people, marveling at the tree s loving and forgiving nature. Våren tells the story of one man s reflection on his life through praise to Norway s short period of spring and warm weather. William Walton (1902-1983) 3 Songs to Poems by Edith Sitwell Duration: 9 minutes William Walton and Edith Sitwell were a match made in heaven, with Sitwell s percussive and aurally intricate poetry complementing Walton s diverse style that seemed to create its own rules. Their long friendship began when they met at Oxford. They became roommates, along with Sitwell s two brothers, and continued living together for more than 10 years. Both Walton and Sitwell are commonly described as eccentrics. Sitwell s family wealth accommodated their eccentric lifestyles and allowed them to create their art, free of any financial worries. Sitwell was inspired by sounds and rhythm rather than meaning. She utilized sound patterns to explore a new way to relate words to each other. As a listener, it would be very difficult to try and follow the storyline of her poems, as they consist of many run-on sentences that contain the beginnings of many ideas, but rarely any ends. Walton exemplifies Sitwell s intention beautifully in all pieces of this song cycle, but mostly in Old Sir Faulk. Pronouns rarely relate back to any particular subject and sentences end in fragments and ellipsis, but the combination of the music and the text create a piece of aural artwork that is unique to the special kind of style shared by these two British friends. Notes by Margaret Schlofner.
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