Graduate Recital

This recital is in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Music.

Program Notes

Robert Schumann's pursuit of Clara Wieck's hand in marriage was undoubtedly the seed for what would be called his most admired song cycle Dichterliebe, op.48, based on poems from Heinrich Heine's Lyrisches Intermezzo in Buch der Lieder, 1st edition (1823). Dichterliebe tells a story of unrequited love, and makes use of signature motives as the preeminent device in the cycle. The simplicity of the tunes deftly exemplify Schumann's mastery of writing lieder, and fulfills Schubert's requirement that lied "recreate in a subtle musical realization the most delicate effects of the poem." Schumann had previously demonstrated in Leiderkreis (op. 24) his capacity of marrying music and verse to bring out meanings more than the mere sum of the parts; now his compositional skills reached new heights as he created a work a bit more personal.

Schumann seems to have more or less followed an extrapolation of the circle of fifths for the program of this work; at least, one song seems to lead tonally to the next, even if that means changing modes and observing enharmonics. It seems the cycle is never really meant to end. The final piece, "Die alten, b–sen Lieder," is in the key of C# minor, changing to Db major, the enharmonic parallel of C#, itself the dominant of the hinted F# minor of the first song, "Im wundersch–nen Monat Mai." One song leads tonally and thematically to another throughout the cycle, especially obvious in the identical melodies of "Aus meinen Thr”nen sprieþen" and "Ich hab' im Traum geweinet;" the similarity of accompaniment in "Und w¸þten's die Blumen, die kleinen" with "Das ist ein Fl–ten und Geigen," and the quotation of the latter in "H–r' ich das Liedchen klingen;" and the repeat of the piano soliloquy at the ends of "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen" and "Die alten, b–sen Lieder."

American composer Ned Rorem's body of work has been extensive since his years in Paris in the early 1950s. His compositional talents have been employed in all varieties of musical styles and forms, from commercials and Broadway musicals to "more serious" orchestral works and operettas.

Rorem's song library, however, is representative of where the composer himself says he is most comfortable. "Music is, after all, a sung expression," he has stated. And for a proper song cycle, he believes that the "stable idea is a text that asks to be sung." This is why he uses the Psalms so much: "You can't go wrong with the Psalms of David; they were conceived for song and no other outlet will do." The Cycle of Holy Songs was written in October of 1951 and presented to his composition teacher at that time, Arthur Honneger, whose gracious (and, according to Rorem, not very helpful) remarks were, "I've nothing to say. These songs are perfect."

The cycle could be considered the whole of Psalms in microcosm, chosen possibly based on the composer's opinion of sacred song. "All music is church music in that all music expresses what church music expresses: praise and despair." The first two songs deal directly with those two sentiments, and in that order. "Psalm 134," a song of joy, seems to depict an ancient festival with the beating of large drums (as indicated by the pounding A's in the introduction). "Psalm 142," the quiet song of the cycle, presents different challenges to composer, performer, and listener. Though a song of lament, Rorem chose a melody not particularly plaintive, often presenting difficulties between music and text. "Psalm 148" supplies the high point of the cycle, with its raucous syncopated themes and often atypical musical interpretations of the text. The finale, "Psalm 150" provides metrical contrast to the rest of the cycle, with a strong, large-intervalled, quarter-note bass, and a free, soaring vocal line.

The final work was a personal project I started two years ago, initially as a single work (movements I, III and V as individual verses of a song). Arranging the original piece developed several additional singable tunes that seemed to make statements of their own, with the hint that there was more to tell than the original piece disclosed. This work, a metaphor on the birth and incarnation of Christ, was finished in August 2002, and is debuted here in its final form.