Lume
Choral Music by Female Composers
Franco Basili, conductor
Andrea Tarrodi (b. 1981)
Gartenlieder: 1. Lockung
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)
Gartenlieder: 5. Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald
Fanny Mendelssohn
Cayendo está la luna
Beatriz Corona (b.1962)
Penas
Grace Before Sleep
Beatriz Corona
Susan LaBarr (b.1981)
Look out above
Dessa & Jocelyn Hagen (b.1980)
This performance is presented by Mr. Basili in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts.
The University of Houston Concert Chorale
Betsy Cook Weber, director
Andreea Muţ, pianist
Kaitlin DeSpain, doctoral teaching fellow
Travis Falknor, student director
Julia Rose Arduino
Franco Basili
Zachary Brabston
Jason Burgon
Gage Campos
Jadon Campos
Zaccai Campos
Jake Carr
Sara Dacon
Tiffany Dawkins
Kaitlin DeSpain
Aidan Drury
Ethan Duong
Deborah Edquist
Travis Falknor
Madeline Flake
Alana Glover
Johanna Gonzalez
Shelby Griffin
Sean Holshouser
Tasneem Islam
Noelia Jimenez
Karen Lo *
Ariadne Lopez
Kennan Lukacs
Ethan Marfil
Jorge Martinez
Gavin Mathew
Maddie May *
Anthony Nevitt
David Oluwo
Chloe Owens
Raymond Pappas
Quinton Parmenter
Citlalli Reynoso
Sarah Roberts
Kiana Samiei
Olivia Sanchez
Rohin Scaria *
Daniel Schwindack
Aubrey Seulean
Keora Stevens
Stephen Steward *
Lauren Suchy
Angie Tovar
Maxwell White
* section leader
Born and based in Stockholm (Sweden), Andrea Tarrodi is an internationally internationally-recognized composer. After studying with Jan Sandström, Pär Lindgren, Fabio Cifariello-Ciardi, Jesper Nordin, and Marie Samuelssonm, among other teachers, Tarrodi completed her master´s degree in composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in 2009. She has written for many types of ensembles and has a particular interest in vocal and orchestral music. Her works are performed worldwide by renowned ensembles such as the BBC Philharmonic, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Choir, and the Eric Ericson´s Chamber Choir, among others. As a synaesthetic person, Tarradi’s musical approach is strongly influenced by the visual arts. Drawing and sketching from her music as inspiration, her pieces are distinguished by the colorful sound and the evolution of the shapes, almost emulating impressionist music. In Lume (light), we find the coexistence of two different and contrasting forces: staticity and dynamism. Almost like a painting, the two soprano lines interact with each other as if they were reflections of light on a sea of long notes drawn by the rest of the choir.
Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister, Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn, was as prodigious a musician as her brother. Born into a family of bankers, both received the best musical education, studying with the most prominent Leipzig teachers of the early 19th century. Although she was a talented pianist and composer, the customs of the time did not allow her to pursue a professional career as a musician. After marrying the artist Wilhelm Hensel, by order of her father, Fanny had to devote herself to taking care of the house and raising her children. Fortunately, her husband encouraged her to write music, and Felix helped to publish some of her works under his name. Today we know that Fanny Hensel composed more than 460 pieces, including orchestral pieces, chamber music, character pieces for piano, lieder, and choral works.
The song cycle Gartenlieder Op.3 was published under her name by Bote and Bock in Berlin in 1846, one year before her death. The set gathers a series of poems that describe nature in a simple and direct way. Meant to be sung outside during social gatherings, “Lockung” and “Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald” were both written by the German artist Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788-1857). Both poems are full of beautiful images and musical sounds rather than intellectual content. Lockung (seduction) leads us through sweet nocturnal images that seek to enchant the protagonist by reminding him of those beautiful songs of the past. Romantic artists have a particular attachment to the past and nature since they feel that modernism and civilization have corrupted humanity. The second piece, Abendlich shon rauscht der Wald, originally called Abschied (Farewell), is a poem that welcomes the night and the peace it brings for nature and the human soul. With images and sounds of the whispering forest, Hensel seems to find the perfect music to paint and emphasize each of the words of this captivating text.
“Lockung” and “Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald” from Gartenlieder, Op.3 by Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn (1805-1847)
Beatriz del Carmen Corona Rodríguez is a Cuban composer, choral conductor, and music producer known primarily for her choral compositions. Originally from La Habana and with an extensive artistic career, in 2021she became the first woman composer to win the Ibermúsicas Award for Choral Composition. Although she has not studied composition academically, she wrote more than 200 pieces, including choral works, orchestral music, chamber music, sacred music, and incidental music for cinema.
The text of Cayendo está la luna (falling is the moon) was written by the Chilean Eduardo Correa (19532014). The poem is the portrait of a person who, watching the moon sink into the horizon in the middle of the night, remembers the love that is no longer by their side. With an enchanting singing line and a finely calculated harmony, Beatriz Corona finds in the music a perfect balance to portraying the natural beauty of the moon and the broken heart.
Penas (sorrows), with text from Versos Sencillos (1981) by the Cuban revolutionary poet José Julián. Martí Pérez (1853-1895), is a manifesto against the slavery of humankind, accusing it of being the great sorrow of the world. This piece stands out for the dramatic musical writing that accompanies the natural prosody of the text. With a triumphant double chorus finale, Penas is one of Beatriz Corona’s most-sung works around the world.
