Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Sherman Library & Gardens, Central Patio Room, 8 p.m.

Music in the Gardens I

Susan Montgomery, soprano
Daniel Roihl, countertenor
Jonathan Mack, tenor
Aram Barsamian, baritone

Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin
Jolianne von Einem, violin
Rob Diggins, viola
William Skeen, violoncello
Paul Sherman, oboe
John Thiessen, trumpet
Timothy Howard, harpsichord
Burton Karson, conductor
 

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Overture in G, Z 770

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Celestial music did the gods inspire, Z 322

Overture
Bass Aria: Celestial music did the gods inspire
Chorus: Hence he by right the god of wit shall be
Alto Aria: Her charming strains expel tormenting care
Soprano Aria: Thus Virgil’s genius loved the country best
Alto/Bass Duet: Whilst music did improve Amphion’s song
Ritornello
Tenor Aria: When Orpheus sang all nature did rejoice
Chorus: Let Phillis by her voice but charm the air

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Suite from King Arthur

Trumpet tune
Song tune: Fairest Isle
Symphony
Song tune: Shepherd, shepherd, leave decoying
Trumpet tune

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Four Arias & Chorus

Vado intrepido all morte, from Oreste – tenor
Pensa ch’io sono un rege amante, from Oreste – baritone
Molto voglio, molto spero, from Rinaldo – soprano
Or la tromba from Rinaldo – countertenor
Vinto e sol dalla virtù from Rinaldo – chorus

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Lied aus Ruy Blas
Soprano & tenor duet: Wozu der Vöglein Chöre

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Come Ye Sons of Art, Z 323
Birthday Ode for Queen Mary, 1694

Overture ·
Alto Solo & Chorus: Come, ye sons of art
Soprano/Alto Duet: Sound the trumpet
Symphony and Chorus: Come, come, ye sons of art
Alto Solo: Strike the viol
Bass Solo & Chorus: The day that such a blessing gave
Soprano Solo: Bid the virtues, bid the graces
Bass solo: These are the sacred charms that shield
Tenor/Bass Duet:
    See nature, rejoicing, has shown us the way
Chorus: Thus nature, rejoicing, has shown us the way

Reception

This evening’s performance is offered in grateful memory of our patron, friend, board member and president

Franklin Irwin Remer
1929-2008

his evening we observe the birth of Purcell and Mendelssohn and the death of Handel through some of their most attractive secular music. Purcell, the greatest and most famous English composer of his time, was a later inspiration to the German Handel, who became English. Handel was an acknowledged inspiration to Mendelssohn. This evening’s program is all- English Baroque, with the exception of a brief Romantic homage to Mendelssohn, which will be sung in the original German.

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urcell’s Overture in G is a concert version for four strings of the introduction to his Swifter, Isis, swifter flow of 1681, a welcoming ode for Charles II. Its stately opening in dotted rhythms leads to a brisk fugue based on a descending G major scale. BACK

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urcell’s Celestial Music did the gods inspire is an ode, but not to a royal personage. Written for a performance at Mr. Maidwell’s school in 1689 to a text by a student, it celebrates a teacher whose pupils obviously admired him. The opening reference to music suggests that the young poet deliberately wrote for a musical setting.

The many Greek and Roman mythological gods and historical figures cited throughout (“Thus Virgil’s genius lov’d the country best where music by each creature was exprest”) reflect the essential classical school curriculum of the times, and attempt to place the object of their respect in lofty and even heavenly company. BACK

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he suite for trumpet was excerpted from King Arthur — a semi-opera whose text was written by John Dryden with Purcell’s music in mind — that had its first performance in London’s Dorset Garden in 1691. Its five short movements alternate rhythmic sections for valveless Baroque trumpet and strings with lyrical settings of songs in contrasting keys for strings alone. BACK

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andel learned the prevailing operatic style during his early years in Italy, and carried that to England where Italian operas and imported Italian opera singers were the rage. He wrote around forty operatic works for London before suffering from the English change of mood away from the Italian, which led to his later successful output of English oratorio that gradually supplanted opera for London musical theater-goers. Our four Italian arias, two from Rinaldo of 1711 and two from Oreste of 1734, clearly show Handel’s abilities to harness the human voice for dramatic challenges with ingratiatingly beautiful music. BACK

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endelssohn’s Ruy Blas, a stage work categorized as a “Romance,” to a text by Victor Hugo (translated into German), was completed in 1839. Only the overture, assigned Opus 95, was performed that year in Leipzig. This short romantic strophic song for two voices is accompanied throughout by pizzicato strings with much “double- stopping” in a manner that suggests strumming guitars. BACK

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urcell’s lovely Come ye sons of art, one of his enduring and endearing works, has been heard previously in our Festival concerts.

To a text perhaps by Tate, this ode, composed for the birthday of Mary II in 1694, calls musicians to come and celebrate a festive day with singing and playing — nature and the sacred charms of music leading to ultimate joy. BACK

Notes by Burton Karson

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