Program
| Jake HEGGIE (b. 1961) | “Music,” from The Breaking Waves |
| Henry PURCELL ((1659–1695))/Benjamin BRITTEN (1913–1976) | “Music for a while,” from Oedipus, Z. 58 |
| Franz SCHUBERT (1797–1828) | An die Musik, D. 547 Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118 Rastlose Liebe, D. 138 |
| Florence PRICE (1887–1953) | We Have Tomorrow The Poet and his Song Night Hold Fast to Dreams |
| Johannes BRAHMS (1833–1897) | Unbewegte laue Luft Meine Liebe ist grün Von ewiger Liebe |
Intermission
| HEGGIE | What I Miss the Most… (West Coast Premiere)
Order (Joyce DiDonato) |
| HEGGIE | Of Gods and Cats
In the Beginning |
| HEGGIE | Iconic Legacies (First Ladies at the Smithsonian)
Eleanor Roosevelt: Marian Anderson’s Mink Coat |
Texts & Translations
| Music,” from The Breaking Waves [Text: Sister Helen Prejean] For almost a year I didn’t know He could have music on death row When I found out I sent the tape player and headphones And the next day, he told me: “I listened to music all night long” He drank music like a thirsty man He joined the land of the living that night I felt his joy. I feel it still. |
| Music for a while, Z. 583 No. 2, from Orpheus Britannicus, Vol. II; Realization by Benjamin Britten [Text: John Dryden and Nathaniel Lee, from Oedipus] Music for a while Shall all your cares beguile: Wond’ring how your pains were eas’d, And disdaining to be pleas’d, Till Alecto free the dead From their eternal bands, Till the snakes drop from her head And the whip from out her hands. |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
| An die Musik, D. 547 [Text: Franz von Schober] Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden, Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt, Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden, Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt!Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf entflossen, Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen, Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür! |
To music
O sublime art, in how many gray hours, Often a sigh, escaped from your harp, |
| Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118 [Text: Johann W. von Goethe] Meine Ruh’ ist hin, Mein Herz ist schwer, Ich finde sie nimmer Und nimmermehr.Wo ich ihn nicht hab’, Ist mir das Grab, Die ganze Welt Ist mir vergällt. Mein armer Kopf Nach ihm nur schau ich Sein hoher Gang, Und seiner Rede Mein Busen drängt Und küssen ihn, Meine Ruh’ ist hin, |
Gretchen at the spinning wheel
My peace is gone, Where he is not, My poor head Only for him do I gaze His superior walk, And his words— My heart craves and kiss him, My peace is gone, |
| Rastlose Liebe, D. 138 [Text: J. W. von Goethe] Dem Schnee, dem Regen, Dem Wind entgegen, Im Dampf der Klüfte Durch Nebeldüfte, Immer zu! Immer zu! Ohne Rast und Ruh!Lieber durch Leiden Wollt ich mich schlagen, Als so viel Freuden Des Lebens ertragen. Alle das Neigen Wie soll ich fliehen? |
Restless love
Against the snow, the rain, I would rather through suffering All the inclining Where shall I flee? |
| We Have Tomorrow [Text: Langston Hughes] We have tomorrow Bright before us Like a flame.Yesterday A night-gone thing, A sun-down name.And dawn-today Broad arch above the road we came. |
| The Poet and his Song [Text: Paul Laurence Dunbar] A song is but a little thing, And yet what joy it is to sing! In hours of toil it gives me zest, And when at eve I long for rest; When cows come home along the bars, And in the fold I hear the bell, As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars, I sing my song, and all is well.My days are never days of ease; I till my ground and prune my trees. When ripened gold is all the grain. I labor hard, and toil and sweat, While others dream within the dell; But even while my brow is wet, I sing my song, and all is well.Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot, My garden makes a desert spot; Sometimes a blight upon the tree Takes all my fruit away from me; And then with throes of bitter pain Rebellious passions rise and swell; But—life is more than fruit or grain, And so I sing, and all is well. |
| Night [Text: Louise C. Wallace] Night comes, a Madonna clad in scented blue. Rose red her mouth and deep her eyes, She lights her stars, and turns to where, Beneath her silver lamp the moon, Upon a couch of shadow lies A dreamy child, The wearied Day. |
| Hold Fast to Dreams [Text: Langston Hughes] Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. |
| Unbewegte laue Luft, Op. 57, No. 8 [Text: Georg Friedrich Daumer] Unbewegte laue Luft, Tiefe Ruhe der Natur; Durch die stille Gartennacht Plätschert die Fontäne nur. Aber im Gemüte schwillt Heißere Begierde mir, Aber in den Adern quillt Leben und verlangt nach Leben. Sollten nicht auch deine Brust Sehnlichere Wünsche heben? Sollte meiner Seele Ruf Nicht die deine tief durchbeben? Leise mit dem Ätherfuß Säume nicht, daherzuschweben! Komm, o komm, damit wir uns Himmlisches Genüge geben! |
Mild, unagitated air
Mild, unagitated air, |
| Meine Liebe ist grün, Op. 63, No. 5 [text by Felix Schumann] Meine Liebe ist grün wie der Fliederbusch, Und mein Lieb ist schoen wie die Sonne, Die glänzt wohl herab auf den Fliederbusch Und füllt ihn mit Duft und mit Wonne, Meine Seele hat Schwingen der Nachtigall Und wiegt sich in blühendem Flieder, Und jauchzet un singet vom Duft berauscht Viel lieberstrunkene Lieder. |
My love is green
My love is green like the lilac bush, |
| Von ewiger Liebe, Op. 43, No. 1 [Text: August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben] Dunkel, wie dunkel in Wald und in Feld! Abend schon ist es, nun schweiget die Welt. Nirgend noch Licht und nirgend noch Rauch, Ja, und die Lerche, sie schweiget nun auch.Kommt aus dem Dorfe der Bursche heraus, Gibt das Geleit der Geliebten nach Haus, Führt sie am Weidengebüsche vorbei, Redet so viel und so mandcherlei:»Leidest du Schmach und betrübest du dich, Leidest du Schmach von andern um mich, Werde die Liebe getrennt so geschwind, Schnell wie wir früher vereiniget sind. Scheide mit Regen und scheide mit Wind, Schnell wie wir früher vereiniget sind.« Spricht das Mägdelein, Mägdelein spricht: Eisen und Stahl, man schmiedet sie um, |
Of eternal love
Dark, how dark it is in the forest and field! From the village yonder there comes the young lad, “If you suffer shame and if you grieve, Then says the maiden, the maiden says: Iron and steel, they can be forged over, |
| What I miss the Most…(West Coast Premiere) |
| Order [Text: Joyce DiDonato] The order comes swiftly, whispered yet firm: Be Quiet.  Be Silent.And come Return.The accompanying light shines stark, harsh and true:Unequal.Hollow.All Torn-Through.The aching moment awakens, resonant and pure:Grieve.Rest.And now … Breathe sure.
