Graduate recital in voice

There is a common understanding around the world that music is the language of emotions and feelings. Much research has been conducted on how music changes the feelings and emotions of the listener. It is important that a singer performs in a way that the emotional message of the music and the words are transmitted to the audience effectively. This graduate recital includes songs and arias from different eras as well as different languages and cultures. All of those elements join together in order to emphasize various emotions and moods through singing. Thus, the purpose of choosing this repertoire is to stretch the musical and emotional communication skills of the performer in presenting works of diverse composers from the Baroque to the twenty-first century. These selections include Italian songs, German Lieder, songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams, contemporary American songs, and contemporary Iranian songs, as well as Se Vuol Ballare, an Italian aria from The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, and Avant de quitter ces lieux, a French aria from the opera Faust by Charles Gounod. The first set in this recital is comprised of early Italian songs, including Per la Gloria d'adorarvi by Giovanni Bononcini (1670 -1747), Amarilli, mia bella by Giulio Caccini (1551-1618), Il mio bel foco by Bartolomeo Conti (1682 - July 1732), and Lasciatemi morire by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). The first song, Per la Gloria d'adorarvi, is from the Italian opera, Griselda, by Giovanni Bononcini. This aria has become a famous and popular concert and recital piece, which is performed by many classical singers around the world. The vocal line is quite challenging and requires excellent agility from the singer. The second song in this group is Amarilli mia bella, which is a solo madrigal by the late Renaissance and early Baroque composer, Giulio Caccini; he is one of the pioneers in the genre of opera. Caccini published this solo madrigal with a dozen of other madrigals in his Le nuove musiche in 1601-1602. Le nuove musiche is the first published solo madrigals for voice and continue. The poem is by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612). The third song, Il mio bel foco, has long been attributed to a Venetian composer and statesman, Benedetto Marcello, however recent scholars identify Bartolomeo Conti as the likely composer of the song. Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, who was born in Florence, Italy, was a composer and a mandolin player. He composed in different genres, including 16 operas, 9 oratorios, and 50 cantatas. The last piece in this set is Lasciatemi morire, the first part of a four-part lament from the opera Arianna by Claudio Monteverdi, which was composed in 1608. The opera was based on the Greek legend of Ariadne. Monteverdi published the Lamento d'Arianna as a separate entity in 1623. Like Giulio Caccini, he was a pioneer in the development of opera; and he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music. The second set is comprised of five German Lieder from the early romantic to the late romantic era, which includes An die Musik by Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Der Gärtner by Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), Rastlose Liebe another song by Franz Schubert, Die Nacht by Richard Strauss (1864 -1949), and Sonntag by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). An die Musik is the first song of the second set. Franz Schubert composed this song in March 1817 for solo voice and piano, on a poem by his close friend, Franz von Schober. An die Musik is one of two poems by Schober that express the benefit and beauty of music in a dark and sad world. The second poem in this pair is Trost im Liede, which also has been set to music by Schubert. These two songs also express the relationship of Schubert and Schober. They were very close friends and lived together for several years. In both songs, they expressed their love for music and the wondrous role of music in their lives. The second song in this set is Der Gärtner by Hugo Wolf. This is a romantic song that features a gardener singing to a princess. The poem is by Eduard Mörike (1804-1875). Many of his poems were set to music by Wolf and other composers such as Ignaz Lachner and, their contemporary, Wilhelm Killmayer. The third song in this set, Rastlose Liebe, is also by Schubert with a poem by the famous German poet and novelist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). Rastlose Liebe, which means restless love, is a love song featuring a lover passionately singing for her or his beloved one. Schubert marked the music "Fast, with passion" to convey a restless love and to create a wide dynamic range with different variations in the music. The word painting of the snowstorm, featured in the opening words of the piece in the introduction, is very interesting. This song is dedicated to Anton Salieri by Schubert. Salieri was Schubert's music theory and composition teacher and had a prominent role in Schubert's growth as a composer. The fourth song in this section is Die Nacht by Strauss. Hermann Glim, the Austrian poet of this