Student Recital: Karla Ivette Próspero Molina, Voice

FRANCESCO SANTOLIQUIDO: I Poemi del Sole
Un’ ora di sole
Riflessi
Nel Giardino
Sole d’Autunno

ZU, HUANG: 花非花

WU, ZUQIANG: 燕子

LILI BOULANGER:
Reflets
Attente

– INTERMISSION –

LIBBY LARSEN: Try Me Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII                        
Katherine of Aragon
Anne Boleyn
Jane Seymour
Anne of Cleves
Katherine Howard

HÉCTOR CAMPOS PARSI: Canciones de cielo y agua 
Los signos en el cielo
El aguacero
El arroyo

FRANCESCO SANTOLIQUIDO: I Poemi del Sole (The Poems of the Sun) (1910) 
Francesco Santoliquido was a minor composer of the 20th Century. He wrote many pieces for piano, symphonies, opera, and songs. Santoliquido was greatly influenced by Debussy, Strauss, and Wagner. The cycle “I Poemi del Sole” was written in 1910 and published by Ricordi in 1914, in addition to a publication of the cycle in 1993 in Texas. There are two themes in these songs: the reflection of the sun and evening ringing bells. The reflection of the sun is presented through 16th note arpeggios alternating from the right hand to the left on the piano while the bells are played on the left hand in between arpeggios. While these songs are tonal, they are highly chromatic; Santoliquido writes the same musical ideas while chromatically modifying them. We have constant development and move to new places, musically and in thought.

HUANG, ZI: “花非花” (It’s like flowers yet are not flowers) 
This poem was written by Bai Juyi (772-846), a Chinese poet from the Tang dynasty. Huang Zi was an important and influential composer in the 1930s who founded the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. He borrowed Western musical elements to compose Chinese vocal music, which was his most prevalent genre. This song is based on the “traditional pentatonic mode” of China. While simple, musically, it is very intriguing poetically; this song never specifies what it is speaking about. Huang did a great job establishing the emotional tone of this song; the vocal line transmits it naturally without the singer needing to do much… the simplicity makes it more interesting.  

WU, ZUQIANG: “燕子” (Swallow)
Wu Zuqiang was a Chinese composer important to the propagation of contemporary music education in China. He graduated from the Central Conservatory in 1950 and later in his life became the dean of the school (1982). Wu was also a critic (1970-1973) and was leader of a composition team of the Central Philharmonia. “Yan Zi” is a traditional song from the Kazakhs ethnic group. The majority of this ethnic group is located around Northern Xinjiang and the Tianshan Mountains. We can hear distinctive musical elements of this group, most prevalent on the second and third line of the verses through the 16th notes. 

LILI BOULANGER: Reflets (1911) & Attente (1910)
Marie-Juliette Olga Boulanger, otherwise known as Lili Boulanger, was born on August 21, 1893, and died on March 15, 1918. She was the sister of the prominent music teacher, Nadia Boulanger. Lili Boulanger was the first woman to win the Prix de Rome music competition in 1913.  Because of her success, she received the opportunity to work with Ricordi. From an early age, Boulanger suffered from intestinal illness. This made it so that she needed constant care and rest. “Pie Jesu '' was her last composition, which she recited to her sister Nadia from her deathbed. Boulanger’s music style was greatly influenced by Debussy, Massenet, and Fauré. Her instrumentation greatly depicts the text. Boulanger utilizes both the piano and voice to shape the phrases and add color.

LIBBY LARSEN: Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII (2000)
Libby Larsen is an American composer who has published a wide range of repertoire (more than 400 pieces) for instruments and voice. This song cycle was written in 2000 and premiered in 2001 at the Juilliard Theater in New York City. The text of this song cycle comes from the letters and speeches of five of King Henry VIII’s wives (1491-1547.) Each song of this cycle has a lute song, composed during the Elizabeth I period, hidden in it. Larsen says “they... create a tapestry of unsung words which comment on the real situation of each doomed queen.” Larsen explains to us that she used both repeated notes and bell-tolling as musical gestures to connect all the songs. This song cycle is atonal (music that does not have melodies and harmonies centered on a specific pitch class) but the dissonances are still somewhat tonal.

