m us ic at emory
concer t se ries
201 5 – 2 0 1 6 s e a s o n
Unknown travels
Abigail Santos-Villalobos, soprano
Elena Cholakova, piano
friday, september 11, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
Emerson Concert Hall
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
We l c ome
Thank you all for coming to our recital. On this day, fourteen years ago, tragedy
struck our nation; we all lost something that day. We keep hoping, dreaming,
and mourning with those who were affected by this tragedy. For this reason,
the first two pieces of this program are dedicated to the families of the victims
of September 11th, 2001. Poet Victor Hugo said, “Music expresses that which
can not be said and in which it is impossible to be silent.” This recital, Unknown
Travels, is about the unknown world of dreams, the inexplicable power of love,
and the mysteries of life and death. Enjoy the journey.
p r ogr am
From Songs of Loss Aaron Travers
I Heard Thee Laugh
(b. 1975)
Morgen!, op. 27Richard Strauss
(1864–1949)
Night Songs, op. 22
Good Night
She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep
A Variation on To Say To Go To Sleep
Franz Liszt’s songs on poems by Victor Hugo
S’il est un charmant gazon
Oh! Quand je dors
Enfant, si j’étais roi
Lowell Liebermann
(b. 1961)
Franz Liszt
(1811–1886)
—IN TERMIS S ION —
From Canciones Amatorias
Descúbrase el pensamiento
Mañanica era
Llorad, corazón
Mira, que soy niña
No lloréis, ojuelos
Enrique Granados
(1867–1916)
Margaret Songs
Bright Rails
So Little There
Beneath the Hawthorne Tree
Libby Larsen
(b. 1950)
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PROGRAM NOT Es
Aaron Travers has an MA and PhD in composition from the Eastman School of
Music in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Travers has received numerous awards
and commissions, most recently second prize in the 2013 Alexander Zemlinsky
Composition Competition from the Cincinnati Conservatory. He is winner
of the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship and a Charles Ives Scholarship, both
from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Travers serves as assistant
professor of composition at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University
in Bloomington, where he lives with his wife, Winnie, and their two children.
Songs of Loss is a set of three pieces for piano solo, each of which is an actual
setting of text for piano alone. The first song of the cycle, I Heard Thee Laugh,
is a setting of a poem by Stephen Crane from his cycle Intrigue. Written in
2005, the cycle is not related to the tragic events of September 11th, 2001,
albeit it speaks of the loss of a loved one. The incomprehensible loss of a loved
one is the subject of this musical poem, where laughter appears as a motif
throughout the song only to remind us how alone we are in the darkest hours.
Richard Strauss, while best known for his symphonic poems and operas,
composed nearly two hundred songs. Most were written between the ages
of twenty and forty and are notable for their unique melodic qualities, rich
accompaniments, and emotional atmosphere. Few composers have known the
human voice as did Strauss. Many of his Lieder were written with his wife,
Pauline, in mind to sing. Morgen! is part of his Four Lieder opus 27, a wedding
present to Pauline. Today Morgen! is one of the most frequently performed
songs of all time. Its beauty and uplifting message has grabbed audience’s
heart for years. This particular song has been added to the program tonight in
memory of the tragedy of September 11, 2001. We will always remember the
ones who passed away with the hope that we will see each other again.
Lowell Liebermann is one of America’s most frequently performed and
recorded living composers. Called by the New York Times “as much of a
traditionalist as an innovator,” Liebermann’s music is known for its technical
command and audience appeal. A pianist and conductor himself, he has
collaborated with distinguished artists including flutist James Galway, violinist
Chantal Julliet, and singers Robert White and Carole Fraley. Liebermann has
composed in a wide range of genres from opera to instrumental works.
Liebermann’s vocal works include two full-length operas, The Picture of Dorian
Gray and Miss Lonelyhearts and a great collection of art songs. Night Songs, op.
22 have been described by the New York Times as “delicate and captivating.”
These songs are a journey to the unknown world of dreams, based on the
poetry of Robert Frost, Mark Van Doren, Robert Graves, and Randall Jarrell.