The new dawn arrives, hopeful yet stern: |
| Time [Text: Patti LuPone] What I miss the most in this unprecedented time is… huh. What do I miss?I have Time in the fullness of the word. Time to reflect on my life and how I live it. Improvements are definitely in order. But I don’t think I miss anything.I’ve been given Time. Time with my family, home safe and all together. Time to look out at Mother Nature, to marvel at the glory she presents us every day. I miss a paycheck and that’s scary. |
| Action [Text: Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ] At first, when it hit mid-March, I thought: Glee! I get to be home to plant flowers Home to read books To have hours for meditation Reflection For me…But conscience, that moral membrane Makes me porous Susceptible To the cries of prisoners Crowded Locked down And anxious families Cut off Cut outWhat can one person do? Guilt is not a bad thing. |
| Music [Text: Ruth Bader Ginsburg] One of the things I miss: Music made by many in unison. Virtual collaboration, good as it is, pales in comparison. |
| You [Text: Kathleen Kelly] There you are. Your voice, your hair. The frayed neck of my old shirt draping the rise of your collarbone. No one else. It’s you, it’s all of your things. You look up to the right when you search for a word, You look down with a smile, Then straight at the camera. Your wide eyes.I see you see me.You purse your lips to tell me what you will not say. I thought I would say, it’s a sad substitution, In the morning, you call. I bow toward the screen, |
| Of Gods and Cats [Text: Gavin Dillard] |
| In the Beginning In the beginning was the cat And the cat was without purr… The ether stirred and there was milk, And the cat saw that it was good, It was good…A hand stretched forth across the milk And scratched behind the cats ears And it felt good…Then the firmament shook And there was produced a paper bag! And the cat went forth into the bag And seeing that it was good, She fell asleep purring. |
| Once Upon a Universe Once when God was a little boy His mother caught Him breaking His toys And gluing them back together again With prayers and incantations.“Don’t play with Your creations,” she admonished him. “Amen.”But He went right on building temples Only to destroy them with vast armies Of ant-like people. Creating new planets and wiping them out With their on ignominious waste products. At the end of eternity He swept the entire mess into the nearest black hole Allelu… Alleluia! |
| Iconic Legacies (First Ladies at the Smithsonian) [Text: Gene Scheer] |
| ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: Marian Anderson’s Mink Coat Listen! Listen! Marian Anderson is singing of thee. Beyond compromise, Beyond recrimination, Beyond the anger of a divided nation Marian Anderson is singing.Wearing this elegant mink, she stood on the steps beneath Lincoln’s stony stare, intoned our nation’s hymn and let freedom ring and ring and ring. Oh what a sound! Of thee I sing.There are some paths no map will ever trace. But, from Lincoln’s steps to Charleston’s “Amazing Grace” I think about what she showed us that day: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. No one. Who are we? |
| MARY TODD LINCOLN: Abraham Lincoln’s Hat Your measured gestures mock me. Words of kindness feel like crimes. In a world where this can happen Only madness rhymes.I am drowning, but will not die. Rip the stars from out the sky. The ship is lost and you pretend We’ll find our way, the pain will end.Your measured gestures mock me. Words of kindness feel like crimes. In a world where this can happen Only madness rhymes. He wore this hat the day he died. Around his hat he tied a mourning band. I am drowning, but will not die. Your measured gestures mock me. |
| JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS: White House Christmas Card, 1963 Jack walked into the room and said: “Diamonds! Minks and diamonds! That’s what they’ll be wearing in Dallas.”I looked up from signing a Christmas card: “What would you like me to do?” He said: “Let me help you choose.”I was delighted! We’d never done this before. The beige and white dress? No? The blue and yellow suit? Maybe? The pink Chanel? “Yes! Yes!” he said “Wear that. Before I left the room, I said: Fifty hours later, I walked back into the bedroom And there it was, signed by both of us: Oh Jack, what would you like me to do? |
| BARBARA BUSH: The Muppets This is Pete. He looks like a piano, but wait…It’s magic! A squiggle, a curve, a line blossoms into a letter, a letter into a word. Then words that rhyme and phrases like “Once upon a time.”It’s magic! The phrase becomes the mountain you’re climbing that – oh, my goodness! – might not be a mountain at all! But an incredibly fleet, not petite, very sweet dinosaur named Pete, who wakes and takes you on his shoulders where the water splashes and flows and tickles the end of your nose with a drip, drip, drop and a tiny tap. And all of this happens from your mother’s lap. Imagine! You can travel anywhere. Something must be done, I thought. And suddenly you’re on Thanks, Pete! |