LES FILLES DE CADIX (C
HANSON ESPAGNOLE) (1887)
Known for work that draws heavily from the French chansonnette tradition, Leo Delibes is celebrated for his character pieces and his flair for cultural exoticism and “Orientalism” a popular European artistic movement that sought to capture the musical and cultural aesthetic of Asia and South Asia, often fetishizing cultural groups. Delibes is compared to his friend and sometime co-worker George Bizet, composer of the opera Carmen, for his sense of theatricality and exploration of Spanish themes, especially. Delibes brought a sense of play and adventure to his most famous compositions. Among these are the ballets Coppélia, Sylvia, and La Source.
The talented composer also excelled at songs for voice and piano. Little wonder his mother was an exceptional musician, and he was the grandson of an opera singer and the grand-nephew of organist Edouard Batiste. Delibes himself was a gifted singer who studied voice as a child. By age 12, he was attending the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris. The gifted critic, church organist, theatre composer, and opera chorus master is widely regarded as the first composer to create high calibre music for the ballet, influencing Tchaikovsky, among others.
“Les Filles de Cadix” which sets a poem by poet and novelist Alfred de Musset boasts a lively, rhythmic melody, reflects the exoticism of the era, and is set to a text that lauds the charm and allure of the women from Cadiz, Spain, a city known for its lively culture. Accounts of the song ’ s publication differ: Graham Johnson and Richard Stokes date the song to 1863, while other scholars point to the year 1874, one year before George Bizet’ s Carmen. Finally, some scholars insist that the piece was written circa 1861, but later published in 1885 or 1887. This difference may be due to the original publication of the work in the set Trois Mélodies before the composition appeared again in Quinze Mélodies, Deux Chœurs. In any case, the song became wildly popular among both singers and audiences for its of trills and references to the Bolero Roma dance tradition. The Girls of Cadiz are confident and revel in their beauty and strength encouraging the attentions of the local boys, but shunning the advances of rich, brash strangers. “And does my skirt suit me, this morning? Have I a slender waist? . . .The girls of Cadiz are fond of that!” The bold staccato rhythms of the piano depict the Bolero’ s foot patterns and the daring sensation of youthful courtships. Through its playful and spirited character, the song celebrates the passionate, carefree energy of youth.
LES FILLES DE CADIX
Nous venions de voir le taureau, Trois garçons, trois fillettes.
Sur la pelouse il faisait beau,
Et nous dansions un boléro
Au son des castagnettes : Dites-moi, voisin
Si j'ai bonne mine, Et si ma basquine
Va bien, ce matin.
Vous me trouvez la taille fine ?
Ah ! ah !
Les filles de Cadix aiment assez cela.
Et nous dansions un boléro
Un soir, c'était dimanche.
Vers nous s'en vint un hidalgo
Cousu d'or, la plume au chapeau, Et le poing sur la hanche :
Si tu veux de moi, Brune au doux sourire,
Tu n'as qu'à le dire,
Cet or est à toi.
Passez votre chemin, beau sire...
Ah ! Ah !
Les filles de Cadix n'entendent pas cela.
Text by Alfred de Musset (1810-1857)
THE GIRLS OF CADIX
We’d just left the bullfight, Three boys, three girls, The sun shone on the grass And we danced a bolero To the sound of castanets. ‘Tell me, neighbour, Am I looking good, And does my skirt Suit me, this morning? Have I a slender waist? . . . Ah! Ah!
The girls of Cadiz are fond of that.’
And we were dancing a bolero One sunday evening.
A hidalgo came towards us, Glittering in gold, feather in cap, And hand on hip: ‘If you want me, Dark beauty with the sweet smile, You’ ve only to say so, And these riches are yours. ’ Go on your way, fine sir.
Ah! ah!
The girls of Cadiz don’ t take to that.
Translation © Richard Stokes
LAKME: SOUS LE DÔME EPAIS (1883)
Composed by Delibes for Act One of Lakmé, "Sous le dôme épais" is one of the opera's most famous duets, and is often called “The Flower Duet” . The composition is regularly heard in commercials and films, and had an indelible cultural impact in the late 1980s, when British Airways adapted the song for its advertising campaigns. The lyrics depict Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, singing a serene and delicate song in a lush, enchanted garden, along with her beloved handmaiden, Mallika, who joins her in picking flowers. Featuring lyrics by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille that evoke a vivid, sensual landscape, this composition’ s rich, lyrical melodies capture a moment of peace and beauty before the opera’ s tragedy unfolds.