Franz Liszt, a virtuoso pianist and composer, is best known for his instrumental
works. However, he composed close to one hundred songs during his lifetime.
In 1840, Liszt met the great German Lied composer Robert Schumann. Inspired
by the meeting, Liszt began composing songs. He arranged the majority of
his songs into other forms, which demonstrates a continual rethinking of his
creative efforts. His songs are characteristic because of their operatic nature,
vocal embellishments, and lyricism. Liszt’s friend Victor Hugo included the
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poem S’il est un charmant gazon (If There Be a Lovely Lawn) in his 1834
collection Les Chants du Crepuscule (Songs at Twilight). Enfant, si j’etais roi
(My Child, If I Were King) from Les Feuilles d’automne [Autumn Leaves, 1829])
and Oh! quand je dors (Oh, While I Sleep from Les Rayons et les Ombres [Rays
and Shadows, 1840]) also date from about 1844, when Liszt’s standing as the
musical darling of Paris was at its height.
Enrique Granados was born in the Catalan city of Lérida in Spain where
he began his piano studies with Francesc Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol in
Barcelona. In 1883, he went to Paris to study with Felipe Pedrell and Charles
Bériot. Granados returned to Barcelona in 1889 where he gave some recitals and
had some of his compositions successfully performed. He spent most of his time
teaching at his music school, the Academia Granados, which was established
in 1901. In 1911, his recognition as a composer was permanently established
with the success of his piano suite Goyescas. Granado’s Canciones Amatorias
portray his ability as a pianist and composer. The song’s accompaniments are
exceptional in their partnering of the voice and text, using figures derived from
the national accompanying instrument of Spain, the guitar. In comparison to
his other works, Canciones Amatorias possess a deeper and richer harmonic
language, which elevated his compositional ranking to an international level.
Libby Larsen’s solo vocal music compositions ranges from intimate song
cycles for voice and piano, to chamber works for voice and other instruments,
to larger works with orchestra. Margaret Songs are three songs of Margaret
Elliot, a character in Larsen’s chamber opera, Eric Hermannson’s Soul, based on
a short story of Willa Cather. In the opera, Eric Hermannson, a young Norwegian
with a deep love for music and dance, converts to Gospellism. He is forced to
give away his violin and cease to dance, devoting his life to fundamentalism.
The beautiful and refined Margaret Elliot visits from the East Coast. Quietly,
Margaret and Eric fall in love. Margaret learns that love brings joy to life, even
if only for a moment. Eric learns that love is a greater truth than fear. Margaret
leaves. Eric plays and dances again. A mesmerizing accompaniment evoking
the wheels of a train frames the song Bright Rails, based on a poem of Willa
Cather. In this song Margaret sings of “going home.” While the train takes its
passengers to their homes, it is also a metaphor for Margaret’s personal journey
of the heart. In So Little There, Margaret sings of the social gestures which
make up the fabric of her life as an upper-crust Victorian New Yorker: teas and
dances, invitations, gloves, and gossip. The great plains of Nebraska have given
her a profound and disturbing new perspective on herself. She ponders “When
everything else is so small, why should I expect love to be great?” Margaret
tells her brother Willis of the night she spent with Eric. With Eric she has found
her “one great moment.” Beneath the Hawthorne Tree expresses the joy and
rapture of that encounter.
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t e x ts and tr ans lations
Songs of Life
I Heard Thee Laugh
I heard thee laugh,
And in this merriment
I defined the measure of my pain;
I knew that I was alone,
Alone with love,
Poor shivering love,
And he, little sprite,
Came to watch with me,
And at midnight,
We were like two creatures by a dead campfire.
—Poet: Stephen Crane
Morgen! Tomorrow!
Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen,And tomorrow the sun will shine again,
und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde, and on the path I will take,
wird uns, die Glücklichen, sie wieder einen it will unite us again, we happy ones,
inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde . . .
upon this sun-breathing earth . . .
