Words and Music - gregory amerind, dma

Words and Music
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Program Notes, Translations and
Acknowledgements
Poets and Composers
“Theodore Huebner Roethke (RET-kee) was a native of Saginaw, Michigan,
whose poetry was characterized by its rhythm and natural imagery. He was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1954 for his book The Waking. He is
a seminal influence for many poets, especially poets of the Pacific Northwest.
His father, Otto Roethke was a German immigrant who owned a large local
greenhouse. Much of Theodore's childhood was spent in this greenhouse, as
reflected in his use of natural imagery in his poetry. He also suffered from
depression for much of his life, which he used as a creative impetus for his
poetry.” 1 This brief set of verses reflects both his muses; nature and
exploration of the human psyche.
“Time Magazine once called Ned Rorem ‘the world’s best composer of
art songs.’ The phrase has followed him around like a faithful puppy
ever since. The songs are, indeed, among the best in the contemporary
canon, showing Rorem’s uncanny ability to breathe notes into words
while leaving a poet’s thoughts intact. In 1997, he produced a tour de
force of his text-setting art, the cycle “Evidence of Things Not Seen,”
which incorporates thirty-six poems by twenty-three poets. It takes the
listener on a quietly epic journey from innocence to experience and on
to solitude and extinction—essentially, the entire span of a human life.”
2
This Roethke poem starts that cycle, as it did Rorem’s earlier cycle
“The Nantucket Songs” and it starts this concert as well, with questions
I often ask myself.
Chris White is a poet, playwright, screenwriter, songwriter, actress and singer. After
growing up in Colorado Springs, she received a BA in Theatre from the University
of Colorado in Boulder, additional training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in
Los Angeles, and earned an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts. Her plays have been produced at 13th Street Repertory,
18th Street Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Source, and the Goldman Theatre in NYC;
Horizons Theatre and New Works Theatre in Washington DC; at Ki Theatre in
Washington, Virginia; and at Hollins, Ball State, DePauw, and New York
Universities. She continues to write on commission and is a professor at DePauw
University in Greencastle, Indiana where she teaches screenwriting, playwriting, college writing, and
topic courses in dramatic literature. In 1982 while in Los Angeles, she joined the jazz vocal ensemble I
co-founded, Pacific Jazz and Electric. Shortly after our meeting, she showed me the poem on this
program, asking if I might try to set it to music. I was moved deeply by the imagery she created in
describing her moods and movements as a recent arrival to Holly-weird, and honored to have been
chosen as the poem’s musical midwife. I felt it was an apropos companion to Roethke and Rorem to
set the tone for this concert.
1
2
From Wikipedia
New Yorker Magazine article, October 20, 2003
Poets and Composers
Marco Antonio Cesti was a celebrated singer/composer. A lyric tenor, he composed
operas and cantatas in the bel canto style of the Italian baroque and his operas are
notable for the pure and delicate style of their airs, more suited to the chamber than
to the stage. The culmination of his career as an opera composer was in his last opera
for Vienna, Il pomo d'oro (1668), a pinnacle of Baroque opera on the gigantic scale.
Cesti reportedly died traveling to Florence the following year. Other known works
include the operas La Dori (Innsbruck, 1657), Nettunno e Flora festeggianti (1666),
and La Semirami (1667); over sixty cantatas, including Era la notte e muto, Quante
volte, and Vaghi fiori. 3
I have always loved this aria, one of the first baroque art songs I learned that
showed me that good music is timeless. There is very little information available
about its origins and the text is attributed to that most prolific of writers, Anonymous.
The poet, whoever he or she was, captured the spirit of “courtly love” that had been
popular in secular song since the medieval period in which the subject often finds
fulfillment of the ideal in an unrequited relationship. Cesti, being a singer himself, created a vocalist’s
dream melody of which I never tire.