SOUS LE DÔME EPAIS
( Lakmé)
Viens, Mallika, les lianes en fleurs
Jettent déjà leur ombre
Sur le ruisseau sacré qui coule, calme et sombre, Eveillé par le chant des oiseaux tapageurs
(Mallika)
Oh ! maîtresse, C’ est l’heure ou je te vois sourire, L’heure bénie où je puis lire dans le cœur toujours fermé de Lakmé !
( Lakmé)
Dôme épais le jasmin, A la rose s ’assemble,
Rive en fleurs frais matin, Nous appellent ensemble.
Ah! glissons en suivant
Le courant fuyant:
Dans l’ on de frémissante, D’ une main nonchalante, Gagnons le bord, Où l’oiseau chante, l’oiseau, l’oiseau chante.
Dôme épais, blanc jasmin, Nous appellent ensemble!
UNDER THE THICK DOME
Come, Mallika, the blooming vines Are already casting their shadow
Over the sacred brook that flows, calm and dark, Awaken by the song of the noisy birds!
Oh! Mistress,
It is the hour where I see you smile, The blessed hour, where I can read Lakme’ s ever-closed heart!
Thick dome, the jasmine Unites with the rose, The blooming banks, the fresh morning Call out to us together. Ah! let us glide following The elusive stream:
Over the trembling waters, With an insouciant hand, Let us get to the bank, Where the bird sings, the bird, the bird sings. The thick dome, the white jasmine, Call out to us together!
(Mallika)
Sous le dôme épais, où le blanc jasmin
A la rose s ’assemble, Sur la rive en fleurs riant au matin, Viens, descendons ensemble.
Doucement glissons
De son flot charmant
Suivons le courant fuyant: Dans l’ on de frémissante, D’ une main nonchalante, Viens, gagnons le bord, Où la source dort
Et l’oiseau, l’oiseau chante.
Sous le dôme épais, Sous le blanc jasmin, Ah! descendons ensemble!
( Lakmé)
Mais, je ne sais quelle crainte subite, S’empare de moi, Quand mon père va seul à leur ville maudite; Je tremble, je tremble d’effroi!
(Mallika)
Pourquoi le Dieu Ganeça le protège, Jusqu’à l’étang où s’ébattent joyeux
Les cygnes aux ailes de neige, Allons cueillir les lotus bleus.
( Lakmé)
Oui, près des cygnes aux ailles de meige, Allons cueillir les lotus bleus. Ensemble
Text by Edmond Gondinet (1828-1888) and Philippe Gille (1831-1901)
Under the thick dome, where the white jasmine Unites with the rose, On the blooming shore, laughing in the morning, Come, let us go down together. Let us glide slowly Let us follow the charming stream Of the elusive current:
Over the trembling waters, With an insouciant hand, Come, let us get to the bank, Where the spring is asleep And the bird, the bird sings. Under the thick dome, Under the white jasmine, Ah! let us go down together!
But I don’ t know what sudden fear Is taking hold of me, When my father goes alone to their accursed city; I tremble, I tremble in fright!
Why? The god Ganesha protects him, All the the way to the pond where the swans With the snow white wings frolic happily, Let us gather the blue lotus flowers.
Yes, next the swans with the snow white wings, Let us gather the blue lotus flowers Together.
Translation © Ellen Rissinger and François Germain
LA BOHÈME: QUANDO ME'N VO’ (1896)
The four-act opera La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini remains one of the most celebrated and produced in the canon. Puccini, born into an Italian musical dynasty based in the city of Lucca, continued the tradition of famed family composers that began with his great-great-grandfather, for whom he was named. Like his forebears, Puccini studied in Bologna and beyond before beginning his fruitful career, which yielded operas that are now standards, including Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and La Rondine.
Set in 1830s Paris, Giacomo Puccini’ s La Bohème follows an impoverished seamstress (Mimi) among an artistic circle of friends living an unconventional, bohemian lifestyle. The playful and flirtatious “Quando me'n vo ’ ” is sung by Musetta in Act Two of the opera. The scene is set at Cafe Momus, where Musetta is determined to rattle her estranged boyfriend Marcello after entering the establishment with her new, elderly patron, Alcindoro. The lyrics depict Musetta’ s reveling in the attention she receives from passersby as she walks through the streets, expressing her enjoyment of the effect her beauty has on those around her. The music, full of lighthearted charm and boldness, reflects her confident, attention-seeking personality and contrasts the more serious romantic themes in the opera. Certain that he is still pining for her, Musetta is willing to strive for Marcello’ s affections while putting on a daring a show for the cafe’ s patrons. She quips: “I know it very well: you don't want to express your anguish, but you feel as if you're dying!”