Und zu dem Strand, And to the shore,
dem weiten, wogenblauen,
the wide shore with blue waves,
werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen, we will descend quietly and slowly;
stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen, we will look mutely into each other’s eyes
und auf uns sinkt des Glückes and the silence of happiness
stummes Schweigen . . .
will settle upon us . . .
—Poet: Anonymous; translation by Emily Ezust
Night Songs, op. 22
Good Night
This moonlight lies like a lovely death
On the darkening eyes,
on the yielded breath of the earth,
that turns so quietly now;
Letting its burns be soothed somehow.
In the widening bloom,
In the tender blight.
It has entered our room.
We shall sleep tonight.
—Poet: Mark Van Doren
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t e x ts and tr ans lati ons
She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep
She tells her love while half asleep.
In the dark hours,
with half words whispered low.
As earth stirs in her winter sleep
and puts out grass and flowers,
despite the snow.
—Poet: Robert Graves
A Variation on To Say To Go To Sleep
If I could I would sing you to sleep.
I would give you my hand to keep
in yours till you fell asleep,
and take it away then, slowly, I would sit by you and be.
In the world the dark would be deep
I would watch and at last I would sleep.
But if rain should star the stream of your sleep,
I would whisper, “See, you are asleep;”
and, slowly your breath would change in your dream
Till, ages and ages deep. In the dark, you would say to me:
“I love you.” I love you. But I am here always
Sleep now. Sleep.
—Poet: Randall Jarrell
Franz Liszt’s songs on poems by Victor Hugo
S’il est un charmant gazon If There Be a Lovely Lawn
S’il est un charmant gazonIf there be a lovely lawn
Que le ciel arrose,
Watered by the sky,
Ou brille en toute saison Where each new season blossoming,
Quelque fleur e close, flowers spring up,
Ou l’on cueille a pleine main Lys, Where lily, woodbine, and jasmine
chevre-feuille et jasmin, Can be gathered liberally,
J’en veux faire le cheminI would strew the way with them
Ou ton pied se pose! For your feet to tread!
S’il est un reve d’amour, If there be a dream of love
Parfume de rose,
With the scent of roses,
Ou l’on trouve chaque jour
Where each day may be found
Quelque douce chose, Some sweet new delight,
Un reve que Dieu benit, A dream blessed by the Lord
Ou l’a me a l’ame s’unit, Where soul unites with soul,
Oh! j’en veux faire le nid Oh, I shall make of it the nest
Ou ton coeur se pose! Where your heart will rest.
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t e x ts and tr ans lations
Oh! Quand je dors Oh, When I Sleep
Oh! Quand je dors, viens auprès de ma couche,Oh, when I sleep, approach my bed,
comme à Pétrarque apparaissait Laura,
as Laura appeared to Petrach;
Et qu’en passant ton haleine me touche . . . and as you pass, touch me with your breath . . .
Soudain ma bouche S’entrouvrira!
at once my lips will part!
Sur mon front morne où peut-être s’achèveOn my glum face, where perhaps
Un songe noir qui trop longtemps dura,
a dark dream has rested for too long a time,
Que ton regard comme un astre se lève . . . let your gaze lift it like a star . . .
Soudain mon rêve Rayonnera!
at once my dream will be radiant!
Puis sur ma lèvre où voltige une flamme,Then on my lips, where there flits a brilliance,
Éclair d›amour que Dieu même épura,
a flash of love that God has kept pure,
Pose un baiser, place a kiss,
et d’ange deviens femme . . .
and transform from angel into woman . . .
Soudain mon âme S’éveillera!
at once my soul will awaken!
—Translation: Emily Esuzt
Enfant, si j’etais roi My Child, If I Were King
Enfant, si j’étais roi, My child, if I were king,
je donnerais l’empire,
empires would I surrender,
Et mon char, et mon sceptre, And my scepter and throne
et mon peuple à genoux,
and my subjects so true,
Et ma couronne d’or, I’d give my crown of gold,
et mes bains de porphyre,
and my palace of splendor,
Et mes flottes, à qui la mer ne peut suffire,My ships, too, that cleave the ocean flood asunder,
Pour un regard de vous!To gain one look from you.