“Operas and operettas are usually referred to by the name of the composer alone,
the librettist being relegated to a Limbo-like existence. One notable exception to
this rule in which the musically aware concede to the librettist a role almost on a
par with that of the composer is Mozart’s librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. While
Mozart and da Ponte collaborated on only three operas, these three operas are
considered by everybody to be among the greatest ever written. The operas,
in order of appearance, are Le Nozze di Figaro (1786); Don Giovanni
(1787); and Così fan tutte (1790). Mozart and da Ponte worked in a true
collaborative relationship in producing their three joint operas. For example,
during the writing of Don Giovanni, which was premiered in Prague, Mozart
and da Ponte occupied apartments on opposite sides of the same street and used to communicate with
each other by yelling back and forth. If you visit Prague you can find these two houses which bear
plaques commemorating these two men. In 1782 while looking for work, da Ponte arrived in Vienna,
and managed to get himself appointed poet to the newly revived Italian Opera Theater. Soon he met
Mozart, and their collaboration got underway. Of course Mozart’s music is an essential ingredient,
otherwise da Ponte’s many operas with other composers would not have moved into Limbo. But
collaboration was not sufficient. Da Ponte himself was a genius. His deep knowledge of classical and
Italian literature is very evident in his libretti; for example, many lines in Don Giovanni come more or
less directly from Dante. He was not original in the sense of creating plots, but rather in adapting text
from previously published works. But he had the ability to make beautiful poetry of these adaptations.
Among the tributes to Da Ponte's memory is the Lorenzo Da Ponte professorship in Italian literature at
Columbia and the Da Ponte Italian library at UCLA.” 4
3
4
Compiled from Encyclopedia Britannica, New Grove and Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Poets and Composers
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart just turned 250 a couple of months ago (January 27 to be precise) and is
among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical
music. I have reflected lately that it would take many gifted composers 250
years to complete the output Mozart achieved in his short 35 years in the
mortal realm. “Mozart's musical ability became noticeable when he was
about three years old. His father Leopold was one of Europe's leading
musical pedagogues from whom Mozart received intensive musical
training. Throughout his life Mozart switched his focus from writing
instrumental music to writing operas, and back again. In his later operas,
he developed the use of subtle and slight changes of instrumentation,
orchestration, and tone color to express or highlight psychological or
emotional states and dramatic shifts. Here his advances in opera and
instrumental composing interacted upon one another. The increasing
sophistication of his use of the orchestra in his symphonies and concerti served
as a resource in his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the
orchestra to psychological effect in his operas was reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.” 5
Mozart’s major influences included J.C. Bach and Joseph Hayden, both of which are easy to hear in
this selection from his Opera Buffa masterpiece.
In this aria, Don Ottavio, the fiancé of Donna Anna swears to find Giovanni and avenge the death of
her father as the result of a duel with the great villain after his thwarted attempt to seduce Anna at the
beginning of the opera.
Gabriel Fauré trained at the Ecole Niedermeyer (1854-65) as organist and
choirmaster, coming under the influence of Saint-Saëns and his circle while
working as a church musician giving lessons. Though he met Liszt and was
fascinated by Wagner, he sought a distinctive style in his piano pieces and
numerous songs, which had to be composed during summer holidays.
Recognition came slowly owing to the modernity of his music. In 1892 he
became national inspector of the provincial conservatories, and in 1896 chief
organist at the Madeleine and composition professor at the Conservatoire,
where his pupils included Ravel, Koechlin, Roger-Ducasse, Enescu and Nadia
Boulanger; from 1905 to 1920 he was the Conservatoire's resolute and
influential director, becoming celebrated for the vocal and chamber masterpieces
he produced until his death. Fauré's stylistic development can be traced from the sprightly or
melancholy song settings of his youth to the bold, forceful late instrumental works, traits including a
delicate combination of extended tonality and modality, rapid modulations to remote keys and
continuously unfolding melody. Widely regarded as the greatest master of French song, he produced
six important cycles (notably the novel <I< bonne>op. 61) and three collections each of twenty pieces
(1879, 1897, 1908). In chamber music he enriched all the genres he attempted, while his works for
piano (chiefly nocturnes, barcarolles and impromptus) embody the full scope of his stylistic evolution. 6
Fauré set the works of many great French poets of the 19th century, three of which are represented
tonight. The characteristic that has always drawn me to his chansons is that the piano and voice are
clearly performing a duet, not merely song and accompaniment, which makes them such a joy to
perform.