QUANDO ME’N VO’
Quando me'n vo'
Quando me'n vo' soletta per la via, la gente sosta e mira e la bellezza mia tutta ricerca in me da capo a piè ...
Ed assaporo allor la bramosia sottil, che da gli occhi traspira e dai palesi vezzi intender sa alle occulte beltà
Così l'effluvio del desìo tutta m'aggira, felice mi fa!
E tu che sai, che memori e ti struggi da me tanto rifuggi?
So ben:
Le angoscie tue non le vuoi dir, ma ti senti morir
Text by Luigi Illica (1857-1919) and Giuseppe Giacosa (1847-1906)
WHEN I WALK
When I walk
When I walk all alone in the street, people stop and stare at me and look for my whole beauty from head to feet ...
And then I taste the slight yearning which transpires from their eyes and which is able to perceive from manifest charms to most hidden beauties. So the scent of desire is all around me, it makes me happy!
And you, while knowing, reminding and longing, you shrink from me?
I know it very well: you don't want to express your anguish, but you feel as if you're dying!
Translation © Robert Glaubitz
HOLD FAST TO DREAMS (1942)
Florence Price’ s poignant art song "Hold Fast to Dreams" is a setting of famed African American Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes’ 1923 poem “Dreams,” and derives its title from the first line of the piece. Hughes’ poem, first published in The World Tomorrow magazine, implores the reader to keep their dreams vividly before them. Price infuses the piece with a sense of hope and resilience, encouraging the listener to hold onto their aspirations despite life's struggles. The music reflects both the lyrical beauty and the emotional depth of Hughes ’words and presents a powerful statement of perseverance and optimism. The stark, 100-year-old warning calls to us even now: “Hold fast to dreams/For when dreams go/Life is a barren field/Frozen with snow ” Born in Joplin, Missouri, Langston Hughes graduated from Lincoln College, an HBCU (Historically Black College/University) near Oxford, Chester County, PA. After relocating to the village of Harlem in New York City, he became a leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance as a prolific poet, playwright, author, and activist who centered the experiences and humanity of the African American working class. Hughes’ poetry opens and closes this set of American Art Songs.
Florence Price, considered the first African American woman to gain a national professional reputation as a composer, was born Florence Beatrice Smith in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her father, Little Rock’ s first African American dentist, distinguished himself as an inventor of some renown. Her mother, Florence Irene Gulliver Smith, had been an elementary school teacher before marrying, and had a successful second career after the birth of her children as a secretary, restauranteur, and real estate investor. Initially trained in music by her mother, Florence gave her first public recital at the age of four, sold her first composition at the age of eleven, and enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music at the age of fifteen in the year 1903. She studied with the chair of the Organ department, Henry M. Dunham. Among other subjects, she also studied choir training and accompaniment along with orchestral reduction for organ. In 1906, she graduated with an Artist’ s Diploma in Organ and a Teacher’ s Diploma in Piano. She received the young composer scholarship at New England Conservatory, which allowed her to study composition and counterpoint with conservatory director George Whitefield Chadwick.
Price began a teaching career, married, and returned to Little Rock but after a brutal 1927 lynching there, she left with her husband and daughters and settled in Chicago. In 1932, America discovered Price’ s talents when she won first price in the Wanamaker Music Composition Contest for her Symphony in E Minor In June 1933, the work was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Price became the first African American woman to have her work performed by a top-tier American Orchestra. Subsequent compositions, including Piano Concerto in One Movement (composed with Margaret Bonds), were performed by the Women’ s Symphony Orchestra of Chicago and the Michigan W.P.A. Orchestra, and also were presented on WGN radio. Price composed over 300 works, some of which were recorded by artists such as Leontyne Price and Marian Anderson.
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Text by Langston Hughes (1901-1967)
LYRIC FOR TRUELOVE (1975)
In “Lyric for Truelove,” Undine Smith Moore creates a characteristically complex and lush piano texture and sets the lyrics to express deep affection and longing, while the rich, lyrical melody conveys the ecstatic revelation of love and devotion emphasizing the personal and universal qualities of desire and passion. The arpeggiated, harplike phrases of the composition suggest the freedom of spring courtship, and the excitement of meeting with one ’ s beloved. As voice and piano lines intertwine, the listener is invited to remember the sweetness of a lover’ s first embrace. Poet Florence Hynes Willette was a contemporary of Smith Moore, born to into an Irish community in Winnebago, MN and active during the mid-twentieth century.
