Please join Ragazzi for our concert The Singing Heart. To give you a taste of what is to come, here are our program notes. At 4:30 we will have a pre-concert lecture to which you are also invited. This is a concert with "music about music." It includes some new and stunning repertoire as well as wonderful classics.
Program Notes for The Singing Heart
Ragazzi Boys Chorus
5 pm June 20 2010
St. Mark’s Church
600 Colorado Ave.
Palo Alto CA
Ragazzi Boys Chorus
5 pm June 20 2010
St. Mark’s Church
600 Colorado Ave.
Palo Alto CA
The Poet Sings is a modern work inspired by Romantic thoughts. The text is particularly unusual: it is a composite consisting of the beginning of a poem by Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947) and finished by J. Randall Stroope, a contemporary composer. The imagery is based in nature (like
An die Nachtigall) and focused on a cosmic theme that reaches beyond humanity. The text, referencing Moriah, meaning ‘wind’, and Antares, a star, tells the listener that nature has a message for us and that we must learn to listen.
The Romantic period is about extremes in life and in music. Themes in Romantic texts address the cosmic, unknown Universe as easily as they revel in the subtleties of miniature moments.
An die Nachtigall by Robert Schumann is an example of the miniature side of Romanticism. The singer delights in the details of nature’s beauty silent listening to the nightingale’s song (‘not a [flower] petal murmurs’). The song is an invitation to a nightingale to stay and sing, and in today’s concert, it’s an invitation to the audience to stay and listen.
The Music of the Spheres by Bay Area composer and French Horn player Brian Holmes is one of Shakespeare’s well-known quotes about music; this one is excerpted from The Merchant of Venice. The title references the idea originating with ancient Greeks that the planets create cosmic music due to the ratios of their relative speeds, just as chords sound consonant due to the ratio of their relative frequencies. The piece explains that music is somehow a structural element for the universe and all beings therein – “such harmony is in immortal souls.”
Yo le Canto by David Brunner exemplifies the playful melodies and catchy rhythms of Venezuelan music. This pieces challenges singers with offbeat accents, syncopations, shifting meters, and independence from the piano accompaniment.
Like many gospel pieces, Shine On Me, arranged by Rollo Dilworth, has a text which can be interpreted on different levels. “Shine on me, Shine on me. I wonder if the lighthouse will shine on me” can be about searching for guidance on both a physical and spiritual level. The melodies fit into complex harmonies while a descant line ornaments and rises above the texture – all elements characteristic of the African-American improvisational style.
Joel Martinson’s setting of a text by Siegfried Sassoon, Everyone Sang, is a musical portrait of what happens when everyone collectively bursts into song. Note the text painting which portrays “freed birds winging wildly”, “horror melting away”, and “setting sun.” This song is musically unique because the piano accompaniment is so independent from the vocal lines.
The Singing Heart is set to a text by Danske Dandridge. Former Ragazzi conductor Julia Simon has created long lyric melodies to express the exultation of the singer who rejoices even in the darkest night. The Alleluia section, with its insistent rhythms and moving harmonies is reminiscent of Randall Thompson’s Alleluia. The piece is written and dedicated to the Young Mens Ensemble of Ragazzi Boys Chorus. This is a musical interpretation of “why a caged bird sings” – a reaction to the beauty of being alive.
When I Fall in Love by Victor Young became a part of American culture when recorded by Nat King Cole. This choral arrangement by Mulholland captures the lush crooning of the original while challenging the singers with tight jazz harmonies.
We Rise Again presents the theme of ‘life goes on’ using the imagery of nature and children. The song is set by Leon Dobinsky as a series of three verses followed by a refrain; each refrain becomes more complex until the final a cappella presentation. The layers of descants, gentle syncopations, and improvisational melodic riffs evoke a pop style.
Music Spread Thy Voice Around is a movement taken from G.F. Handel’s oratorio about the biblical King Solomon. The text emphasizes the importance of music for a king who had every earthly delight. The oratorio was written in part to draw comparison between Solomon and King George II, so emphasizing the importance of music in Solomon’s court helped Handel encourage his patron’s continued support of the arts... and of Handel’s salary.
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night opens with Duke Orsino’s thoughts, “If Music Be the Food of Love.” The duke has an unrequited love for a wealthy lady, and he decides to distract himself by languishing in all pleasures, in this case, the pleasure of music. David Dickau has created the setting we are singing in this concert.
Vive la Canadienne by Donald Patriquin is a concert setting of a Canadian folk tune praising Candian girls which can be traced to the 1800’s. The combination of an old French tune with new words is associated with a distinct air of patriotism from the Canadian perspective: the song served as the 19th century Canadian national anthem, was an official march for WWII soldier regiments, and was the basis for a 1924 operetta. Ragazzi learned this choral arrangement as an offering of goodwill for the upcoming Canadian tour.
