Voice Students of the
Jacobs School of Music
Fernando Garcia, Piano

 

AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
From Old American Songs (1950-52)
At the River

Eddie Mony, Tenor

At the river (Robert Lowry)

Shall we gather by the river,
Where bright angel’s feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?

Yes, we’ll gather by the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river,
Gather with the saints by the river
That flows by the throne of God.

Ere we reach the shining river
Lay we every burden down,
Praise our spirits will deliver
And provide our robe and crown.

Yes, we’ll gather at the river.
The beautiful, the beautiful, river.
Gather with the saints at the river,
That flows by the throne of God.

Soon we’ll reach the shining river,
Soon our pilgrimage will cease,
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace.

Yes, we’ll gather by the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river,
Gather with the saints by the river
That flows by the throne of God.

 

LUIGI DENZA (1846-1922)
Funiculì, funiculà (1880)

Eddie Mony, Tenor

Funiculi, funicula (Peppino Turco)

Do you know where I went,
yesterday evening?
Where your ungrateful heart
Can no longer be mean to me!
Where a fire is burning,
but if you run away, it doesn’t care,
and doesn’t run after you,
doesn’t care if you gaze at the sky!

Listen! Listen! Echoes from afar!
funiculì, funiculà!

We go from the field to the mountain
without setting foot on the ground!
You can see France, Procida and Spain…
And I see you!
Pulled up, and before we realize,
We’re up in the sky.
Like the wind, in a moment,
We go up, and up!

My head has vanished already,
It’s gone, then returned, then gone again
Yet still here!
My head turns, turns, turns,
around you!
My heart always sings
that one of these days you will
marry me, my darling!

 

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Aimons-nous (1892)

Laura Looper, Soprano

Let us love (Théodore de Banville)

Let us love, let us sleep, without thinking of the rest of the world!
Neither the waves of the sea, nor the storms in the mountains,
As long as we’re in love, nothing can harm the blond crown of your head,
For love is much stronger than gods, and than death!

The sun is extinguished, but leaves thy fair skin untouched.
The wind, blowing through earth’s forests,
passes and doesn’t dare muss your hair.
If you but rest your head in my arms.

And when our two hearts pass to blissful spheres,
Where celestial lilies blossom beneath our tears,
Then, like two flowers, we’ll join our lips in love,
Seeking to disarm death with a kiss!

 

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
From Fünf Lieder, Op. 40 (1840)
Müttertraum
Der Soldat

Tyler Williams, Baritone

A mother’s dream (Andersen/Chamisso) – (Deutsch)

The mother prays sweetly and gazes in delight
upon her slumbering child.
He rests in his cradle, so tender and cozy.
He seems an angel to her.

She kisses and hugs him, without restraint,
Forgetting all earthly pain,
her hopeful dreams explore the future.
Thus do mothers often dream.

The raven meanwhile, with its clan,
shrieks a tune outside the window:
Your angel, your angel will be ours –
the brigand shall serve us at supper.

 

FRANCESCO DURANTE (1684-1755)
Danza, danza, fanciulla gentile, Op. posth.
(added lyrics anon.; after Solfège
No. 113 from Solfèges d’Italie, 1772)

Connor Stratton, Tenor

Dance! (Lorenzo Pagans)

Dance, dance, maiden, to my song!
Spin, light and graceful
To the sound of the ocean waves.
Listen to the charming murmur
Of the friendly breeze,
That speaks to the heart
With a languorous music,
And invites you to dance without cease!

ROBERT SCHUMANN
From Myrthen, Op. 25 (1840)
Widmung

Connor Stratton, Tenor

Dedication (Rückert) German (Deutsch)

You are my soul, you my heart –
you my delight, you my despair,
You are the world that surrounds me –
You are my heav’n, to which I ascend,
Oh you, my grave, in whose depths –
I bury every burden.
You are repose, you are peace –
You have come to me from heaven.
That you love me has filled me with purpose –
Your gaze has transformed me in my own eyes
Your affection lifts me beyond my place –
My guardian angel, my better self.

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Mädchenlied (1886)
Dein blaues Auge (1870)

Elizabeth Goodwin, Mezzo-Soprano

A girl’s song (Heyse)German (Deutsch)

At night in the spinning rooms,
The girls are singing,
the village boys laugh;
how quickly the little wheels turn!

Every girl is at work on her dowry,
To delight her beloved.
Not long now, and wedding bells
Will be ringing.

No one dear to me asks after me.
How anxious my heart is;
to whom can I turn?

The tears run down my face:
why should I spin? I don’t know!

Your blue eyes (Klaus Groth) – (Deutsch)

Your blue eyes are so still
That I can gaze upon their very depths.
You ask me what I’m trying to see —
I see myself healed.

A glowing pair once burned me;
That pain is still with me.
Yet your eyes are as clear as a lake,
And as cool.