Known as the “Dean of Black Women Composers” , Undine Smith Moore was born Undine Eliza Anna Smith in the state of Virginia in 1904. Smith Moore’ s grandparents were enslaved African Americans, and her family’ s hometown of Jarrett, Virginia was steeped in religious singing and the faith of the baptist church. Trained as a classical pianist, Smith Moore began her studies at the age of seven and was encouraged to attend Fisk University, an HBCU in Nashville, by her teacher, Lillian Allen Darden. Following Darden’ s advice, Smith Moore attended Fisk, where she studied organ and piano with Alice M. Grass and theory with Sarah Leight Laubenstein. In 1924, the Juilliard School granted a scholarship to Fisk University for the first time in its history to enable Smith Moore to attend. Smith Moore graduated Cum Laude from the Juilliard School and continued her studies with a Master of Arts from Columbia University Teachers College. She went on to study composition with Howard Murphy at Manhattan School of Music, while also attending composition workshops at Eastman School of Music.
Despite her training as a classical pianist, Smith Moore was acutely drawn to composing vocal solo and choral works. Over the course of her career as a public school administrator, high school choral director, and university piano and theory professor, she wrote numerous choral and solo compositions for her students and ensembles. Smith Moore is known for complex, layered, vigorous settings of spirituals, such as “Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord,” and for a tonal, modal, contrapuntal style heavily influenced by the African American idiom. Smith Moore taught at institutions including Virginia State University, Carleton College, and the College of Saint Benedict. She received numerous national awards, was Music Laureate of the State of Virginia in 1975, and received the Virginia Governor’ s Award for the Arts in 1985.
True Love
True Love
Arise for our trysting!
A young scented wind hastens by to remind us
The season is on us the hour is right
Oh, do you remember an April behind us
When dogwood twined gentle and white
Your voice was a singing bird
Caught in the branches!
Your hair a bright river that curved as it fell
And silky your eyelids were, Cool as the blossoms
Your mouth, for my thirst was a well!
True love
True Love
Arise for our trysting!
Leave your throat bare, And your long hair undone
We will cling to each other Where wild boughs are misting And shake out our dreams In the sun!
Text by Florence Hynes Willette (1901-1982)
MOMENTS IN SONDER: SOUNDS LIKE PEARLS
(2017)
This setting of Maya Angelou’ s 1971 poem explores the delicate balance of doubt, fear, and hope in a flowering relationship. The speaker longs to trust her beloved, release her trepidation and live in the promise of love. The opening phrases of the piece reflect excitement and the pitter-patter of a hopeful heart, but as the brief piece progresses, “doubt and fear” weigh on the heart of the speaker, slowing and deepening the piano line. Ultimately, the speaker chooses to trust, opening her heart to her beloved. Composer B.E. Boykin urges listeners to experience “Sounds Like Pearls” as one of a powerful assemblage of “brief moments in time” that “…capture the beautiful to sometimes tumultuous emotions that bring and bind us together as humanity” .
Composer B.E.(Brittney Elizabeth) Boykin’ s groundbreaking 14-song collection, Moments In Sonder, represents a rare consent from the Angelou estate, bringing to musical life many Angelou poems that have never been published as art songs. Boykin was born in 1989 in Alexandria, Virginia. Raised in a musical family, she commenced her musical studies at the age of seven and began competing as a pianist under the direction of her teacher, Mrs. Alma Sanford, before heading to Spelman College, an HBCU in Atlanta, GA, to study with Dr. Rachel Chung. At Spelman College, she served as accompanist for the Spelman Glee Club the oldest collegiate choir of African American women in the United States (1924) and wrote compositions for the ensemble before heading to Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where she earned an M.M. in Sacred Music. Boykin returned to Spelman College to serve on the faculty as an Assistant Conductor and earned her Ph.D. from Georgia State University. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at Georgia Institute of Technology. Winner of the Washington Post Music and Dance Award, Boykin has completed commissions and collaborations with the Kennedy Center, the American Choral Directors Association, the Minnesota Opera, and the Atlanta Opera.
Poet, playwright, dancer, actor, journalist, editor, screenwriter, memoirist and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, MO in 1928. Despite a tumultuous childhood, she became the first female African American streetcar conductor in San Francisco’ s history at the age of 16. Later, she danced professionally in a duo with famed choreographer Alvin Ailey before joining a European tour cast of Porgy and Bess. She was as an academic administrator and journalist in Ghana and Egypt and worked for both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X before releasing her seminal 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The international bestseller, which takes its title from Paul Laurence Dunbar’ s poem, “Sympathy” , launched Angelou’ s writing career. She was the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University, the Inaugural Poet for Pres. Bill Clinton, a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar, and a Yale University Fellow.
Sounds Like Pearls
Roll off your tongue
To grace their eager ebon ear.
Doubt and fear, Ungainly things, With blushings Disappear.