5
6
Wikipedia
New Grove Dictionary of Music
Poets and Composers
“Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle was a French poet of the Parnassian
movement, a group of 19th Century French poets, so called from their journal, the
Parnasse contemporain, issued from 1866 to 1876 and itself named after Mount
Parnassus, home of the Muses in Greek mythology. The Parnassians were influenced
by Theophilé Gauthier (Fauré set several of this poet’s texts as well) and his doctrine
of art for art’s sake. In reaction to the looser forms of romantic poetry, they strove
for exact and faultless workmanship, selecting exotic and classical subjects which
they treated with rigidity of form and emotional detachment.” 7 He has also been
described as a pessimist who viewed death as the only significant reality. One could
argue that if in “Nell” his verses achieve a sort of mechanical beauty, then Fauré’s music both
compliments and enhances the resulting coldness with its inherent sentimentality. Fauré dedicated this
setting to his friend and colleague Camille Saint-Saens.
“Romain Bussine was a French poet and voice professor at the Paris Conservatory. In 1871, together
with Camille Saint-Saëns and Henri Duparc, he founded the Société Nationale de Musique to promote
contemporary French music and to allow young composers to present their music in public. Their
motto, Ars gallica, signaled a recommitment to a pure Gaulish cultural tradition whose purpose was
also motivated by strong French nationalism in the wake of France’s defeat by the Germans in the
Franco-Prussian war. Among its earlier members was Gabriel Fauré. ‘Après un rêve’ is based on an
anonymous Tuscan text which speaks of how we too often long to return to the world of our sweet
dreams.” 8 The dedication is to Fauré’s dear friend, Marguerite Baugnies, who helped arrange his
marriage to Marie Fremiet, the daughter of Emmanuel Fremiet, a well known sculptor, which produced
his two sons Emmanuel and Phillipe. The marriage took place not long after Fauré was rejected by his
true love, Marianne Viardot. His love for Marianne had changed his normally serious and inward
nature. Bussine remarked in a letter, “he's normally so taciturn, but now he's become extrovert,
gossiping, running and jumping around - gentleness and affection simply shine out of his face." 9 This
song was composed shortly after that rejection and it’s hauntingly beautiful melody along with the
mournful piano part and Bussine’s melancholy text reflects the despair of a broken heart. It is among
Fauré’s most performed and recorded songs.
Paul Armand Silvestre was a native Parisian. “He studied at the Ecole polytechnique with the
intention of entering the army, but in 1870 he entered the department of finance where he had a
successful and decorated career. In 1892, he was made inspector of fine arts and shortly thereafter
made his entry into literature as a poet. As such, he was included among the afore-mentioned
Parnassians, but he also wrote articles for leading journals of the day, was a well-known and respected
art critic and also wrote libretti for the stage, including a setting of Henry VIII with music by SaintSaens.” 10 It was the words that first drew me “Chanson d’amour” and the musical setting provides a
great example of Fauré’s dedication to the integrity of the text. His use of unexpected harmonic
variations in form with each return to the “A” section is both sophisticated and simplistic and they
serve perfectly the duality and playfulness of Silvestre’s verses, the chromatic quality an ideal
metaphor for the poems’ conflicting emotions. This song was dedicated to Jane Huré, who was the
singer that premiered the piece in 1882. There is no other information about her relationship, if any, to
Fauré.
