Saturday, April 1, 2017 5:00 p.m. Jianghai Ho Graduate Recital DePaul Concert Hall 800 West Belden Avenue Chicago
Saturday, April 1, 2017 5:00 p.m. DePaul Concert Hall PROGRAM Jianghai Ho, tenor Graduate Recital Jason Moy, organ Ece Dolu, violin Jessica Li, harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 1750) Aria: Ich traue seiner Gnaden from In allen meinen Taten, BWV 97 (1734) Aria: Halleluja, Stärk und Macht from Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29 (1731) Ece Dolu, violin Jessica Li, harpsichord Jason Moy, organ Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 1827) Adelaide (1794-1795) Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 1916) Ideale (1882) L alba sepàra dalla luce l ombra (1907) Pietro Cimara (1887 1967) Canto di primavera (1919) Intermission
Darius Milhaud (1892 1974) L Amour Chante, Op. 409 (1964) V. Moins je la vois VI. Nevermore Jianghai Ho April 1, 2017 Program Steven Mark Kohn (b.1957) The Ocean Burial (2004) On the Other Shore (2000) The Drunken Old Fool (2006) 岳飞 (1103 1142) arr. 范继林满江红 (1130) Sichuan Folk Tune arr. 江定仙康定情歌 Jiangsu Folk Tune arr. 沈武钧茉莉花 Heilongjiang Hezhe Folk Tune arr. 陈能济乌苏里船歌 Jianghai Ho is from the studio of David Alt. This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the degree Master 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.
Jianghai Ho April 1, 2017 PROGRAM NOTES Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 1750) Aria: Ich traue seiner Gnaden from In allen meinen Taten, BWV 97 Aria: Halleluja, Stärk und Macht from Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29 Duration: 12 minutes J.S. Bach is widely regarded today as one of the greatest composers of Western music. Among his extant works are more than 200 church cantatas for a variety of occasions, from works written to elaborate on regular Sunday readings, to ones that celebrate a variety of events, frequently for his employers in Leipzig. BWV 97, In allen meinen Taten, was written for an unknown occasion (potentially for a wedding), and features the fitting aria Ich traue seiner Ganden (I trust in his grace) espousing the importance of trusting the grace of God and the protection it grants, presumably to the newlyweds (if you believe the story) lucky (or wealthy) enough to have a Bach cantata written for their wedding. The beautiful, calming melody, written essentially as a duet between violin and voice, is supportive, calming and strengthening all at once. On the other hand, BWV 29, Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir was written to celebrate the inauguration of a new Leipzig town council. Being a fully-appointed (i.e. not democratically elected) council, the aria Halleluja, Stärk und Macht (Hallelujah, power and might) features some highly-motivational bravura singing that projects the image of might and power of the city of Leipzig while invoking the protection of the power of the Lord.
Jianghai Ho April 1, 2017 Program Notes Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 1827) Adelaide Duration: 6 minutes Ludwig van Beethoven is another similarly regarded composer, one who bridged the Classical and Romantic epochs. Adelaide, composed around time he studied with Haydn, is one of the few well-known songs that Beethoven wrote. The poem, by the early Romantic poet Friedrich von Matthisson, speaks of the yearning for Adelaide in the typically lush Romantic metaphors of nature, seeing her image in the rivers, snows, clouds and even the sparkling stars. It is a longing for someone, whether real or idealized, that simultaneously brings us closer and while perhaps never being able to touch. Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 1916) Ideale L alba sepàra dalla luce l ombra Pietro Cimara (1887 1967) Canto di primavera Duration: 9 minutes Ideale and L alba sepàra, while in a similar emotional vein as Adelaide, are of course born of the Italian vocal idiom, and are perhaps in a way less chaste than though equally fatalistic as the Matthisson poem. While not strictly for operatic voices, they, and other songs by Tosti remain popular today, especially with tenors, perhaps seeking to capture a ray of the glorious Italian sunshine and passion. Canto di primavera, in contrast attempts to bring all the brokenhearted out of the woods, with its passionate call to the listeners to open their hearts to the sun, and after all, why not? For all the dreariness of winter, spring is just around the corner!
Jianghai Ho April 1, 2017 Program Notes Darius Milhaud (1892 1974) L Amour Chante, Op. 409 V. Moins je la vois VI. Nevermore Duration: 5 minutes Darius Milhaud was a prolific French modernist composer whose extensive use of polytonality was a key component of his distinctive style. L Amour Chante, Op. 409, one of his later works, is a collection of eight French poems by different poets, all on the subject of love. His deft ability to craft beautifully expressive vocal lines out of what seems like disjunct notes and harmonies somehow perfectly sets the emotions of the poetry into motion. In Moins je la vois, the interplay of love and hate, passion and apathy are in full, almost schizophrenic, display, while in Nevermore we again return to the running theme of lost love and the our rose-tinted memories of the happy days. Steven Mark Kohn (b. 1957) The Ocean Burial On the Other Shore The Drunken Old Fool Duration: 11 minutes Steven Mark Kohn is a composer on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and these pieces are from his three-volume collection of American folk song arrangements. They evoke a bygone era, a time perhaps when spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. From the all too real struggle with death at sea in The Ocean Burial to the longing for those departed in On the Other Shore to the irreverent inebriation and idiocy of The Drunken Old Fool, it reminds us that music is not just the realm of the rich, wealthy and highly educated. It also reminds us of the power of music to heal, touch and entertain in the age before the internet and reality television.
Jianghai Ho April 1, 2017 Program Notes 岳飞 (1103 1142), arr. 范继林满江红 (1130) Sichuan Folk Tune, arr. 江定仙康定情歌 Jiangsu Folk Tune, arr. 沈武钧茉莉花 Heilongjiang Hezhe Folk Tune, arr. 陈能济乌苏里船歌 Duration: 12 minutes The power of folk music is of course not limited to the Western culture with which we are familiar, but extends universally to most if not all other world cultures as well. Presented here are but a short selection of some of the more familiar tunes from Chinese culture, reflected in the universal themes of patriotism, love, nature, and hope for the future respectively. 满江红, a famous poem attributed perhaps falsely to the legendary general 岳飞 typifies his modern image as the epitome of loyalty and patriotism, with its famous phrase involving cannibalism and drinking human blood. 康定情歌 on the other hand speaks of simple love between a boy and a girl, with the crescent moon smiling on the KangDing city. In what is probably the most famous of Chinese folk songs, 茉莉花 describes the beautiful jasmine flower in the most Romantic terms as the most fragrant, whitest and most beautiful flower, so much so that all the seemingly naive narrator wants is one blossom for their hair. 乌苏里船歌 describe the Hezhe folk, river-faring fishermen on the Ussuri river who, through hard work and dedication will, for ever and ever, live the beautiful life. Notes by Jianghai Ho.
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