Love in a‌ A series of pop-up performances celebrating the beauty and courage of love
Edinburgh International Festival From recitals of beautiful songs from solo artists to full scale concerts with over 200 musicians – classical music is alive and kicking at the Edinburgh International Festival. The thrill of seeing and hearing world class artists can be felt in the Usher Hall, The Queen’s Hall and in theatres throughout the city. With well known and brand new drama, classical and contemporary dance and fully staged operas as well as lots of music there is a world of experiences waiting. Pick up your free brochure across town or call us on 0131 473 2000 to join our mailing list. For filmed extracts, interviews and more information visit eif.co.uk And to keep you hooked on wonderful singing we’re offering 20% off your tickets to hear the very finest international singers at the Festival. Visit eif.co.uk/artsong to find out more. We look forward to welcoming you to the Edinburgh International Festival!
Love in a… is a pop up performance series which since 2012 has been surprising and delighting audiences across Edinburgh. We have had Love in a Library, Love in a Bookshop and even Love in a Flowerbed all of which brought a story of love to life through beautiful artsongs by composers such as Schumann, Schubert, Wagner, Quilter and Gershwin. This year for the first time we are sharing information about the venue and timing of these performances in advance because those who are surprised once often want to experience it again! So, on the back cover of this programme you will find all the dates for our current Love in a… season. In 2014 we also bring you Ghosts in a… which forms part of the Festival’s commemoration of the First World War, reflecting upon courage and love in turbulent times.
‘Had tears in my eyes! Absolutely beautiful voices.’ ‘Love it! Fantastic idea, really brings the festival to the people of Edinburgh.’ ‘Really enjoyed it. Have never heard any opera music before live, and it will certainly not be the last. Thank you!’ Audience reaction to Love in a…
Our earnest hero and cautious heroine, whose beautiful singing of arias and songs give passers-by a musical breath of fresh air, will pop up in galleries and museums as well as gardens, bookshops, libraries and even palaces. Take a moment to stop and join us. We hope you enjoy your encounter! eif.co.uk/artsong
While photography is permitted, please respect our performers and other audience members by not filming, using flash photography and being considerate in your use of your camera.
Love in a…
Ghosts in a…
In Edinburgh from March until August love stories reveal themselves across the city through music and song. In cafés, bookshops, libraries and museums love is blossoming and being expressed through some of the most beautiful and inspiring songs ever written. The Edinburgh International Festival invites you to stop for a short while as our singers fall in love…
Throughout the spring and summer of 2014, as part of its commemoration of the First World War, the Edinburgh International Festival will reflect on the courage of love in times of war. Songs will be sung live in museums, galleries and gardens, filling them with music and inviting audiences to stop for a moment of contemplation and hope.
‘My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.’
‘All deep things are song.’ Thomas Carlyle Scottish philosopher
Edward Elgar Composer
‘Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture and if possible, speak a few sensible words.’
‘Love is a serious mental disease.’
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Plato
Company Woman / Nurse Emma Morwood Man / Soldier Chris Elliott Pianist Andrew Brown
Project Manager Stage Manager Director
Emma Hay Kieron Johnson Sally Hobson
Produced by the Edinburgh International Festival
Love in a… Love Walked In Music: George Gershwin (1898 –1937) Lyrics: Ira Gershwin (1896 –1983) Nothing seemed to matter any more, Didn’t care what I was headed for. Time was standing still, No one counted ‘til There came a knocking at the door. Love walked right in and drove the shadows away; Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day. One magic moment, and my heart seemed to know That love said “Hello!”, Though not a word was spoken. One look and I forgot the gloom of the past; One look and I had found my future at last. One look and I had found a world completely new, When love walked in... with you.
À Chloris (To Chloris) Music: Reynaldo Hahn (1874 –1947) Text: Théophile de Viau (1590 –1626) S’il est vrai, Chloris, que tu m’aimes, Mais j’entends, que tu m’aimes bien, Je ne crois point que les rois mêmes Aient un bonheur pareil au mien. Que la mort serait importune De venir changer ma fortune A la félicité des cieux! Tout ce qu’on dit de l’ambroisie Ne touche point ma fantaisie Au prix des grâces de tes yeux. If it is true, Chloris, that thou lovst me, And I understand thou dost love me well, I do not believe that even kings Could know such happiness as mine. How unwelcome death would be, If I must exchange my fortune For the joy of heaven! All that they say of ambrosia Does not light my imagination Like the grace of your eyes.