7
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
9
Extracted and edited from Wikipedia and The Classical Music Pages online, article by Susan Martin © 1996
10
Edited from Wikipedia
8
Poets and Composers
“James Joyce was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, widely considered as a
major writer of the 20th century. He is best known for his short story
collection Dubliners (1914), and his novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man (1916), Ulysses (1922) and Finnegan’s Wake (1939).” 11 The three poems
presented tonight set by Samuel Barber were part of the 36 Poem collection
entitled “Chamber Music” which was published in 1909. In a personal note to
his future wife, Nora, Joyce wrote about this collection: "I like to think of you
reading my verses (though it took you five years to find them out). When I
wrote them I was a strange lonely boy, walking about by myself at night and
thinking that some day a girl would love me. But I never could speak to the
girls I used to meet at houses. Their false manners checked me at once. Then you came to me. You
were not in a sense the girl for whom I had dreamed and written the verses you find now so
enchanting. She was perhaps (as I saw her in my imagination) a girl fashioned into a curious grave
beauty by the culture of generations before her, the woman for whom I wrote poems like 'Gentle lady'
or 'Thou leanest to the shell of night'. But then I saw that the beauty of your soul outshone that of my
verses. There was something in you higher than anything I had put into them. And for this reason the
book of verses is for you. It holds the desire of my youth and you, darling, were the fulfillment of that
desire." Not much is known about the background of these verses other than it was Joyce trying his
hand at love verses. “I Hear an Army” is said to have been inspired by Yeats who was a great influence
on Joyce as a young man, and Yeats himself is quoted as having called the poem "a technical and
emotional masterpiece." 12
“A great twentieth century Romantic, Samuel Barber was born in West Chester,
Pennsylvania to musical parents, and would slowly evolve his own unique
musical voice as he traveled the world and surrounded himself with poets,
musicians, and art enthusiasts. A compositional perfectionist and a consummate
tunesmith, Barber had the unique talent of absorbing every style the twentieth
century had to offer, seamlessly integrating them into his work and always
retaining control of his lyrical vision. He could craft melodies of haunting beauty
without pandering to cheap sentimentality; he could create pieces of disturbing
dislocation without turning the reins over to chaos; and his music could sound
ironical and witty without resorting to cynicism or gimmickry. Composed
between 1935 and 1937, these are three of the six Barber settings of poems from
Joyce's Chamber Music. Joyce is said to have written them with the voice of a tenor in mind and
Barber's music gives them a vitality and emotional depth that is less apparent when they are
approached as pure poetry. Like light falling upon a dark jewel, his musical settings cause each poem
to glow and sparkle, highlighting different emotional facets and unveiling a hidden depth. And Barber's
music, as always, is masterly, filled with wit, restraint, and élan. Each element seems perfectly
balanced, with the voice and piano coming off as partners in a dance -- sometimes supportive,
sometimes placed against each other to produce tension, sometimes one yielding the foreground to the
other; but both are equal and quite necessary.” 13
11
Wikipedia
Information gathered from the website Robot Wisdom, maintained by Jorn Barger
13
Extracted from The Modern World website, Allen B. Ruch, Ed.
12
Poets and Composers
“The offspring of showbiz parentage (her mother and father were
vaudevillians) Annie Ross entered a New York talent show on the radio
accompanied by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, which resulted in a sixmonth contract with MGM. She went to Hollywood at age eight where
she appeared in ‘The Little Rascals’ singing a jazz version of ‘Loch
Lomond.’ At age eleven she appeared as Judy Garland’s sister in
‘Presenting Lily Mars.’ She exhibited an early talent for song writing
when at age of fourteen she composed a song for a school contest.
Johnny Mercer and Dinah Shore were the judges and subsequently
Johnny Mercer recorded the song, ‘Let’s Fly’ with Paul Weston and the
Pied Pipers. After a busy life of singing and traveling in Europe where
she developed and honed her unique vocal skills, Annie returned to New
York where she composed the lyrics to ‘Twisted,’ a jazz blues
composition by Wardell Gray which won her the Downbeat ‘New Star’ award. ‘Twisted’ has become a
jazz classic recorded by Betty Midler, Joni Mitchell, Mark Murphy and countless aspiring jazz singers
around the world.” 14 In a 2000 interview with David Torrenson for Songbirds, Ross told of how “Bob
Weinstock, who owned Prestige [Records], gave me a bunch of [Eddie Jefferson – a pioneer in writing
vocalese 15 ] records and said, "Can you write like this?" And I said, "Sure!" No matter what he asked
me, I would say yes. So I went with a bunch of records back to where I was living, and I was there the
next morning with the lyric to Twisted.”