Si j’étais Dieu, la terre et l’air avec les ondes,And were I God, I’d forfeit earth and air and ocean,
Les anges, les démons The angels and the demons
courbés devant ma loi,
who bow to my decree,
Et le profond chaos And darkest chaos’ night,
aux entrailles fécondes,
as it groans in ceaseless motion,
L’éternité, l’espace et les cieux Eternity, space, and the Heaven of our devotion,
et les mondes, Pour un baiser de toi!To win one kiss from thee.
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t e x ts and tr ans lati ons
Canciones Amatorias
Descúbrase el pensamiento
Unveil the Thought
Descúbrase el pensamiento Unveil the thought
de mi secreto cuidado,
of my hidden secret,
pues descubrir mis dolores, then reveal my anguish,
mi vivir apasionado;
my passionate life.
no es de agora mi pasión,My passion is not of the here and now;
días ha que soy penado.I’ve suffered for days.
Una señora a quien sirvoThe lady I serve
mi servir tiene olvidado. has forgotten my servitude.
Su beldad me hizo suyo,
Her beauty made me hers,
el su gesto tan pulido
and her shining face
en mi alma está esmaltado.
is enameled in my soul.
¡Ay! ¡Ay de mí!Ah! Woe is me
Que la miré, que la miré
who looked at her
para vivir lastimado, only to live wounded,
para llorar y plañir to weep and lament
glorias del tiempo pasado.
glories of times gone by.
¡Ay! Mi servir tiene olvidado.Ah! She has forgotten my servitude.
—Poet: Comendador de Ávila
Mañanica era
Daybreak
Mañanica era, mañana It was daybreak, the morning
de San Juan se decía al fin, of Saint John dawned at last,
cuando aquella diosa Venus
when that goddess Venus
dentro de un fresco jardín in a cool garden
tomando estaba la fresca was taking in the air
a la sombra de un jazmín,
beneath the shade of jasmine;
cabellos en su cabeza, with her hair
parecía un serafín. she resembled a seraph.
Sus mejillas y sus labios como color de rubí y el objeto de su cara figuraba un querubín; allí de flores floridas hacía un rico cojín, de rosas una guirnalda para el que venía a morir, ¡ah!, lealmente por amores sin a nadie descubrir.
Her cheeks and lips
the color of ruby,
and the expression on her face
seemed that of a cherub.
From blossoming flowers
she fashioned a rich cushion,
a garland of roses
for one who came to die
loyally for a love
without revealing it to anyone.
8
t e x ts and tr ans lations
Llorad, corazón Cry Heart
Lloraba la niña y tenía razónThe little girl was crying and with reason over
la prolija ausencia de su ingrato amor. the prolonged absence of her ungrateful lover.
Dejo la tan niña, que apenas, creo yo He left her so young, that she hardly believed
que tenía los años que ha que la dejó. that many years have passed.
Llorando la ausencia del galán traidor, Crying over the absence of her gallant traitor,
la halla la Luna y la deja el Sol, she is found by the moon and left by the sun.
añadiendo siempre pasión a pasión,Ever adding passion upon passion,
memoria a memoria dolor a dolor. memory upon memory, pain upon pain.
Llorad, corazón, que tenéis razón.Cry heart, for you have reason.
Mira que soy niña Look, I am but a Child
Mira que soy niña, ¡Amor, déjame! Look, I am but a child. Love, let me be!
¡Ay, ay, ay, que me moriré! Ah, for I shall die!
Paso, amor, no seas a mi gusto extraño,
Gently, love, thwart not my desire,
no quieras mi daño do not wish me harm.
pues mi bien deseas; Since you wish me well,
basta que me veas suffice it to see me
sin llegárteme. without drawing near.
¡Ay, ay, ay, que me moriré! Ah, for I shall die!