Ich kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben (I cannot grasp it, cannot believe it) Music: Robert Schumann (1810 –1856) Text: Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 –1838) Ich kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben Es hat ein Traum mich berückt; Wie hätt er doch unter allen Mich Arme erhöht und beglückt? Mir war’s, er habe gesprochen: “Ich bin auf ewig dein,” Mir war’s – ich träume noch immer, Es kann ja nimmer so sein. O laß im Traume mich sterben, Gewieget an seiner Brust, Den seligsten Tod mich schlürfen In Tränen unendlicher Lust. I cannot grasp it, cannot believe it, A dream has enchanted me! How could he have chosen me, amongst all others, To lift up and make happy? It seemed to me, as if he spoke, “I am eternally thine.” It seemed I must still be dreaming, It could never be. O let me die in this dream, Cradled on his breast. Let blessed death swallow me In tears of infinite bliss.
Love’s Philosophy
Standchën (Serenade)
Music: Roger Quilter (1877–1953) Text: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1772 –1822)
Music: Franz Schubert (1797–1820) Text: Ludwig Rellstab (1799 –1860)
The Fountains mingle with the River, And the Rivers with the Ocean; The winds of Heaven mix forever, With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In one another’s being mingle; Why not I with thine?
Leise flehen meine Lieder Durch die Nacht zu dir; In den stillen Hain hernieder, Liebchen, komm zu mir!
See the mountains kiss high Heaven, And the waves clasp one another; No sister-flower would be forgiven, If it disdained its brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth, And the moonbeams kiss the sea: What is all this sweet work worth, If thou kiss not me?
Le Secret (The Secret ) Music: Gabriel Fauré (1845 –1924) Text: Armand Silvestre (1837–1901) Je veux que le matin l’ignore Le nom que j’ai dit à la nuit, Et qu’au vent de l’aube, sans bruit, Comme un larme il s’évapore. Je veux que le jour le proclame L’amour qu’au matin j’ai caché, Et sur mon coeur ouvert penché Comme un grain d’encens il l’enflamme. Je veux que le couchant l’oublie Le secret que j’ai dit au jour, Et l’emporte avec mon amour, Aux plis de sa robe pâlie! I wish that the morning should forget The name I told the night, And that in the wind of the dawn, without a sound, It should evaporate like a tear. I wish that the day would proclaim The love I hid in the morning, And, addressing my open heart, Should inflame it like a grain of incense. I wish that the sunset should forget The secret I told the day, And carry it away with my love, In the folds of its pale robes!
Flüsternd schlanke Wipfel rauschen In des Mondes Licht; Des Verräters feindlich Lauschen Fürchte, Holde, nicht. Hörst die Nachtigallen schlagen? Ach! sie flehen dich, Mit der Töne süßen Klagen Flehen sie für mich. Sie verstehn des Busens Sehnen, Kennen Liebesschmerz, Rühren mit den Silbertönen Jedes weiche Herz. Laß auch dir die Brust bewegen, Liebchen, höre mich! Bebend harr’ ich dir entgegen! Komm, beglücke mich! Softly my songs implore you Through the night; Come down to me, my love, Beneath in the silent grove! Slender tree tops whisper And murmur in the moonlight; Do not fear, my sweetest Any eavesdropping enemy. Do you hear the call of the nightingales? Ah! they beckon to you, With the sound of their sweet and plaintive songs They are imploring for me. They understand the heart’s longing, They know the pain of love, They touch with their silver tones Every tender heart. Let them also move in your own heart, Beloved, hear me! Trembling I wait for you! Come, bring me joy!
Träume (Dreams)
My love is like a red, red rose
Music: Richard Wagner (1813 –1883) Text: Agnes Mathilde Wesendonck (1828 –1902)
Text: Robert Burns (1759 –1796)
Sag, welch wunderbare Träume Halten meinen Sinn umfangen, Daß sie nicht wie leere Schäume Sind in ödes Nichts vergangen? Träume, die in jeder Stunde, Jedem Tage schöner blühn, Und mit ihrer Himmelskunde Selig durchs Gemüte ziehn! Träume, die wie hehre Strahlen In die Seele sich versenken, Dort ein ewig Bild zu malen: Allvergessen, Eingedenken! Träume, wie wenn Frühlingssonne Aus dem Schnee die Blüten küßt, Daß zu nie geahnter Wonne Sie der neue Tag begrüßt, Daß sie wachsen, daß sie blühen, Träumend spenden ihren Duft, Sanft an deiner Brust verglühen, Und dann sinken in die Gruft. Say, what wondrous dreams are these Embracing all my senses, And have not, like empty forms, Disappeared into nothingness? Dreams, that with every hour Of every day, beautifully bloom, And with their heavenly tidings Blissfully float through the mind! Dreams, which like heavenly rays Sink into the soul, To paint there an eternal image: Forgetting all, remembering one! Dreams, as when the spring sun Kisses blossoms from the snow, So that the new day might welcome them To unimagined joys, So they grow, so they flower, Dreamily spreading their scent, They softly fade upon your breast, And then sink into the grave.