Wardell Gray was a native Oklahoman who migrated to the burgeoning
L. A. Jazz scene in the post-WW II years where he became one of the
foremost tenor sax players of his generation. He possessed a highly
fertile imagination which enabled him to produce an unceasing flow of
ideas, expressed with a beautiful light tone. His relaxed style generated
enormous swing. He straddled both the swing and the bebop eras and,
while heavily influenced by Lester Young, was able to absorb the
influence of Charlie Parker without fundamentally altering his style. At
his best in a jam session context where he was able to stretch out in
extended solos, his finest recordings were made in California in the late
1940s. In addition, he read widely and had many interests beyond jazz;
because of the maturity of his outlook and the sound advice he was able
to give, he was greatly respected by his fellow musicians. During his
tragically short career, he played with Benny Goodman, Earl Hines,
Count Basie and Benny Carter, with whose band he was engaged in 1955 when he was found dead
outside Las Vegas, the victim of a broken neck, likely the result of his unfortunate involvement with
the drug scene. Twisted was a song created during a quartet session with pianist Al Haig in 1948. Its
enduring popularity, largely thanks to Annie Ross’ 1952 vocalese lyric based on the tune, has
immortalized an otherwise overlooked and underappreciated Gray. 16
14
From Ms. Ross’ management firm, Hopper Management, London
Vocalese is the technique whereby lyrics are set to an improvised jazz solo
16
Extracted and edited from Wikipedia
15
Poets and Composers
For me, Canadian artist, poet and musician, Joni Mitchell defines the era
we now call “The Sixties” although her career and influence on the world
of popular music spans four decades. She won her first Grammy in 1969
for her folk album “Clouds” which contained probably her most enduring
hit “Both Sides Now” and from which one of tonight’s selections, “The
Fiddle and the Drum” is taken. Always socially conscious, she began to
expand her musical tastes towards rock and eventually jazz in the 1970’s.
The other song presented here, “Banquet” is from a largely transitional
1972 release, “For The Roses” It shows the edgier sound towards which
she was moving musically and lyrically it retained her political leanings.
Joni Mitchell crystallized not only the emergence of the
singer/songwriter/musician that marked a definite turning point in
American music of the late 20th Century, but she did so as a woman in a
traditionally male domain. This paved the way for current artists like
Alanis Morrisette (a fellow Canadian) and Sheryl Crow. Remarkably, she almost didn’t even pursue
music as a career. In a recent interview she shared, "I'm really a painter at heart and I can say this
now... Music was a hobby for me at art school, and art was serious. Art was always what I was going
to do. I was going to be an artist." The world and I are grateful that she indulged herself in such a
rewarding “hobby.”
Another Sixties icon, Paul Simon was my first mentor as a songwriter and
his partner and friend since childhood, Art Garfunkel, my first voice
teacher. Of course, they don’t know who I am but still, they lived on my
turn table for many of my teen years and instructed me through their
sublime example of craftsmanship as composer and vocalist. Their final
album as a duo, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” included this beautiful
song “So Long Frank Lloyd Wright” written especially for Garfunkel’s
feather-light tenor. How this song came about was explained in a 1970
concert by the duo themselves in the following exchange:
Art Garfunkel : In New York City where we
both come from I was going to Columbia
University a few years ago studying to be an
architect and I had an interest and a liking of the architecture of Frank
Lloyd Wright so I suggested to Paul that he write a song about Frank
Lloyd Wright, and ...
Paul Simon : I didn't know anything about Frank Lloyd Wright however.
I proceeded to write the song anyway.
So even though Paul Simon has the writing credit on this piece, without
Art Garfunkel’s suggestion, it may never have come into being. Some have also speculated that this
song was a sort of farewell as the two friends had decided during the recording of the album that it
would be their last together. About the music, Simon has said that it was influenced by the legendary
Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim. While it was hard for me to choose a single Paul Simon
song to include, this one jumped out at me as it brought me back to a place of origin where I first
tapped deeply the joy of singing and the possibilities of metaphor.
Poets and Composers
The emergence of Stephen Sondheim as the quintessential Broadway
composer paralleled in many ways the revolution occurring in the world of
popular music. Often weaving social commentary into his very personal
style and subject matter, “Sondheim's work is most notable for his musical
sophistication and is considered to be greater than that of many of his
musical theater peers. His lyrics are likewise renowned for their ambiguity
("Send in the Clowns"), wit ("Buddy's Blues") and urbanity ("The Little
Things You Do Together"); he employs various literary techniques and
devices that make his writing more akin to poetry than Tin Pan Alley.