Text by Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
GENIUS CHILD: JOY
(1994)
This modern, invigorating setting of Langston Hughes 1926 poem “Joy” depicts the delight of unexpected romance and it’ s delightful gifts. With an upbeat, lively tempo and a glowing sense of storytelling, “Joy” presents circling patterns that catch the listener’ s ear and draw them into rich, broad Americana-infused chords. Ricky Ian Gordon’ s equal sense of esteem for the artistry of both pianist and vocalist shine through in the work. Gordon’ s collection, Genius Child, was written for the acclaimed Metropolitan Opera soprano Harolyn Blackwell several years after Gordon witnessed her performance in the role of “Clara” in Porgy and Bess. Gordon chose Hughes poetry because he found the poet and author to be “tense, economical…and wise…”. Harolyn Blackwell sang the premiere of the set at the Bermuda Festival in 1993. Neal Goren was at the Piano.
Ricky Ian Gordon was born in 1956 in Oceanside, New York and attended Carnegie Mellon University. Interestingly, author, journalist, and Audible founder Donald Laverne Katz wrote his award-winning non-fiction book, Home Fires: An Intimate Portrait of One Middle-Class Family in Postwar America, about Gordon’ s family. Known for musical theatre, art songs, cabaret compositions, and other works, Gordon has also distinguished himself in the field of opera. Among Gordon’ s operas are The Grapes of Wrath, A Coffin in Egypt and Morning Star He has received commissions from the Minnesota Opera, The Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the Utah Symphony and Opera. Gordon has taught and lectured at institutions including Yale University, New York University, Northwestern University, and the Juilliard School.
I went to look for Joy, Slim, dancing Joy, Gay, laughing Joy, Bright-eyed Joy, And I found her Driving the butcher's cart In the arms of the butcher boy! Such company, such company, As keeps this young nymph, Joy!
Text by Langston Hughes (1901-1967)
SON OF MAN: RIDE ON KING JESUS (1946)
The triumphant “Ride On, King Jesus” is an ebullient spiritual set for Hall Johnson’ s Easter Cantata Son of Man. Johnson called the piece a “concert spiritual” . This spiritual evokes the sense of a procession, with the armies of King Jesus forging a path across the Heavens. The work describes Christ triumphant on a white horse, calling the faithful from across the Earth on a victorious ride. According to the African American Art Song Alliance, Son of Man premiered in 1946 at City Center in New York, and in the years since, “Ride On, King Jesus” known for its invigorating conversational interplay between the vocal and piano lines has become a favorite among singers and audiences alike. Johnson wrote that “this song is a march, a triumphal march” , and emphasized the importance of a “steady, rhythmic pulse” throughout its performance, as listeners are invited to join the victorious parade.
(Francis) Hall Johnson, who began his musical career during the Harlem Renaissance as a violinist and violist in James Reese Europe’ s Orchestra, became one of the most influential choral composer-directors in American music,. Johnson composed and arranged music for film and television for several decades. His compositions were featured in more than 20 films, including The Green Pastures, Cabin in the Sky, and Tales of Manhattan, along with the Disney films Song of the South, Dumbo, and Snow White and Seven Dwarves. Born in 1888 to a prominent African American family in Athens, Georgia, Johnson was the son of Bishop William Decker Johnson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He attended a private school for African American children, Knox Institute and Industrial School, and then earned a degree from Allen University, an HBCU in South Carolina. He received further studies at Atlanta University, Hahn School of Music, the Juilliard School and the University of Pennsylvania. Johnson received numerous awards in his lifetime, has a photograph in the National Portrait Gallery, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Philadelphia Academy of Music in 1934.
Ride on, King Jesus!
No man can-a hinder me.
Ride on, King Jesus, ride on!
No Man can-a hinder me.
For he is King of kings, He is Lord of lords, Jesus Christ de first an' las’ , No man works like him.
King Jesus rides a milk-white horse, No man works like him.
The river of Jerdin he did cross. No man works like Him.
For he is King of kings, Lord of lords, oh, Jesus Christ de first an' las’ , Oh!
King Jesus rides in the middle o' de air, Oh!
He calls duh saits from everywhere, Ah!
He is duh King, He is duh Lord, Ha! Yes, He is the king, He is the Lord, Ha!
Jesus Christ the first an' las' No man works like him
Ride on, ride on, ride on, ride on, Jesus!