No seas agora, por ser atrevido;
Do not now be forward for the sake of it.
sé agradecido Ah! Be grateful
con la que te adora, to the one who adores you,
que así se desdora lest you tarnish
mi amor y tu fe. my love and your faith.
¡Ay, ay, ay, que me moriré! Ah, for I shall die!
Mira que soy niña . . .
Look, I am but a child . . .
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t e x ts and tr ans lati ons
No lloréis, ojuelos No lloréis, ojuelos, porque no es razón que llore de celos quien mata de amor. Don’t Cry, Little Eyes
Don’t cry, little eyes,
for it is not right
to cry with jealousy
if you kill with love.
Quien puede matar She who can kill
no intente morir, should not seek to die,
si hace con reír if she can do more with laughter
más que con llorar. than with tears.
No lloréis ojuelos, porque no es razón que llore de celos quien mata de amor.
Don’t cry, little eyes,
for it is not right
to cry with jealousy
if you kill with love.
—Poet: Lope de Vega
Margaret Songs
Bright Rails
How smoothly the train runs beyond the Missouri;
even in my sleep. I know when I have crossed the river.
They run like running water, like youth running away . . .
They spin along the bright rails
singing and humming
They spin remembering,
They run rejoicing,
As if they too were going home.
—Poet: Willa Cather
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t e x ts and tr ans lations
So Little There
I haven’t been so happy since we were children together discovering
the ruins of Troy and here we are! Just like when we were children,
Together! Away from New York City and its endless details.
So many small things in the city!
Teas and dances. Invitations. Thank you notes!
Gloves and gossip. Small things. Oh, it all is so little there!
Minutes filled to the brim with detail. Hours enslaved by fashion.
Days, months, and years calendar of manners.
Always manners! The wind has swept that all away.
Here at the edge of the world, when I lift my foot
I feel I could step through the sunset into heaven.
Artist in the galleries of New York
portend to paint the mystery of clouds.
Writers and poets have only words to tell us
about the light of down and dusk,
the smell of May the sound of summer, the silence of snow.
Actors and singers play the stage.
They make believe that love finds itself in words,
I used to think it natural that two minds could love even if the hearts do not.
When everything else is so small, why should I expect love to be great . . .
Beneath the Hawthorne Tree
Across the shimmering meadows
Ah, when he came to me!
In the spring time, in the night time,
In the starlight, beneath the Hawthorne tree.
Up from the misty marshland
Ah, when he climbed to me,
To my white bower, to my sweet rest,
To my warm breast, beneath the Hawthorne tree.
Ask me of what the birds sang,
High in the Hawthorne tree.
What the breeze tells, what the rose, smells
What the stars shine
Not what he said to me.
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A b i g a i l S a nt os-V il l al ob os, soprano
Highlights of Abigail Santos-Villalobos’s 2014–2015 season included
collaborating with the internationally renowned conductor John Nelson in
Bach’s St. John Passion, Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and Haydn’s
Creation with the Costa Rica Symphony and Wheaton College Symphony
respectively. In 2015, the young soprano will make her debut at Lyric Opera of
Chicago, Opera Unlimited, San Diego Opera, and Houston Grand Opera in the
leading role of Amorita in the world premier of El pasado nunca se termina,
with music by José “Pepe” Martínez and libretto by Leonard Foglia.
During the 2013–2014 season Santos was re-invited by the Santa Fe Opera
Apprentice Program to cover Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. With Cincinnati
Opera she appeared as Fanny in a workshop of a new opera by Ricky Ian Gordon
(Morning Star). In addition, she premiered a new work at Carnegie Hall—Cinco
Canciones con los ojos Cerrados by composer Miguel Francoli. Santos was
also invited to sing Mahler No. 2 with Lynn Philharmonia, Handel’s Messiah
with Cincinnati Symphony, and Carmina Burana with the Emory University
Symphony Orchestra.