song, describes the night, which steals everything, and the fear of a lover, who is afraid of losing his beloved. Strauss with a whispering-like vocal part, and a quiet accompaniment, beautifully conveys the atmosphere of the night and the fear felt by the lover in this piece. By changing the tonal center throughout the song, Strauss emphasizes the idea of being apprehensive about losing something or someone precious to you. The last song in this set is Sonntag by Johannes Brahms, which was composed by 1860. The poem is by Johann Ludwig Uhland. Brahms chose to set a folk-like melody for Uhland's words. This poem is about a young man who only has the chance to see his beautiful beloved every Sunday and he wishes so much that he could be with her today. Brahms emphasizes the enthusiasm of the lover with a dance-like meter and chooses the higher pitches for the lover's heightened longing. The third section is comprised of a single Italian aria from an opera buffa, The Marriage of Figaro, by Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791), one of the greatest composers of all the time. The Marriage of Figaro tells the story of two servants, Figaro and Susanna, who succeed in getting married. Their employer, who is a philanderer, tries to seduce Susanna, but Figaro foils his efforts and teaches him a lesson in faithfulness. Se Vuol Ballare is the aria in which Figaro vows to teach the count a very important lesson. This aria is a cavatina, which means a shorter than normal song for a character. Mozart composed this opera in 1786 with a libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte, who also wrote the libretto of two other operas of Mozart, Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790). Lorenzo Da Ponte also wrote twenty-five other libretti for ten other composers, including Antonio Salieri, Giuseppe Gazzaniga, Giuseppe Francesco Bianchi and, Peter Winter. Following the Mozart aria is a more serious French aria, Avant de quitter ces lieux from Charles Gounod's opera, Faust (1859). The libretto is by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, and it is inspired by Goethe's Faust, Part-I. Charles Gounod's is also known for his other famous opera, Roméo et Juliette (1867). Both the librettists of Faust wrote other libretti for other well-known French composers such as Jacques Offenbach and Victor Massé. The fifth set of this recital is a selection of four songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams was an English composer, who composed in different genres in his nearly sixty years of professional composition. His works include secular and religious vocal pieces, operas, ballets, chamber music, and orchestral compositions. Following in the steps of Henry Purcell and Edward Elgar, Vaughan Williams became one of the most influential figures in English music. The Vagabond is the first song in this set from Vaughan Williams' song cycle Songs of Travel, which was composed between 1901 and 1904. The text is by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer.‏ ‏ The march-like opening conveys the victorious walking of the traveler of the story, who seems carefree and happy to live outdoors and require nothing of a material nature. The heavy chords of the piano convey that the journey can be difficult. The second song of this set is The Sky above the Roof, which is set to Mabel Dearmer's poem. Dearmer wrote her poem based on Paul Verlaine's French poem. In the original poem, Verlaine writes of the view from the prison window and of having wasted his life. The Call is the next song in this set, and is from Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs. In this work, Vaughan Williams set music to seventeenth-century poems from English poet and Anglican priest, George Herbert (1593-1633). Five Mystical Songs includes four poems of George Herbert's collection The Temple: Sacred Poems. Vaughan Williams divided one of the poems, Easter, into two parts and made a five-song set. He composed this collection for a baritone soloist and offered several choices for the accompaniment, such as piano only, piano and string quintet, and its premiere form, which was with orchestra and SATB chorus. The Call is the fourth song in this collection. In this recital an additional song will be sung from the Five Mystical Songs. The fourth song in this set is I Got Me Flowers, a baritone's love song from the Five Mystical Songs. It is a simple but moving song for baritone. The sixth set includes four contemporary American songs, and begins with a comedic song, I Bought Me a Cat, by Aaron Copland (1900-1990), an American composer and conductor. Many scholars consider his works to be the true and authentic sound of American music. His well-known works are his compositions during 1930s and 1940s, which Copland labeled as his "vernacular" sound. I bought Me a Cat is an American folk nonsense children's song that Benjamin Britten asked Copland to arrange, along with four other folk songs. Copland originally arranged these songs for male soloist and piano. This set of old American songs premiered in 1950. The second song in this set is A Horse with Wings composed by Ricky Ian Gordon (1956-present), an American composer. Gordon became a leading