Indeed, in 1968 and 1969, Sondheim published an astonishingly inventive
series of word puzzles in New York magazine. These are sometimes
inadequately referred to as mere crosswords; in fact, the form and
construction of the puzzles was every bit as creative and diabolical
as the clues.” 17 He made his first impact as the lyricist for
Leonard Bernstein’s perfect West Side Story score. Much has
been written about this show and the tremors it caused so rather
than try to add to that oeuvre, I will simply say that the song
“Something’s Coming” captures entirely my motis operandis in
life; there is always something great just around the next corner
and for me that makes life exciting. Every time I hear it or sing it,
I’m just like the 19 year old Tony, brimming with hopeful
anticipation.
In Evening Primrose “a young poet gets the brilliant idea to live in a department store, hiding by day,
and courting his muse by night where it's quiet, and he can have all his needs met. But, to his surprise,
he learns his brilliant idea's not exactly original; there are other residents who dodge the night
watchmen, and who keep their existence secret at all costs. And one of them is a young woman who
wants to leave, but is too frightened to go. And Charles finds that he wants to show her the larger
world outside.” 18 She sings the song “I Remember” as she reflects on a time before she came to the
store as a young child, the memories only shadows in her mind. Sondheim’s biggest financial flop,
Anyone Can Whistle is considered by most aficionados to be his most poignant. It was far ahead of its
time in 1964 and closed, misunderstood by most of its audience, after only 9 performances. Its political
satire is very current with our times and the message delivered in this selection “Everybody Says
Don’t” to not be afraid to challenge the powers that be is timeless. I urge everyone to track down the
CD of the original Broadway cast and study this work.
17
18
Wikipedia
Synopsis written by Kathy Li on Internet Movie Database
Poets and Composers
As a student of Theater in my 20’s, I found myself preparing a scene from
the play, Dylan, based on the life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Included
in the scene is an excerpt from his epic poem, “Fern Hill.” As a sort of
exercise, I wrote some music to the excerpt. Pleased with the result, a few
years later I sought out the entire poem and began a 20 year journey to
complete my setting. By the time I finished it in 2004, Thomas’ work had
passed into public domain, and I was emboldened to immediately start on
a second Dylan Thomas setting, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good
Night” which happily only took a week. “Dylan was born on October 27,
1914 at No 5, Cwmdonkin Drive in Swansea, and died on November 9,
1953 in St Vincent's Hospital, New York. During his lifetime he wrote
many great poems, including 'Fern Hill', 'The hunchback in the park' and
of course 'Do not go gentle into that good night'. He is also famous for
writing the 'play for voices' Under Milk Wood, and the collection of
stories, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.” 19 “’Fern Hill’ was completed in 1945, and was the last
poem to be included in Deaths And Entrances, published the following year. Placed at the end of the
collection, it appears to move away from the war-induced darkness of tone which characterizes many
of its other poems. Using outwardly naïve language and simple descriptions, Thomas creates an idyllic
sketch of a Carmarthenshire dairy farm in which his aunt Ann and uncle Jim had lived when he was a
child. Thomas uses words and phrases which recreate a child's interpretation of the world. He recreates
a typical childish fantasy that the world disappears when it is no longer visible. The sense of youthful
freedom is reinforced by the form of the poem, with regular verses free flowing and unrestrained by a
restrictive rhyme scheme. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” was completed in 1951, late in
Thomas' career. It is one of his most popular and easily accessible poems. Written about his dying
father, the poem explores the personal experience of grief and death, and places it within a wider
context.” 20
My first bonafide voice teacher was a remarkable man named John Guarnieri,
Jr. A native of Manhattan and the Bronx whose father, John Sr. was a
renowned jazz pianist, he began his singing career as a teenager after winning
first prize in the Metropolitan Opera Guild Auditions, joining the Ray Charles
Singers and appeared on the Sid Caesar television show. He understudied the
lead in the Broadway production of Fanny, touring as the lead in the show’s
national tour. He studied opera in Rome for three years and subsequently
returned to New York to resume his professional career. When I met him at Cal
State University Northridge in 1975, he had turned his attentions almost
entirely to teaching and raising his three daughters with his beautiful and
equally talented wife, Lynda Sue Marks. 21 Upon his untimely death, I
discovered another facet of his rich artistic abilities. He was a budding and gifted poet. The text of his
sonnet, “On Dreams,” which he had entered a few years earlier in a poetry contest, was included in the
program at his memorial service and I was very taken by it. It remained among my memorabilia until
last summer, when I came upon it while looking for something in my files. I decided it would be a
fitting tribute to my late mentor to set this lovely verse, which reminded me of John’s ongoing quest to
expand his horizons, one of the qualities that inspired me and stuck with me over the years. The
portrait included here is by his daughter, Christel, and is an uncanny likeness.