Santos has performed professionally with programs including the Santa Fe
Opera Apprentice program, San Francisco Merola Opera program, International
Vocal Arts Institute, and CCM Spoleto. Her honors include finalist of the
2014 MONC Southeast region, 2013 promising artist of the Santa Fe Opera
apprentice program Anna Case MacKay Award, 2012 Kentucky Bach Choir
Competition, 2011 Sam Adams Award, 2010 Italo Tajo Memorial Award, and
2010 Metropolitan Opera National semifinalist. Santos is an artist affiliate and
vocal instructor at Emory.
E l e na Ch o lak o va, piano
Bulgarian pianist Elena Cholakova has appeared as a soloist and chamber
musician in Eastern and Western Europe, South America, and the United
States. She has given solo recitals at the Liszt Academy and the United States
Embassy in Budapest, Hungary; in Bulgaria Hall and at the Sofia Conservatory in
Sofia, Bulgaria; in Aosta Concert Hall in Aosta, Italy; at Fellbach Musicschulle in
Fellbach, Germany; in Fazioli Salon in Chicago, and more. She has collaborated
with members of the New York Philharmonic and Atlanta Symphony. Her
performances have been broadcasted live on NPR, Atlanta’s WABE, Chicago’s
classical music radio station WFMT, and Bulgarian TV and radio stations. As
a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players, Cholakova has appeared in the
International Chamber Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico;
has regularly performed in Atlanta’s premier Spivey Hall; and has premiered
commissioned works by leading American composers. Cholakova has been
featured in the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina
as well as the International Days of Music Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Cholakova has an MMus and a DMus from Northwestern University. She
joined the Emory faculty in 2010.
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U p c omin g Music Events
Go to music.emory.edu to view the complete list of upcoming music events.
For more information contact the Arts at Emory Box Office at 404.727.5050,
or visit arts.emory.edu.
Ticket prices are listed in the following order: Full price/Discount category
member price/Emory student price (unless otherwise noted as the price for all
students). Visit arts.emory.edu to see if you qualify for a discount.
Friday, September 18, noon, The Best of Beethoven, Emory Chamber Music
Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) Cooke Noontime Series, Carlos Museum, free
Saturday, September 19, 8:00 p.m., NPR’s From the Top with Host Christopher
O’Riley, Emerson Concert Hall, Schwartz Center, $35/$28/$10 all students
Saturday, September 26, 8:00 p.m., Beethoven’s Fifth, Emory Chamber Music
Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) Emerson Series, Emerson Concert Hall, Schwartz
Center, free
Sunday, September 27, 4:00 p.m., Jeremy Filsell, organ, Emerson Concert
Hall, Schwartz Center, free
Saturday, October 3, 8:00 p.m., Chick Corea and Béla Fleck, Candler Concert
Series, Emerson Concert Hall, Schwartz Center, $70/$56/$10
Sunday, October 4, 4:00 p.m., Jurassic Music!, Emory Chamber Music Society
of Atlanta (ECMSA) Family Series, Carlos Museum, free
Thursday, October 8, 6:00 p.m., Jazz on the Green, Patterson Green, adjacent
to the Schwartz Center, free
Saturday, October 10, 8:00 p.m., Atlanta Master Chorale: Season Premiere:
Come, Stay, Go!, Emerson Concert Hall, Schwartz Center, $20/$15/$10 all
students
Arts at Emory Box Office/Audience Information
404.727.5050 • arts.emory.edu
IN CONSIDERATION Please turn off all pagers and phones.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND RECORDINGS Not permitted without advance permission.
COUGH DROPS In lobby, courtesy of Margery and Robert McKay.
USHERS Members of Music at Emory Volunteers and Alphi Phi Omega, a national service and social
fraternity. Call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities.
event and program information Available online at arts.emory.edu.
Back cover photographer credits: Top (left to right): Barenaked Voices, Emory Photo/Video;
Emory Concert Choir: courtesy of Emory Concert Choir; Vega String Quartet, Dorn Brothers.
Bottom (left to right): Gary Motley, Bill Head; Christopher O’Riley, Wendy Lynch; audience view from
stage, courtesy of Emory Concert Choir; Emory University Symphony Orchestra, Tony Benner.
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