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AFlSTHACT
GRADUATE
HI~CITAL Ul"
VOICE
By
Deborah J.loncrief
Haster of Arts in Husic
October, 1973
:;f} I\\~- ~
\ : . . .,·
~i...L-',."'-·-
. LEES
)
of Debo:cah Honcrief is
California State University, North:cidge
October,
1973
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Solo Cantata:
Io morirei con ten to. • Alessandro Scarlc>.tti (1660-1725)
Recitative: lo morirei contento
Recit-=ttive: Sogni fiamAA spargesse faville
Aria I: S'armi pur d'empio veleno
Aria II: Vibri pur linqua mendace
II
F'ive SontSs
. . . . . • • • • • • • • • • • Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Heimlichcs Lieben
Ellens zHeiter Gesang
Die Voc;el
Die Gebusche
Seligl:eit
III
Three Songs • • •
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Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Chant D'amour
~~ vie a son secret
Reve de la Bien-aimee
IV
Sonc;s of the
~Jight
• • • • • • • • • • • • • Benjamin Lees (1924-
)
0 shade of Evening
A Star Fell in Flames
'Ihe Enemies
A ~·lhisper of Rain
J:~'all of the Night Wind
On Eastern Hills
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It Hct.s felt that the basis for selecting the music for this
reci tc·:tl proc;ram should be to choo:::;e music 1-Iri tten in a least three
l2.ngua::;es in addj_tion to Enc;lish, to include music from several
musical eras, and to select Music Hhjch is rarely perforrr1ed.
Also of
impor-tance is the selection of composers Hi th contrasting styles.
!'Jot only should there he contrast betHeen the groups of the program,
· but also at tiBes behreen each song in a group.
The Scarlatti cantata, "Io morirei contento", was found to be
very difficult, not on1y because of the music itself, but because of
the demands on the sin.q;er' s pm-mr of concentration c.nd physical
; strenc;th.
This piece of music
found to be much more taxin~ than
vMS
; the Benjamin Lees cycle of the sa'lle ap')roximate length.
'fue reason
, beinc; that the cantata has no bre<:tk of any kind during twenty minutes
of continuous music, whereas, there is a break between each song in
the Lees cycle.
The sonc;s in the Schubert group ~rere found to be great fun.
Althouc;h none of these songs Has very dramatic in nature, there was
still a zrea t deal of di vorsi ty of emotions and musical ideas.
'Ibis
group of songs sho1vod Schubert to be the Romantic composer that he is,
·even though at times he :i.s considered a composer from the Classical
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Next come the Bizet songs.
'r.'1ese 1-mre chosen as part of the
; recital pro~m because it had been unknown to me tho. t Bi?;et ever
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Hrote any songs.
It Has felt that this relatively unknmvn facet of
this French corrposer Has Horth investie;a tin(i.
to be very challene;ing for several reasons.
Tnese songs vrere found
The most intriguing was
the rapiriity vrith vrhich the character in a song moved from one
drama. tic idea to another.
llhen
~-rorking
Hi th and listening to these
songs, one truly sees Bizet as the Romantic composer he is,
The most interesting thing found in the last group of songs by
Benjamin Lees was the complexity, or so
j_ t
seemed at first glance.
After the meaning of the poetry and its relationship to the music
are discerned, then this complexity became something fairly simple.
'Ihe diffj_cul ty with these songs Has found to be the movement of the
melodic line.
lees HTi tes drama tic high notes and unusual intel?'ralic
leaps Hhen the singer least expects them, thus c<t.:tling on a great
amount of physical stamina aJ1d energy.
Tne relationship bet-.reen the
vocal line and the piano accomp;:miment was found to be another
interesting detail of this cycle.
'~r1e
preparation and performc:tnce of this recital was very chal-
longing and reHarding to me.
It contributed tremendously to my grmTth
as a r;erformer and musician,
It should be noted here that a taped copy of my recital, to
Hhich this abstract refers, is available in the library for anyone to
hear.
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
MUSIC DEPARTMENT
presents
Carol Roberts, Piano
Saturday, September 29, 1973
Campus Theater
8:30p.m.
PROGRAM
SOLO CANTATA: 10 MORIREI CONTENTO .... ALLESSANDRO SCARLATTI
(1660-1725)
Recitative: I o morirei contento
Recitative: Sogni fiamma spargesse faville
Aria I: S'armi pur d'empio veleno
Aria II: Vibri pur I inqua mend ace
II
FIVE SONGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANZ SCHUBERT
(1797-1828)
Heimliches Lieben
Ellens zweiter Gesang
Die Vogel
Die Gebusche
Seligkeit
INTE RM ISS ION
Ill
THREE SONGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GEORGES BIZET
Chant D'amour
Ma vie a son secret
Reve de Ia Bien-aimee
(1838-1875)
IV
SONGS OF THE NIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BENJAMIN LEes
(1924-
0 shade of Evening
A Star Fell in Flames
The Enemies
A Whisper of Rain
Fall of the Night Wind
On Eastern Hills
*In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the Master of Arts degree
)