Traditional/Author Unknown
O REDEEMED!: THERE ARE ANGELS HOV RIN ROUN (1994)
Composer Uzee Brown has written that his arrangement of “There Are Angel’ s Hov’rin’ Roun’ was written to capture the image of angels heralding the birth of the baby Jesus. Composed for his collection O Redeemed!, the spiritual is an offering that twinkles with the inspirational message of Advent and Christmastide. Brown, an expert on the practice of metered hymn singing in the African American church, recalls this tradition in this composition, and invites the singer to invoke the spirit of his practice by smoothing metric stresses. Though the compositions begins as a lullaby to the babe of Bethlehem, the song soon shifts toward a celebration of the “Christ the King” before returning to the present moment a reverential witnessing of the newborn babe of “hope an ’ joy”
Uzee Brown, Jr. was born in Cowpens, South Carolina in 1950. The singer, composer and professor attended Morehouse College, an HBCU in Atlanta, before earning an M.M. in Composition at Bowling Green State University, an M.M. from the University of Michigan, and a D.M.A. from the University of Michigan. He is a widely celebrated clinician of the spiritual and African American church music. Brown’ s arrangement of “I’ m Building Me a Home” was recorded by the Morehouse Glee Club for the iconic prologue of the Spike Lee film School Daze. He later composed for Lee’ s Red Hook Summer. He is the founder of the Uzee Brown Society of Choraliers and Chair of the Creative and Performing Arts Division of Morehouse College.
There are angels hoverin’ ‘roun’
There are angels hovern’ ‘roun’
There are angels, angels, hoverin’ ‘roun’
In the New Jerusalem In the New Jerusalem In the New, the New Jerusalem
The angels came to tell of the King, To tell of the joy and the hope he’d bring Listen, chillun, to the angels sing, There are angels hoverin’ ‘roun’
Do you know Him, Christ the Lord?
Do you know Him, Christ the Lord?
Do you know Him, know him, Christ the Lord?
Let us praise Him, Christ the King!
Let us praise Him, Christ the King!
Let us praise Him, praise him, Christ the King!
There are angels, angels hov’rin’ ‘roun
Traditional/Author Unknown
WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HAND (1963)
Margaret Bonds’ sweeping arrangement of this traditional African American Spiritual evokes a sense of promise and heavenly protection. Originally recorded by Leontyne Price in 1962, the song was published the next year. Bonds’ arrangement of the song has become a favorite among classical singers in the years since. Bond’ s setting maintains the sense of innocence and wonder of the song, declaring that God has the world in hand, before enumerating both inanimate and sentient, the relatively smaller and minute along with the grand. This cataloging of all that He has in His hand finally coalesces to inspire great reverence for the speaker as the accompaniment broadens, slows, and expands in tone, inviting us to take a moment to experience the awe of Creation.
Margaret Bonds was born Margaret Jeanette Allison Majors in Chicago in the year 1913. She was the daughter of a prominent physician and civil rights activist, Monroe Alpheus Majors. Her mother, Estelle C. Bonds, was a church musician and music teacher. Bonds composed her “Marquette Street Blues” at the age of five and studied composition with Florence Price and William Dawson as a teen. At age 16, she entered Northwestern University, where she was not allowed to use the practice rooms, dormitories or swimming pool due to racial segregation policies. Bonds completed her bachelors and masters degrees by age 21, continued her studies at the Juilliard School, and became the first African American soloist to appear with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933. Her most famous works include the nine-movement choral work The Ballad of the Brown King, the Mass in D Minor, and Three Dream Portraits for voice and piano.
He's got the whole world in His hand. He's got the whole world in His hand. He's got the whole world in His hand. He's got the whole world in His hand.
He's got the wood and the waters in His hand, He's got the sun and the moon right in His hand, He's got the whole world in His hand.
He's got the birds and the bees right in His hand, He's got the beasts of the field right in His hand, He’ s got the whole world in His hand.
He's got you and me right in His hand, He's got everybody in His hand, He's got the whole world in His hand.
Traditional/Author Unknown
MESSIAH: COME UNTO HIM (1741)
Now frequently performed as a solo selection, “Come Unto Him” is excerpted from George Frideric Handel’ s “He Shall Feed His Flocks” , written for Contralto and Soprano. Part two of the comforting duet, the selection emphasizes restful peace for “all…that labour” and “are heavy laden” . The work is often performed with the characteristic trills and ornaments of the Baroque Era, but is nevertheless written with a simplicity and beauty that allows both the instrumental and vocal lines to surround the listeners with a sense of calm and balance. The promise of salvation and “rest…unto your souls” permeates this contemplative work.