JOHANNES BRAHMS
From Fünf Lieder, Op. 106 (1885-88)
       Ständchen
       Es hing der Reif

Julia Wahl, Soprano

Serenade (Franz Kugler)- German (Deutsch)

The moon hangs over the mountains,
Perfect for lovers.
In the garden a fountain murmurs;
Otherwise, all is silent far and wide.

Near the wall, in shadows,
there stand the students three:
with flute and fiddle and zither,
they sing and play.

The sounds waft up to the loveliest of women,
gently entering her dreams.
She gazes on her blond beloved
and whispers: “Forget me not!”

Frost was hanging (Groth)

Frost was hanging in the linden tree boughs,
through which the light streamed like silver.
I saw your house, bright as in a dream,
a sparkling fairy castle.

And your window stood open —
I could even see you in your room;
then you stepped into the sunshine
you darkest of fairies!

I shivered with blissful pleasure,
so spring-warm and wonderful;
but then I heard in your greeting
that it was actually frosty winter.

 

FRANCESCO CAVALLI (1602-1676)
Son ancor pargoletta (from Arie di diverse, 1634)

Kyra Kornfeld, Soprano

I am still a child

I am still a child; I haven’t known love
Like a young tree, I know only how to wear leaves,
Neither flowers nor fruits.
Lilla laughs and sings of love—
Should someone gently call my name, I would fly to them,
But no one has ever touched me
No arms have ever had the audacity to embrace me.
Lilla laughs, and sings of love—

GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797-1848)
From Nuits d’été à Pausilippe (1836)
A mezzanotte
Il barcaiuolo

Kira Hanger, Soprano

At midnight

When night turns dark
and you see the stars in the sky,
silently, silently, you will come
to find my solitary dwelling.
In the silence of night
inside, under my humble roof,
come then, o my delight,
to make your darling happy.
Sing your song
while I wait on the balcony.

Yet not for you alone do I
open the doors to the dark night:
lest the moon in her modesty
cover herself for shame.
We two will not be alone;
modesty would not allow it.
A third must be present,
and that third is love.
Then sing your song
while I wait on the balcony.
I expect you at midnight,
silently, silently you will come,
we two will not be alone,
the third will be love.

The boatman (Tarantini)

Row, row, the wind has died,
the water is calm, the sky bright,
only a breath of peace
animates sky and sea.
Row, row, sailor.

Now that fate smiles upon us,
in such a tender moment,
to transcendent happiness
I abandon my soul.
Row, row, sailor.

And if a storm should rage
and carry us both to our deaths,
it will be my good fortune
to die at your side.
Row, row, sailor.

 

HUGO WOLF (1860-1901)
From Italienisches Liederbuch (1890-96)
Gesegnet sei das Grün und wer es trägt!
O wär’ dein Haus durchsichtig wie
ein Glas

Victoria Schemenauer, Soprano

Blessed be the color green (Heyse)

Blessed be the color green, and he who wears it!
I will make myself a green dress.
The spring meadow also wears a green dress.
The darling of my eyes dresses himself in green.
It is the hunter’s custom to dress in green,
My beloved wears a green dress too.
All things are charming and comely in green,
From green springs every lovely fruit.

Oh, were your house transparent as glass (Heyse)

Oh, if only your house were transparent as glass,
My darling, when I steal by!
Then I would see you every moment,
How my whole soul would look upon you!
How many glances my heart would send to you,
More than there are drops in the swollen March river!
How many glances I would send towards you,
More than all the raindrops that fall!

 

GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875)
From Carmen (1875)
Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre (“Toreador Song”)

LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
From Mass (1971)
A Simple Song

Brandan Sanchez, Baritone

Your toast … I return it!
Señors, Señors, and also soldiers,
Yes, bullfighters know each other,
They fight for pleasure.
The arena is full, it’s a holiday,
The arena is full from top to bottom!
The spectators go crazy,
The spectators are calling out loudly:
Names, shouting and noise, pushed to fury
Because it’s the day of courage,
It’s the festival of aristocrats.
Let’s go, en garde! Come on!

Toreador, on guard,
Remember, while fighting,
A dark eye is watching you;
Love awaits.
Toreador, love,
Love is waiting for you!

All at once, silence falls;
All is still. What’s going on?
No more shouts; the moment has arrived.
The bull springs, leaping from the toril …
He rushes, he advances, he collides, a horse rolls
The picador charges.
Ah, bravo toro! yells the crowd.
The bull goes … he comes … he comes and is met!
By shaking his banderillas,
Full of fury, he runs!
The arena is full of blood;
We escape, we vault the gates;
It’s your turn now.
Let’s go, en garde! Come on!

Toreador, on guard!
Remember, while fighting, a dark eye is watching you;
Love awaits.
Toreador, love is waiting for you!

All translations by Julia Bentley

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Twenty-Eighth Program of the 2020-21 Season
IU Arts & Humanities Council | First Thursdays Festival

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