Sunday, May 14, 2017 3:00 p.m Megan Elizabeth Cook Certificate Recital DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue Chicago
Sunday, May 14, 2017 3:00 p.m. DePaul Concert Hall PROGRAM Megan Elizabeth Cook, soprano Certificate Recital Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) On this Island, Op. 11 (1937) Let the florid music praise! Now the leaves are falling fast Seascape Nocturne As it is, plenty Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Op. 23 (1879) I. Les Berceaux III. Le Secret Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) Op. 42 (1897) III. Redejet oblakov letuchaja grjada Op. 56 (1898) I. Nimfa II. Son v letnjuju noch Intermission
Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) Poema en forma de canciones, Op. 19 (1917) Dedicatoria Nunca olvida Cantares Los dos miedos Las locas por amor Megan Elizabeth Cook May 14, 2017 Program Joseph Marx (1882-1964) Nocturne Selige Nacht Hat dich die Liebe berührt Megan Elizabeth Cook is from the studio of Julia Faulkner. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the Certificate in Performance. As a courtesy to those around you, please silence all cell phones and other electronic devices. Flash photography is not permitted. Thank you.
Megan Elizabeth Cook May 14, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) On This Island Duration: 14 minutes Benjamin Britten was perhaps Great Britain s most influential composer of the 20th century. Born in Suffolk County, England, the fourth child in a decidedly middle class family, he showed his musical skill at a very early age. He attended the prestigious Royal Academy of Music while privately studying with composer Frank Bridge. His first success as a composer came in 1934 with his choral work A Boy Was Born and shortly after in 1937 he premiered On This Island in London with soprano Sophie Wyss and himself on the piano. All texts are taken from multiple collections of poet W.H. Auden (1907-1973), with whom Britten was rumored to have had multiple affairs. Whether the text was set with wit, satire, melancholy, or a more peaceful approach, the collection appears to see the inevitable destruction developing out of the fascist movement, the change in Britain during this period of time, and the everything s just fine attitudes and vulnerable emotions throughout the island of Great Britain. As characteristic of many of his works, the piano accompaniment plays a much larger role, acting almost as a second voice, aiding not only with the mood, but acting as places, objects, and actions. Britten s satire is most apparent in the final song don t mistake the bounciness in the piano and voice as happy and true, for it is sarcasm at the composer s finest. Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Op. 23 Duration: 6 minutes Gabriel Fauré was one of the most prolific composers of french mélodie, his songs often mimicking an intimate conversation between the composer and the vocalist. Born in the South of France in 1845, the youngest of six, Fauré spent much of his time playing the harmonium in the chapel attached to his headmaster father s school. At the age of nine, he was boarded to the École Niedermeyer in Paris where he met and was taught by Camille Saint-Saëns. Saint-Saëns introduced him to the more contemporary works
Megan Elizabeth Cook May 14, 2017 Program Notes of Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner, which ushered him into a compositional scales and modes that became hallmarks of his compositions. His growing list of respected compositions and teaching led him to become a professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire where he fostered the education of pupils Maurice Ravel and Nadia Boulanger, bridging the gap of the end of the Romantic period to that of the Second Viennese School. Fauré composed his Three Songs, Op. 23, in 1879. Though they are seemingly unrelated, they speak of different aspects of relationships. The relentless passage of time (whether it be a single night or many), the ecstasy of new love, or the pain of a love lost. Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) Oo. 42, Op. 56 Duration: 11 minutes Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov began tinkering with a piano at five years old, imitating his father's limited playing ability. Though his first compositions took shape at the age of ten, he found music boring and instead preferred to spend his time reading. Through literature he gained a love of the sea and joined the Russian Imperial Navy at the age of twelve, as was family tradition. Upon moving to St. Petersburg for his naval schooling, Rimsky-Korsakov started to study piano with greater discipline and gradually began to develop a passion for music. At the age of 18, he was introduced to a group of composers we now identify as the Russian Five. Though his musical training was elemental, he had intuition, natural talent, and could intellectually converse with his new-found colleagues. He learned from colleagues and habitual studying of scores, and then began to build upon his instincts gaining a greater understanding of compositions. He eventually composed numerous works for the stage and concert hall. Along with the rest of the Russian Five, his compositions are now considered the epitome Russian Nationalistic music. These selections from Op. 43 and Op. 56 plunge into the colorful visions of dream-filled excursions to seemingly familiar, yet exotic places of the mind s deepest desires.
Megan Elizabeth Cook May 14, 2017 Program Notes Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) Poema en forma de canciones, Op. 19 Duration: 12 minutes Joaqu í n Turina was born in Seville, Spain, and was considered something of a child prodigy when he began to play the accordion improvisationally at the age of four. Beginning his official study of piano in Madrid, he made his professional debut at 14, and at 15 attempted to get his first full length zarzuela, La Sulamita, premiered at the Royal Theater of Madrid (though was not successful). Sometime later he would recount his happiness of this failure. Following the death of his parents, Turina found his way to Paris, where he enrolled at the Schola Cantorum de Paris studying composition in the style of the great impressionistic composers of the day. After his first successful premier, he found himself in the corner of a cafe with two fellow Spaniards discussing the need to keep their music distinctly Spanish. Poema en forma de canciones is just that, with flashes of guitars strumming, complex driving rhythms, scintillating emotions, and vigorous passion. Joseph Marx (1882-1964) Nocturne, Selige Nacht, Hat diche die Liebe Duration: 9 minutes Austrian composer Joseph Marx began his professional musical journey somewhat later than many of his contemporaries. With only brief study of piano at the Johann Buwa piano academy (where Hugo Wolf received his training), young Marx was primarily an autodidact who learned many of his basic music fundamentals from his family. Though his father had high hopes for him becoming lawyer, he chose to study philosophy, history of the arts, and German studies at the University of Graz. Upon completion of his doctorate, his growing fascination with music led him down the path to full time composition and opened a rift within his family that lasted for
Megan Elizabeth Cook May 14, 2017 Program Notes quite a few years, as he openly defied his father s wishes and pursued music. At the age of 26, he began an outpouring of lieder, writing 120 songs in just four short years. Joseph Marx quickly became known as one of most Berg And Webern. His songs are characterized by the use of thickly textured accompaniments with sweeping lyricism, Straussian chromaticism, and declamatory vocal lines that soar above the seemingly meterless void of notes on the page, all while being very operatic in nature. Notes by Megan Elizabeth Cook.
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