A famous composer in his day and since, George Frideric Handel was born in Brandenburg-Prussia (now Germany), in 1685, but became a British subject in 1727. Initially establishing his reputation in London with dozens of Italian operas in the early 1700s, Handel shifted his attentions to English-language oratorios. After partnering with librettist Charles Jennens for the English oratorio Saul in 1738, Handel set Jennen’ s Messiah libretto in August and September of 1741. The three-part, 53 movement work was an extraordinary success when it premiered in 1742 before a audience of 700 in Dublin, Ireland. Messiah had its London premiere in 1743. Conceived for he Easter season, Messiah has become a fixture of Christmas celebrations throughout the world.
Come unto Him
All ye that labour
Come unto Him, ye
That are heavy laden
And He will give you rest
Come unto Him
All ye that labour
Come unto Him, ye
That are heavy laden
And He will give you rest
Take his yoke upon you
And learn of Him
For He is meek
And lowly of heart
And ye shall find rest
And ye shall find rest
Unto your souls
Take his yoke upon you
And learn of Him
For He is meek
And lowly of heart
And ye shall find rest
And ye shall find rest
Unto your souls
Text by Charles Jennens (1700-1773)
HOW GREAT THOU ART (1994)
Translated from text originally penned by Carl Boberg, a Swedish preacher and member of Sweden’ s parliament, “How Great Thou Art” has become a favorite hymn in the American Church. Boberg wrote the poem “O Store God” (O Great God) and published the 9-stanza piece in 1886, during a time of significant Christian persecution in Sweden. Later set to a Swedish folk tune, the text extols the majesty and mystery of Creation, and glorifies God for its beauty. By 1925, the first English translation of the hymn appeared in an American hymnal. In the years since, “How Great Thou Art” has been consistently listed amongst the most beloved hymns of all time. In this modern and moving adaptation by David T. Clydesdale, listen for the twinkling stars and “rolling thunder” in the piano line, along with the tender inclusion of another favorite hymn, John Newton’ s “Amazing Grace” . Born in 1954, Clydesdale is a composer known for his work for theme parks, musicals, Christian music artists, and the U.S. Army Band chorus. The Grammy and Dove Award winner is perhaps best know for his cantatas, including From Heaven’ s Throne, Voice of Christmas, I AM, and How Great Thou Art.
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow ’ r thru-out the universe displayed!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in –That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin!
Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found Was blind, but now I see!
Text by Carl Boberg (1859-1940) and John Newton (1725-1807)
LUSH LIFE (1949)
While not published until 1949, jazz pianist and composer Billy Stayhorn completed “Lush Life” in 1936. He is often said to have begun the work when only in his teens, and may also have worked on the song during a fruitful period from 1933 to 1936. “Lush Life” details the failed romance and subsequent depression of a speaker who has lost the promise of love amid and unexpected heartbreak. Known for its bleak depiction of a speaker who no longer visits the “very gay ” and “come-what-may” places, the melancholy tune outlines moments of hopeful dreams dashed when the beloved’ s smile which seemed to promise “ a great love…” is found to signal something else entirely. Now that prospects have turned “awful,” the speaker expects little from life. He resigns himself to a disenchanted existence. Complex and lyrically dense, with chromatic chords and rich texture, “Lush Life” has long been considered unique among jazz standards.
William Thomas Strayhorn was born in 1915 in Dayton, Ohio. He studied classical music at Pittsburg Music Institute and aspired to be a classical composer. In response to the limited opportunities for African Americans in that genre, however, Strayhorn decided to pivot to jazz composition. Strayhorn himself noted that “Lush Life” was written while he clerked at a Pittsburgh drugstore and wrote a new song every day. As a teen, he played daily with his trio on a Pittsburgh radio station and began composing for theatre. In 1938, he began composing and arranging for Duke Ellington, and the creative partnership continued for three decades. Though not always properly credited, Strayhorn wrote numerous Ellington standard tunes including “Take the A Train” , “Satin Doll” , and “Day Dream” .
I used to visit all the very gay places
Those come what may places
Where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life
To get the feel of life from jazz and cocktails
The girls I knew had sad and sullen grey faces
With distingue traces
That used to be there you could see where they'd been washed away
By too many through the day twelve o'clock tales
Then you came along with your siren song
To tempt me to madness
I thought for a while that your poignant smile
Was tinged with the sadness of a great love for me
Ah yes I was wrong, again I was wrong
Life is lonely again
And only last year everything seemed so sure
Now life is awful again
A trough full of hearts could only be a bore
A week in Paris could ease the bite of it
All I care is to smile in spite of it
I'll forget you, I will
While yet you are still burning inside my brain
Romance is mush, stifling those who strive
So I'll live a lush life in some small dive
And there I'll be
While I rot
With the rest of those whose lives are lonely too
Text by Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967)
THE WIZARD OF OZ
: OVER THE RAINBOW (1939)
“When all the world is a hopeless jumble and the raindrops tumble all around/Heaven opens a magic lane” Written for the classic Hollywood film The Wizard of Oz, this dreamy, escapist tune has captured the American imagination for decades. Closely associated with Judy Garland’ s rich contralto, “Over the Rainbow” promises respite from the difficulties of life and a happy ending just beyond the one ’ s present difficulties. The song ’ s appearance in 1939, as the United States was clawing its way out of the Great Depression, gave such assurances great meaning. Dorothy’ s hope, like that of a devastated America, is a precious and fragile one expressed delicately in the lines of Yip Harburg’ s lyrics. With a soaring vocal line and tinkling piano texture offered by Harold Arlen,“Over the Rainbow” remains as inspirational and meaningful as when it first appeared.