O my Luve’s like a red, red rose, That’s newly sprung in June: O my Luve’s like the melodie, That’s sweetly play’d in tune. As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a’ the seas gang dry. Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun; And I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o’ life shall run. And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve! And fare-thee-weel, a while! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho’ ‘twere ten thousand mile!
Ghosts in a… Blow the Wind Southerly Music: Dmitry Shostakovich (1906 –1975) Text: William G. Whittaker (1876 –1944) Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow the wind south o’er the bonny blue sea; Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow bonnie breeze, my lover to me. They told me last night there were ships in the offing, And I hurried down to the deep rolling sea; But my eye could not see it wherever might be it, The barque that is bearing my lover to me. Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow bonnie breeze o’er the bonny blue sea; Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow bonnie breeze, and bring him to me.
Nacht und Träume (Night and Dreams) Music: Franz Schubert (1797–1828) Text: Matthäus Casimir von Collin (1779 –1824) Heil’ge Nacht, du sinkest nieder; Nieder wallen auch die Träume Wie dein Licht durch die Räume, Lieblich durch der Menschen Brust. Die belauschen sie mit Lust; Rufen, wenn der Tag erwacht: Kehre wieder, heil’ge Nacht! Holde Träume, kehret wieder!
Oh, is it not sweet to hear the breeze singing, As lightly it comes o’er the deep rolling sea? But sweeter and dearer by far when ‘tis bringing, The barque of my true love in safety to me.
Holy night, you sink down; Dreams, too, drift down Like your moonlight through space, Through the quiet hearts of men; They listen with delight Calling out when day awakens: Return, holy night! Fair dreams, return!
Cloths of Heaven
Since she whom I loved
Music: Thomas Dunhill (1877–1946) Text: William Butler Yeats (1865 –1939)
Music: Benjamin Britten (1913 –1976) Text: John Donne (1572 –1631)
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
Since she whom I loved hath paid her last debt To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead, And her soul early into heaven ravishèd, Wholly on heavenly things my mind is set. Here the admiring her my mind did whet To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head; But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed, A holy thirsty dropsy melts me yet. But why should I beg more love, whenas thou Dost woo my soul, for hers offering all thine: And dost not only fear lest I allow My love to saints and angels, things divine, But in thy tender jealousy dost doubt Lest the world, flesh, yea, devil put thee out.
Urlicht (Primeval Light)
Fear no more the heat o the sun
Music: Gustav Mahler (1860 –1911) Text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Alte deutsche Lieder (1808)
Music: Gerald Finzi (1901–1956) Text: William Shakespeare (1564 –1616)
O Röschen rot! Der Mensch liegt in größter Not! Der Mensch liegt in größter Pein! Je lieber möcht’ ich im Himmel sein! Da kam ich auf einen breiten Weg. Da kam ein Engelein und wollt mich abweisen. Ach nein! Ich ließ mich nicht abweisen! Ach nein! Ich ließ mich nicht abweisen: Ich bin von Gott, und will wieder zu Gott! Der liebe Gott wird mir ein Lichtchen geben, Wird leuchten mir bis in das ewig selig Leben! O little red rose! Man lies in greatest need! Man lies in greatest pain! Even more would I rather be in heaven! There I came upon a broad path. There came an angel and wanted to turn me away. Ah no, I would not be turned away! Ah no, I would not be turned away: I am from God and want to return to God! The loving God will give me a little of the light, Will illuminate me into the eternal blessed life!
Fear no more the heat o the sun, Nor the furious winter’s rages; Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages; Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust. Fear no more the frown o the great; Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke: Care no more to clothe and eat; To thee the reed is as the oak. The sceptre, learning, physic, must All follow this, and come to dust. Fear no more the lightning-flash, Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone; Fear not slander, censure rash; Thou hast finished joy and moan; All lovers young, all lovers must Consign to thee, and come to dust. No exorciser harm thee! Nor no witchcraft charm thee! Ghost unlaid forbear thee! Nothing ill come near thee! Quiet consummation have; And renownéd be thy grave!
Dido’s lament Dido and Aeneas Music: Henry Purcell (1659 –1695) Libretto: Nahum Tate (1652 –1715) Recitative Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me, On thy bosom let me rest, More I would, but Death invades me; Death is now a welcome guest. Aria When I am laid, am laid in earth, May my wrongs create No trouble, no trouble in thy breast; Remember me, remember me, but ah! forget my fate. Remember me, but ah! forget my fate.