From Springfield, Missouri, Susan LaBarr is a composer and choral editor. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in music and a Master of Music in music theory from Missouri State University. Her music is sung all around the world, and she is frequently asked to complete commissioned pieces for renowned ensembles. Susan studied with Alice Parker in Hawley, Massachusetts, and that experience influenced her musical vocabulary. Susan LaBarr wrote Grace Before Sleep in 2011. For the piece, she selected a text by the American writer Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) about thanks and gratitude. Starting as a simple folk-like tune, LaBarr gradually builds up the density of the music until the climax is reached when the chorus says: “here the heart is wide and warm.” This piece invites us to look at the beauty behind the simple daily things and be thankful for having them in our everyday lives.
Jocelyn Hagen is originally from Valley City, North Dakota. She studied Music Theory, Composition, and Vocal Music Education at St. Olaf and completed a Master of Arts in Composition at the University of Minnesota. Her music is described as “melodically driven, boldly beautiful, and intricately crafted.” She mainly writes music for solo voice, chamber vocal ensembles, and choirs. Her innovative spirit has led her to write largescale multimedia music, electroacoustic pieces, combine other artistic disciplines in her compositions, and merge her music with different musical genres.
Look Out Above is an excellent example of her innovative style. Combining forces with American singer and record producer Dessa (b.1981), it is a piece with popular vibes that gives freedom to the performers to create their unique version. With beatbox and hip-hop elements, this is a thoroughly vibrant piece with a powerful message for future generations.
Gartenlieder: 1. Lockung – Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)
Hörst du nicht die Bäume rauschenDraußen durch die stille Rund?
Lockt‘s dich nicht, hinabzulauschen
Von dem Söller in den Grund, Wo die vielen Bäche gehen
Wunderbar im Mondenschein
Und die stillen Burgen sehen
In den Fluß vom hohen Stein?
Kennst du noch die irren Lieder
Aus der alten, schönen Zeit?
Sie erwachen alle wieder
Nachts in Waldeseinsamkeit, Wenn die Bäume träumend lauschen
Und der Flieder duftet schwül
Und im Fluß die Nixen rauschen
Komm herab, hier ist’s so kühl.
Can’t you hear the trees rustle outside through the quiet round? Aren’t you tempted to listen down from the balcony to the ground where the many brooks flow wondrously in moonlight where the silent castles look into the river from the high rock?
Do you remember the mad songs from former, beautiful times? They all awake again at night, in the loneliness of the forest, when the dreaming trees are listening and the lilac has a sultry scent and in the river the mermaids murmur: come down, here it is so cool.
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)
Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald Aus den tiefen Gründen, Droben wird der Herr nun bald An die Sterne zünden, Wie so stille in den Schlünden, Abendlich nur rauscht der Wald.
Alles geht zu seiner Ruh, Wie die Welt verbrause, schauernd hört der Wandrer zu, sehnt sich tief nach Hause, hier in Waldes grüner Klause Herz, geh endlich auch zur Ruh!
At the evening the forest already murmurs from the deep valleys: the Lord above will soon now ignite the stars; how so still in the steep canyons at the evening only the forest murmurs.
All goes to its rest as the world calms down. Trembling, the wanderer listens and longs deeply from home. Here in the forest’s green cloister, heart, go also at last to rest.
Cayendo está la luna, cortando en dos la noche, cayendo está la luna. Precario y sin fortuna el mundo es un silencio que habita este rumor que duele, sin aliento.
Cayendo está la luna, y sin querer herirse, se arroja sobre alguna canción que no te canto. No sé cómo llamarte ni sé cómo es el llanto.
Y debo construirte de ausencia postergada, y debo pronunciarte, sentir que se desangra aquello cuanto veo y abrazo a la distancia…
Cayendo está la luna cortando en dos la noche. Precario como el tiempo mi sueño está esperando que habites el rumor y cantes, regresando…
Penas – Beatriz Corona (b.1962)
¡Penas! ¿Quién osa decir Que tengo yo penas? Luego, Después del rayo, y del fuego, Tendré tiempo de sufrir.
Yo sé de un pesar profundo Entre las penas sin nombres: ¡La esclavitud de los hombres Es la gran pena del mundo!
Hay montes, y hay que subir Los montes altos; ¡después Veremos, alma, quién es Quien te me ha puesto al morir!
Falling is the moon, splitting the night in half, falling is the moon. Precarious and without fortune the world is a silence that dwells in this rumor that hurts, breathless. Falling is the moon, and without willing to be wounded, it casts itself on some song that I do not sing to you. I don’t know how to call you nor do I know what crying is like. And I must build you of postponed absence, and I must call you, to feel bleeding to death that which I see and embrace in the distance...
The moon is falling splitting the night in half. Precarious as time my dream is waiting for you to inhabit the rumor and sing, returning…
Sorrows. Who dares say that I have sorrows? then, after the bolt of lightning and the fire, I will have time to suffer.
The slavery of humans is the great sorrow of the world.
There are mountains, and we must climb the high mountains; then we will see my soul, who is, who has put you to death.
As of January 20, 2023
The Moores Society is the philanthropic volunteer organization for the Moores School of Music. Moores Society members and donors promote community awareness and provide funding for scholarships and special projects. Moores Society members receive invitations to concerts and special events held throughout the year.
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