HÉCTOR CAMPOS PARSI: Canciones de cielo y agua (Songs of sky and water) (1947)
Héctor Campos Parsi was a Puerto Rican composer. He studied at the New England Conservatory during the years 1947-1950. He studied with important composers like Copland, Messiaen, and Boulanger. He involved himself as an adviser, organizer, director, and professor in the music scene in Puerto Rico after he returned in 1955. Paris’s music style has two distinctive characteristics: “one nationalist, incorporating elements of Puerto Rican folk music; the other international, progressing from the neo-classicism of his scores of the early 1950s to electronic and aleatory music.” This song cycle was published in Paris in 1953 and was sung by Flore Wend. The third song of the cycle “El Arroyo” was composed first for harp and soprano (1947) and premiered in Boston (1948) sung by Elizabeth Sokoloff. This cycle was the first time Parsi had written art songs. He was studying with Irving Fine who said that he ”should not be judged too harshly.” Parsi describes this cycle as a “cascade of rippling arpeggios,” which is notable in the accompaniment throughout the cycle.

FRANCESCO SANTOLIQUIDO: I Poemi del Sole (The Poems of the Sun)

Un’ora di sole
An hour of sun
Oh! bel Sole d’Anacapri,
Oh! beautiful sun of Anacapri,
dolce e triste per i clivi degli ulivi.
sweet and sad for the olive groves.

Campanelle della sera,
Bells of the evening,
case bianche al par di neve.
white houses equal to snow.

Io vi porto nel cuore!
I carry you in the heart!
e vi penso con triste nostalgia.
and think of you with sad nostalgia.

O bei clivi, fioriti di rose selvaggie.
Oh, beautiful groves, flowered of wild roses.

Oh! come il vostro fascino molle
Oh! how your soft charms
e la vostra vaga tristezza m’avvincono!
and your vague sadness captivate me.

Oh! bel Sole d’Anacapri,
Oh! beautiful sun of Anacapri,

O Sole dolce.
oh, sweet sun.

O fichi d’India addormentati!
Oh, sleeping figs of India!
o campanelle della sera!
oh, bells of the evening!

Rose selvaggie!
Wild roses!

O bel mare lontano!
Oh, beautiful distant sea!
Oggi io ripenso la vostra vaga malinconia.
Today I think back to your vague melancholy.
Ah! Oh! bel Sole d’Anacapri
Ah! Oh! beautiful sun of Anacapri
io ti porto nel cor!
I carry you in the heart!

Riflessi
Reflections

Oh! bei riflessi di Sole!
Oh! beautiful reflections of the sun!
O bei riflessi gialli e rossi
Oh beautiful reflections, yellow and red,
che illuminate il giardino
that illuminate the garden
come un immenso fuoco artificiale.
like an immense artificial fire.

Inondate anche me
Flood me also
di vostre calde fosforescenze d’or.
of your warm phosphorescence of gold.

Io scorgo in voi miriadi di stelle,
I glimpse in you myriads of stars,
lo scorgo in voi miriadi di faville,
I glimpse in you myriads of sparks,
Lucciole e perle, rubini e smeraldi!
Fireflies and pearls, rubies and emeralds!

Ed i miei occhi stanchi
And my tired eyes
s’accecano ai vostri bagliori,
blind themselves to your glow,
E la mia anima beve
And my soul drinks
ed il mio cor s’ubriaca
and my heart gets drunk
di luce e di colori!
from lights and colors!

Oh! bei riflessi di sole,
Oh! beautiful reflections of the sun,
barbagli rossi di flamme ardenti
red beams of burning flames,
Splendete! Ho bisogno di voi,
Shine! I need you,
Splendete! Inondate il ruscello,
Shine! Flood the stream,
la vasca del giardino,
the pool of the garden,
Le foglie mattutine d’una pioggia d’or!
The morning leaves of a rain of gold!

Nel giardino
In the garden
Un’ora dolce passa sul giardino,
A sweet hour passes over the garden,
un’ora piena di silenzio e di pace,
an hour filled with silence and with peace,
tutta inondata dal profumo dei fiori.
completely flooded of the flowers perfume.