19
Background from the poet’s son, Aeronwy Thomas, on DylanThomas.com
From the BBC Literary Website
21
Biographical information provided by the Guarnieri family
20
Poets and Composers
"E. Powys Mathers is the not-quite-forgotten man of modern English poetry. Despite his appearance
in Yeats' famous Oxford Book of Modern Verse - he died the same year as Yeats - he is
best known for his translation of the Thousand Nights and One Night, and as his alter
ego, Torquemada of the Observer - a name to conjure with in the history of the
cryptic crossword puzzle. But his poetry, especially Black Marigolds, has long been
admired by poets, and for many of them his translations from Asian and Oriental
poetry are unparalleled. Black Marigolds, from the Sanskrit Chaurapanchasika,
has appeared in several anthologies and circulates on the internet. Together
with the slightly earlier Coloured Stars (versions of fifty Asiatic love poems),
his first book, it constitutes the best of Mathers' remarkable poetry, which
even now reads with undated freshness.” 22
Aaron Copland, on his basic philosophy regarding composing: "To
explain the creative musician's basic objective in elementary terms, I
would say that a composer writes music to express and communicate and
put down in permanent form certain thoughts, emotions and states of
being. These thoughts and emotions are gradually formed by the contact
of the composer's personality with the world in which he lives. He
expresses these thoughts (musical ones...) in the musical language of his
own time. The resultant work of art should speak to men and women of
the artist's own time with a directness and immediacy of communicative
power that no previous art expression can give. I felt that it was worth
the effort to see if I couldn't say what I had to say in the simplest possible terms." I could think of no
better way to close the program than with this early composition by Copland. For one thing, its style
and form, although written when Copland was still quite young, certainly point a large arrow at where
he was heading as a composer. As for the text, I appreciate its message of universality in matters of the
heart. But it also expresses the way I feel about music overall. I love it, it loves me back and “the rest
matters not.”
22
Sara Russell on The Author’s Den website, 2003
Acknowledgements
First, there is the word. This is a celebration of the uniqueness of vocal music and in particular, the importance
played by those often unsung (no pun intended) providers of text, without which we singers would be forced to
utter nonsensical syllables. To that end, I selected the pieces on this program first and foremost with the words
in mind.
People to thank…
John Guarnieri, Jr., Warren Hoffer and David Britton, the “3 Tenors” who have helped keep me on track,
providing inspiration and perspiration in the process for a collective 30 years.
Emily Helvey, my talented and patient collaborator, for being a thoroughly professional and extremely sensitive
musician and her ability to navigate through so many styles.
My guest artists Steve Schank and Suede Larson, for helping me expand the elements of this program into the
areas of folk and jazz.
Most importantly, my family, my daughters Alee, Brenda and Christy and my incredible wife, Carrie. You are
my anchor. None of this would mean anything to me without knowing I have your love and support.
Translations
Tu mancavi a tormentarmi
Translation by Grant A. Lewis
Tu mancavi a tormentarmi,
Crudelissima speranza,
E con dolce rimembranza
Vuoi di nuovo avvelenarmi.
Will you continue to torment me,
cruel hope,
by not fulfilling my wish?
With sweet remembrances you poison me anew.
Ancor dura
La sventura
D'una fiamma incenerita,
La ferita ancora aperta
Par m'avverta nuove pene.