writer of vocal music ranging from art song, to opera, to musical theater in the late 20th century and early 21st century. A Horse with Wings is from an album of songs by the same name, which Gordon released with himself as the soloist. The text of this song is also written by Gordon on which he comments on the sadness of this world and wishes for a better world. The third song in this set, Long Time Ago, is another American folk song. This song is also among the first set of old American songs arranged by Aaron Copland. He discovered this ballad from a song in the Harris collection. The poem is attributed to George P. Morris (1802 - 1864), an American poet and songwriter who wrote the opera The Maid of Saxony. The last song of this set is called Look down, Fair Moon by Ned Rorem (1923-present), another American major composer of the 20th century who composed remarkable works in different genres such as opera, orchestral compositions, chamber music, choral works and a significant amount of songs. He composed Look down, Fair Moon in 1957 on a poem by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), an American poet, essayist and humanist. Whitman is one of most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. He worked in hospitals during the war while caring for the wounded. His Look down Fair Moon is about the tragedy of war and the senseless loss of war. Ned Rorem helped us to feel the sadness of this image with his slow minor-ish melody, and pulse-like accompaniment, which conveys the sound of the inevitability of death. The last set of this recital belongs to Iranian contemporary songs. Western classical music came to Iran around 1886 by Alfred Jean Baptiste Lemaire (1842 -1907), a French military musician and composer. Since then, many Iranian composers who studied Western Classical music contributed to this genre growing in Iran. One of these composers is Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh (1942 -present). Young Monfaredzadeh was one of the composers for the youth orchestra at Iran's national radio station. He was also one of the pioneers in Iranian film scoring. He has composed some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in Iranian cinematic history. He also composed several art songs. With the Islamic revolution of 1979, he stopped working to protest against the revolutionary government, which banned female singing and limited musical activities. He has left Iran forever, and decided to take a self-imposed exile which continues to this day. The first song in this group is Ye Shab-e Mahtab (A Moonlight Night) by Monfaredzadeh. He composed this song on a poem by Ahmad Shamlou (1925 - 2000), one the most influential poets of modern Iran. The song is clearly against a tyrannical government, which caused darkness in the city in an oppressive way, and the dreams of a people who hope that one night the moon will come out and push away the darkness. The second song, Gonjeshkak-e Ashi-Mashi, is another song by Monfaredzadeh. The poem is based on a traditional children's story by Hasan Hatami (1935-2016). Initially, Monfaredzadeh set music to this poem to use it as a part of his film scoring for the Iranian film, The Dears. Later, the song was performed separately as a solo for voice. Although this song is not clearly a political song, many interpreted as an anti tyranny song. Basically, the poem is about a sparrow, which represents innocent people. The sparrow is warned by the narrator not to get close to the people in power, otherwise you could get killed. The vocal melody is in the Phrygian mode, which makes the song sad and dark. The third song in this set, Jome Bazar (Friday Farmers Market), is attributed to Ahamad Ashour Pour (1917-2007). Ashour Pour's compositions were heavily influenced by European folk songs. Jahangir Sartip Pour (1903-1992) set words on most of the Ashour Pour's music. Jome Bazar is known as a folk song, since the words of the song is in Gilaki, which is one of the dialects of the Iranian language from the north. The last song in this set and in this recital is called Jan-e Maryam (My Beloved, Maryam). Kambiz Mojdehi (fl. Mid 20th century)‏ an Iranian composer and acorrdion player, set ‏music to a poem by his friend Mohammad Nouri,‏ ‏an‏ Iranian classical singer. Nouri explained how it ‏was ‏inspired by the folkloric music from north side of Iran and created Jane-e Maryam. The song was premiered sometime around 1960s by Mohammad Nouri. A performer can better communicate with the audience when understanding the background of the music and the text. To have a more powerful impact on audiences, a performer should study the origin of the piece and be familiar with the composer and poet, in order to imagine their feelings and to understand their purpose for creating these songs and arias. I will be performing various pieces from different composers in my recital, in five different languages, and from different cultural backgrounds of different eras, but what all of them have in common is the shared emotions and feelings of their creators. In all these pieces, I hope to express the original emotions of the creators as well as my own deep feelings for music when sharing these compositions with my audience.