La fontana si tace ed i viali son deserti,
The fountain falls silent and the avenues are deserted,
inoltriamo: non c’è che il Sole.
we go forward: there is nothing but the sun.

Un sole giallo, che ci guarda e sorride,
A yellow sun, that watches us and smiles,
e non ripeterà le parole divine,
and it will not repeat the divine words
che ci sussurreremo inebriati!
that we will whisper to each other intoxicated!

Ah! Vien! Sediamoci qui
Ah! Come! Let’s sit here,
un’ora dolce passa sul giardino.
a sweet hour passes over the garden.

Sole d’autunno
Sun of Autumn

Sole d’autunno! re delle tristezze,
Sun of Autumn! king of sadness,
pallido nume delle foglie morte,
pale deity of the dead leaves,
voglio cantar di te.
I want to sing of you.

Le tue dolcezze meravigliose
Your marvelous sweetness
e le tue fiamme smorte
and your dull flames
mi fioriscono in cuore.
bloom in my heart.

Oh! fioriture di gigli rossi tra le felci!
Oh! red lily blooms among the ferns!
Il folle ardore è in voi delle capigliature
The crazy ardor is in you as the hairs
che ho baciato ne’ sogni!
that I kissed in (my) dreams!

Le corolle nel tuo lume si sfrondano
The corollas in your light peel away
o sbiancato sole di morte,
oh, whitened sun of death,
Che fai pur fiorire nel cuore
That you may flourish in the heart
di chi ha pianto nel passato
of those who have cried in the past
Una smania d’amare e di morire.
an eagerness to love and to die.

Sole d’autunno! re delle tristezze,
Sun of Autumn! king of sadness,
tragico nume delle cose morte…
tragic light of dead things…
come un malato nelle tue carezze
like a sufferer in your caresses
voglio avvivare le mie fiamme smorte!
I want to revive my dull flames!
Voglio accendere i sogni come fari,
I want to illuminate the dreams like headlights,
Nel sangue dei crepuscoli  autunnali.
in the blood of the autumn twilight.

Sole d’autunno!
Sun of Autumn!
Fiori solitari.
Lonely flowers.
Dolci profumi!
Sweet perfumes!
Aurore trionfali!
Triumphal aurora!

ZU, HUANG: 花非花 (It‘s like flowers yet are not flowers)

花非花
It’s like flowers yet are not flowers,
雾非雾
it’s like fog yet it’s not fog,
夜半來,
come at midnight,
天明去。
leave before dawn.
來如春梦
Come like a beautiful
不多时,
but short dream,
去似朝云
leave like the clouds in the morning
无觅处。
unable to be found.

WU, ZUQIANG: 燕子 (Swallow)
燕子啊！
Oh swallow!
听我唱个
Listen to me sing
我心爱的燕子歌，
my favorite swallow song,
亲爱的听我对你说一说。
dear, listen to me talk to you.
燕子啊！
Oh, swallow!
燕子啊！
Oh, swallow!
你的性情
Your personality
愉快亲切又活泼，
is happy, kind and lively,
你的微笑好像星星在闪烁。
your smile is like the star shining.
啊
Oh
眉毛弯弯眼睛亮，
You have beautiful eyebrows and bright eyes,
脖子匀匀头发长，
long neck and long hair,
是我的姑娘 燕子啊！
you are my girl, oh, swallow!

燕子啊！
Oh, swallow!
不要忘了
Don’t forget
你的诺言变了心，
your promise and change your heart,
“我是你的，你是我的”
“I am yours, you are mine”

燕子啊！
Oh, swallow!
啊！
Oh!

Translations aided by Linhuan Wei, Yu Pan and Cong Li

LILI BOULANGER

Reflets
Reflection

Sous l'eau du songe qui s'élève 
Under the water of the dream that rises

Mon âme a peur, mon âme a peur. 
My soul is afraid, my soul is afraid.

Et la lune luit dans mon cœur
And the moon shines in my heart

Plongé dans les sources du rêve!
Plunged in the sources of the dream!