Dal rumor delle catene
Mai non vedo allontanarmi.
The incinerating flame
still consumes me,
And my burning wounds
testify anew of my misfortune.
Nevertheless,
I would not remove
the chains that bind me
Il mio tesoro intanto
Translation by Camila Argolo Freitas Batista
Il mio tesoro intanto andate a consolar,
E del bel ciglio il pianto
cercate di asciugar.
Ditele che i suoi torti, a vendicar io vado;
Che sol di stragi e morti
nunzio vogl'io tornar.
Meantime go and console my dearest one,
and seek to dry the tears
from her lovely eyes.
Tell her that I have gone to avenge her wrongs,
and will return only as the messenger
of punishment and death.
Nell
Translation by Peter Low
Ta rose de pourpre à ton clair soleil,
Ô Juin, étincelle enivrée,
Penche aussi vers moi ta coupe dorée:
Mon coeur à ta rose est pareil.
Under your bright sun, oh summer,
your red, red rose sparkles ecstatically.
Lean over me too with your golden cup –
my heart resembles your rose.
Sous le mol abri de la feuille ombreuse
Monte un soupir de volupté:
Plus d'un ramier chante au bois écarté.
Ô mon coeur, sa plainte amoureuse.
Under the shady, sheltering leaves
there rises a sigh of delight.
In the grove there are doves cooing,
singing their love-songs (oh my heart!).
Que ta perle est douce au ciel enflamé
Étoile de la nuit pensive!
Mais combien plus douce est la clarté vive
Qui rayonne en mon coeur, en mon coeur
charmé!
How sweet in the flame-red sky is the pearl,
the star of pensive night!
But how much sweeter is the vivid glow
that shines in my enchanted heart!
La chantante mer le long du rivage,
Taira son murmure éternel,
Avant qu'en mon coeur, chère amour.
Ô Nell, ne fleurisse plus ton image!
The singing sea all along its shores
will end its eternal murmuring
before your image, oh Nell my love,
No longer blooms in my heart.
Après un rêve
Translation by David K. Smythe
Dans un sommeil que charmait ton image
Je rêvais le bonheur, ardent mirage,
Tes yeux étaient plus doux, ta voix pure et
sonore,
Tu rayonnais comme un ciel éclairé par
l'aurore;
In a slumber which held your image
spellbound
I dreamt of happiness, passionate mirage,
Your eyes were softer, your voice pure and
sonorous,
You shone like a sky lit up by the dawn;
Tu m'appelais et je quittais la terre
Pour m'enfuir avec toi vers la lumière,
Les cieux pour nous entr'ouvraient leurs
nues,
Splendeurs inconnues, lueurs divines
entrevues,
You called me and I left the earth
To run away with you towards the light,
The skies opened their clouds for us,
Unknown splendours, divine flashes
glimpsed,
Hélas! Hélas! triste réveil des songes
Je t'appelle, ô nuit, rends moi tes
mensonges,
Alas! Alas! sad awakening from dreams
I call you, O night, give me back your lies,
Reviens, reviens radieuse,
Reviens ô nuit mystérieuse!
Return, return radiant,
Return, O mysterious night.
Chanson d'amour
Translation by Peter Low
J'aime tes yeux, j'aime ton front,
Ô ma rebelle, ô ma farouche,
J'aime tes yeux, j'aime ta bouche
Où mes baisers s'épuiseront.
I love your eyes, I love your forehead,
oh my rebellious and fierce one.
I love your eyes, I love your mouth
on which my kisses will tire themselves
J'aime ta voix, j'aime l'étrange
Grâce de tout ce que tu dis,
Ô ma rebelle, ô mon cher ange,
Mon enfer et mon paradis!
I love your voice, I love the strange
gracefulness of everything you say,
oh my rebellious one, my dear angel,
my hell and my paradise!
J'aime tout ce qui te fait belle,
De tes pieds jusqu'à tes cheveux,
Ô toi vers qui montent mes voeux,
Ô ma farouche, ô ma rebelle!
I love your eyes and your forehead;
I love all that makes you beautiful,
from your feet to your hair,
you to whom my hopeful pleas ascend!