Artist biographies
Emma Morwood Soprano
Chris Elliott Lyric Tenor
Belfast born Emma Morwood studied at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). Emma was a major award winner at the RNCM, including the Dame Eva Turner Award and the Claire Croiza Prize. Emma has appeared as a soloist with many of the UK and Ireland’s finest orchestras and conductors. Performance highlights include her Royal Festival Hall début with The Philharmonia; Brahms’s Requiem with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy; a solo recital at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall; and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with the Ulster Orchestra. Roles include Pamina in The Magic Flute (Opera Theatre Company); Lila (cover) in David Bruce’s The Firework Maker’s Daughter (Opera North); Diana (cover) in Offenbach’s Orpheus in The Underworld (Scottish Opera/NI Opera); Morgana in Handel’s Alcina (Buxton Festival); Micaela in Carmen (New Devon Opera); Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Theatre Company); and the title role in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortilèges (RNCM). Emma will be singing the role of Dido with Edinburgh’s Calton Consort later this Spring.
Chris Elliot is a graduate of the RSAMD Opera School, and a student of Nicolai Gedda in Switzerland, and Arthur Levy in New York. Operatic roles include: Tito, La Clemenza di Tito; Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni; Bill Flight; Albert, Albert Herring; Alfredo, La Traviata & Fenton, Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor. Cover roles include: Fenton, Falstaff; Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi. Staged excerpts: Nadir, Les Pecheurs de Perles; Rudolfo, La Boheme; Tom Rakewell, The Rake’s Progress; Lenski, Eugene Onegin; & Male Chorus, The Rape of Lucretia. Whilst at the RSAMD Chris was given a “student with outstanding potential” award by Scottish Opera, and won the John Ireland Song Prize. He was also chosen by Opera Now Magazine for their annual “Who’s Hot?” feature as one of the 50 most promising young artists worldwide. Chris recently performed the world premier of a song cycle of Nobel Laureate Eugenio Montale’s Mottetti in Genoa’s ducal palace, written for Chris by the renowned American composer Lori Laitman, as part of a concert entitled “The Gulf of Poets”, a programme he will perform later this year in Rome in association with the Keats-Shelley House Museum. A Crear Scholar, he has participated in week-long residential masterclasses with Roger Vignoles in Austria, and with Malcolm Martineau in Scotland.
Andrew Brown Pianist Andrew Brown enjoys a busy and diverse career as an accompanist. As well as working in the classical music world, he is also heavily involved with dance, working as class accompanist and repititeur on the modern ballet course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is also involved in a variety of education projects, including the Edinburgh International Festival’s ‘Art of Listening’ programme, where, alongside tenor Chris Elliott, he introduces Edinburgh children to classical music, and Art Song in particular. Andrew studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with Fali Pavri, graduating in 2006 with a Master’s Degree in solo piano performance. Despite his studies concentrating mainly on the solo piano repertoire, he has always been involved in chamber music and accompaniment in general, particularly with singers. He was invited to accompany at Malcolm Martineau’s Crear residential masterclasses. He is also an experienced choral accompanist and in 2010 was an official accompanist at the Association of British Choral Directors annual British Convention.
Charity No SC004694.
Tour schedule March Saturday 15 March
Love in a Library
Morningside Library
11.30am
Sunday 23 March
Ghosts in a Garden
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
1.30pm
Sunday 23 March
Ghosts in a Garden
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
3.30pm
Love in a Bookshop
Blackwell’s Bookshop
3.30pm
Love in a Palace
Holyroodhouse Café
2.30pm
April Wednesday 30 April
May Wednesday 7 May Saturday 10 May
Love a Bookshop
City Arts Centre
1.00pm
Tuesday13 May
Love in a Library
Central Library
12.30pm
Friday 16 May
Love in a Museum
National Museum of Scotland Lates
7.30pm
Saturday 17 May
Ghosts in a Gallery
Surgeons’ Hall
11.30am
Saturday 17 May
Ghosts in a Gallery
Surgeons’ Hall
3.00pm
Sunday 18 May
Ghosts in a Gallery
Scottish National Gallery
3.00pm
June Monday 9 June
Love in a Library
Stockbridge Library
3.30pm
Tuesday 10 June
Love in a Library
Central Library
12.30pm
Thursday12 June
Love a Bookshop
Blackwell’s Bookshop
3.30pm
Friday 13 June
Love in a Library
Westerhailes Library
3.30pm
Wednesday 18 June
Love in a Palace
Holyroodhouse Café
2.30pm
Thursday 19 June
Love in a Library
Fountainbridge Library
2.00pm
Friday 20 June
Love in a Library
Oxgangs Library
11.00am
Saturday 21 June
Ghost in a Gallery
City Arts Centre
1.00pm
Sunday 22 June
Love in a Gallery
Scottish National Gallery
2.30pm
Sunday 29 June
Ghosts in a Gallery
National Museum of Scotland
2.15pm
Ghosts in a Gallery
National Museum of Scotland
2.15pm
July Tuesday 15 July Wednesday 23 July
Love in a Library
Morningside Library
3.00pm
Tuesday 29 July
Ghosts in a Gallery
National Museum of Scotland
2.15pm
Ghosts in a Gallery
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
2.30pm
August Thursday 7 August
eif.co.uk/artsong