Composer Harold Arlen was born Hyman Arluck in Buffalo, NY in 1940. He became a Hollywood composer in the 1930s after a career as a singer and pianist. As a performer and composer, he collaborated with artists including Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand. He wrote music for The Cotton Club in Harlem, NY, and composed music for films including Stormy Weather, Cabin in the Sky, and My Blue Heaven. With Yip Harburg, he won an Academy Award for the song “Over the Rainbow” . In 1896, lyricist Edgar “Yip” Harburg was born Isidore Hochberg in New York City to a Russian-American, Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish family. He attended high school with lifelong friend Ira Gershwin and went on to attend City College. Eventually becoming a songwriter, Harburg wrote for Paramount Studios in Hollywood and also built a career as a Broadway musical lyricist and librettist. His songs appear in films including Cabin in the Sky and musicals such as Bloomer Girl.
When all the world is a hopeless jumble And the raindrops tumble all around, Heaven opens a magic lane.
When all the clouds darken up the skyway
There's a rainbow highway to be found, Leading from your window pane.
To a place behind the sun, Just a step beyond the rain.
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops, That's where you'll find me.
Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow; why, then, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, Why, oh why can't I?
Text by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg (1896-1981)
MY FAIR LADY: I COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT (1956)
Written for the musical My Fair Lady, “I Could Have Danced All Night” marks a moment of wonder and burgeoning romance in a theatrical exploration of social class, self-determination, and unexpected romance. When Eliza Doolittle shares a dance with Henry Higgins, her strait-laced diction tutor, she’ s overwhelmed by feelings of excitement and attraction. Mrs. Pearce, her chaperone and guide, has just instructed her to go to bed, arguing that Eliza has been studying too heard. “Bed! Bed! I couldn’t go to bed!” replies Eliza. At this point in the musical, it’ s after 3:00 a.m., but the wistful and exiting tune documents Eliza’ s heart taking “flight” as she croons that her “head’ s too light to try to set it down” The song has traveled far beyond the musical written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and has become a popular and festive addition to concerts and sing-alongs.
Lerner, a lyricist and librettist who worked with both Loewe and Burton Lane, was a Tony Award and Academy Award winner. The son of a Jewish-American dress shop chain proprietor, he was educated at private schools in England and at Harvard. He studied alongside John F. Kennedy and wrote for musicals at Harvard before studying composition at the Julliard School. Loewe was born to a Jewish Viennese family in Berlin, Germany. His father was a celebrated Jewish operetta singer. Loewe began composing at age 7, and became the youngest piano soloist ever to play with the Berlin Philharmonic at age 13. He later studies composition at Stern Conservatory in Berlin, Germany. Loewe composed for numerous musicals, including the Lerner/Lowe collaborations Gigi, Brigadoon, and Camelot.
Bed, bed! I couldn't go to bed
My head's too light to try to set it down Sleep, sleep! I couldn't sleep tonight
Not for all the jewels in the crown
I could have danced all night
I could have danced all night
And still have begged for more I could have spread my wings
And done a thousand things I've never done before
I'll never know what made it so exciting
Why all at once my heart took flight!
I only know when he began to dance with me
I could have danced, danced, danced all night!
Text by Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Tara would like to express her deepest gratitude to her family for their inspiring example of fortitude, perseverance and love. She is sincerely grateful to all of her gifted and generous professors, and especially to Dr. Nicholas Provenzale, Dr. In Young Lee Cranmer, Dr. Ryan Kelly, and Dr. Jordan Stokes. Tara would also like to express gratitude to Sinae Yun for her immense talents and kindness. Additionally, she would like to thank the church families at Epic Church, Victory Church ATL, and Episcopal Church of the Advent Kennett Square for their ministry, prayers, and encouragement during the last two years. Most importantly, Tara thanks Jesus Christ. Matthew 19:26.