Sous l'ennui morne des roseaux.
Under the dreary boredom of the reeds.

Seul le reflet profond des choses,
Only the deep reflections of things,

Des lys, des palmes et des roses
Of lilies, of palms and of roses

Pleurent encore au fond des eaux.
Are still crying at the bottom of the water.

Les fleurs s'effeuillent une à une
The flowers peel one by one

Sur le reflet du firmament.
On the reflection of the firmament.

Pour descendre, éternellement
To descend, eternally

Sous l'eau du songe et dans la lune.
Under the water of the dream and in the moon.

Attente
Expectation

Mon âme a joint ses mains étranges
My soul has joined its strange hands
À l'horizon de mes regards;
On the horizon of my gazes;
Exaucez mes rêves épars
Grant my scattered dreams
Entre les lèvres de vos anges!
Between the lips of your angels!"

En attendant sous mes yeux las,
Waiting under my weary eyes,
Et sa bouche ouverte aux prières
And its mouth open in prayers
Éteintes entre mes paupières
Extinguished between my eyelids
Et dont les lys n'éclosent pas;
(And) whose lilies do not bloom;

Elle apaise au fond de mes songes,
It soothes at the depth of my dreams,
Ses seins effeuillés sous mes cils,
Its bare breast under my lashes,
Et ses yeux clignent aux périls
(And) its eyes blink at the perils
Éveillés au fil des mensonges.
Awakened over the lies.

LIBBY LARSEN: Try Me Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII

Katherine of Aragon

My most dear lord, king, and husband,
the hour of my death now drawing on,
the tender love I owe you
forces me to commend myself unto you
and to put you in remembrance
of the health and welfare of your soul.

My most dear lord, king, and husband,
you have cast me into many calamities
and yourself into many troubles.

For my part, I pardon you ev’rything
and I wish to devoutly pray God
that He will pardon you also.
For the rest I commend unto you
our daughter, Mary, beseeching you
to be a good father unto her.

Lastly, I make this vow,
that my eyes desire you above all things,
above all things.

Anne Boleyn

Try me, good king,
let me have a lawful trial
and let not my enemies
sit as my accusers and judges.

Try me, good king,
let me receive an open trial
for my truth shall fear no open shame.
Never a prince had a wife more loyal,
more loyal in all duty,
never a prince had a wife more loyal,
more loyal in all true affection,
never a prince had a wife more loyal
than you have found in Anne Bulen.

You have chosen me from low estate
to be your wife and companion.
Do you not remember
the words of your own true hand?

‘My own darling,
I would you were in my arms
for I think it long since I kissed you,
my mistress and my friend.’

Do you not remember
the words of your own true hand?
Try me, good king, Try me.

If ever I have found favor in your sight,
if ever the name of Anne Bulen
has been pleasing to your ears,
if ever I have found favor in the sight,
if ever the name of Anne Bulen
has been pleasing to your ears,
let me obtain this request
and my innocence shall be known.
Let me obtain this request
and my innocence shall be cleared.
Try me. Try me. Try me.

Good Christian people, I come hither to die
and by the law I am judged to die.
I pray God, I pray God save the King.
I hear the executioner’s good,
and my neck is so little.

Jane Seymour

Right, trusty and Well Beloved,
we greet you well, for as much as be the
inestimable goodness of Almighty God,
we be delivered of a prince, a prince.

I love the rose both red and white,
to hear of them is my delight,
Joyed may we be, our prince to see,
and roses three.

Anne of Cleves

I have been informed by certain lords
of the doubts and questions which
have been found in our marriage.

It may please your majesty to know
that though this case be most hard
and sorrowful I have and do accept
the clergy for my judges.

So now the clergy hath given their sentence,
hath given their sentence.
I approve.

So now the clergy hath given their sentence,
hath given their sentence.
I approve.

I neither can nor will repute myself
for your grace’s wife,
yet it may please your highness
to take me for your sister, your sister,
for which I most humbly thank you.

Your majesty’s most humble sister,
Anne, daughter of Cleves.

Katherine Howard

God have mercy on my soul.
Good people, I beg you pray for me.
By the journey upon which I am bound,
I have not wronged the King.

Brothers, I have not wronged the King,
I have not wronged the King.
But it is true that long before
the King took me,
I loved Thomas Culpepper.

I wish to God I had done as
Culpepper wished me,
For at the time the King wanted me,
Culpepper urged me
to say that I was pledged to him.

Brothers, I wish to God
I had done as he wished me,
For at the time the King wanted me,
Culpepper urged me to say
that I was pledged to him.

If I had done as he wished me,
I should not die this death, nor would he.

God have mercy on my soul
Ah, Good people I beg you pray for me.
Ah, I die a queen but I would rather die
the wife of Culpepper.

HÉCTOR CAMPOS PARSI: Canciones de cielo y agua (Songs of sky and water)

Los signos en el cielo
The signs in the sky
¡Ay! Los signos en el cielo.
Ah! The signs on the sky.
Las nubes se cierran sobre el sol.
The clouds close in on the sun.
La luz se esconde tras del negror.
The light hides behind the darkness.
Y en el viento que alza su cola
And in the wind that raises its tail
sin piedad,
mercilessly,
arrastrando va mi corazón
my heart goes, dragging
esta pena de un amor.
this pain of a love.
Y en las nubes hay una marca de dolor,
And in the clouds, there is a mark of pain,
Los signos de llanto y de pasión
the signs of weeping and passion
que agarrotan a mis ojos doloridos
that grip my painful eyes
de estar solos.
from being lonely.
¡Ay! Los signos en el cielo.
Ah! The signs on the sky.

El Aguacero
The Downpour

Qué húmeda queda la tierra
How damp the earth stays
luego del gran aguacero,
after the great downpour,
cuando se derrama el cielo
when the sky is poured
sobre el lomo de la sierra.
over the back of the mountain.
Y en el verde de las hojas,
And in the green of the leaves,
y en el aroma del suelo,
and in the aroma of the soil,
me va llegando consuelo
I begin to receive consolation
a mi más grande congoja.
for my great grief.
Pues se ha ido mi cariño
For my love has left
junto con el aguacero.
along with the downpour.

En cada gota de lluvia
In each drop of rain
se va un trozo de mi alma;
a piece of my soul goes away;
ya no sabré de más calma
I will not know of more calmness
que el dolor que va en el agua.
than the pain that goes in the water.
Y en la bruma levantada
And in the lifted mist
sobre la más vieja loma
over the oldest hill
perdida hay una paloma,
there is a lost dove,
maltratada y muy cansada;
mistreated and very exhausted;
es mi alma atribulada
it is my troubled soul
¡persiguiendo tu crucero!
in your pursuit!

El Arroyo
The Stream

Como el agua que enredada va
As the tangled water goes
al rosario de las piedras grises,
to the rosary of gray stones,
va bordando mi triste cantar
my sad song goes embroidering
un arroyo de caminos tristes.
a stream of mournful paths.

Y en el cauce estrecho de su andar
And in the narrow channel of its stride
hay un cuento de lágrimas verdes,
there is a tale of green tears,
lágrimas que lloraron mis ojos
tears that my eyes cried 
por tu mal.
for your misfortune.

Y al ver yo las aguas correr
And when I see the waters running
saltando por entre los juncos
jumping through the rushes
en mis manos se quiebra un querer,
on my hands a love breaks,
mis labios se quedan muy juntos.
my lips stay close together.

Como el agua que enredada va
As the tangled water goes
a los troncos cerca de la orilla,
to the trunks near the shore,
así se ata a ti mi existir.
my existence ties itself to you.

Y no conozco de otra vida.
And I do not know of another life.
Y como el arroyo yo soy,
And since I am like the stream,
en marcha constante a la muerte
in constant march to death
hacia el mar que sabe recibir
to the sea that knows how to receive
aquellos de la pena fuerte.
those of the heavy sorrow.

Tristes aguas
Sad waters,
¡aguas tristes!
mournful waters!

Translations partly aided by Luis. F. Rodríguez Morales

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