PROGRAM
| Johann Sebastian BACH (1685–1750) | “Zerfließe mein Herze,” from St John Passion, BWV 245 |
| Franz SCHUBERT (1797–1828) | Ganymed, D. 544 Im Abendrot, D. 799 Im Frühling, D. 882 Nacht und Träume, D. 827 |
| Richard STRAUSS (1864–1949) | Die Nacht, Op. 10, No. 3 Allerseelen, Op. 10, No. 8 Morgen!, Op. 27, No. 4 |
INTERMISSION
| Reynaldo HAHN (1874–1947) | À Chloris |
| Claude DEBUSSY (1862–1918) | Nuit d’Étoiles |
| Ernest CHAUSSON (1855–1899) | Le Colibri |
| Dominick ARGENTO (1927–2019) | Six Elizabethan Songs
Spring |
| YUANREN Zhang | 听雨 – Listening to the Rain |
| RUI Zhang | 雪花的快乐 – Happiness of the Snowflake |
| YI Zhou | 钗头凤 – Phoenix Hairpin |
| ZAIYI Lu | 桥 – Bridge |
| QING Liu | 越人歌 – Yue People’s Song |
Texts & Translations
Johann Sebastian Bach
| Zerfleiße, mein Herze From St. John Passion, BWV 245 Zerfließe, mein Herze, in Fluten der Zähren Dem Höchsten zu Ehren! Erzähle der Welt und dem Himmel die Not: Dein Jesus ist tot! |
Dissolve, My Heart
Dissolve, my heart, in floods of tears |
Franz Schubert
| Ganymed Wie im Morgenglanze Du rings mich anglühst, Frühling, Geliebter! Mit tausendfacher Liebeswonne Sich an mein Herz drängt Deiner ewigen Wärme Heilig Gefühl, Umendliche Schöne!Dass ich dich fassen möcht In diesen Arm!Ach, an deinem Busen Lieg ich, schmachte, Und deine Blumen, dein Gras Drängen sich an mein Herz. Du kühlst den bremenden Durst meines Busens, Lieblicher Moregenwind! Ruft drein die Nachtigall Liebend nach mir aus dem Nebeltal.Ich komm, ich komme! Wohin? Ach, wohin?Hinauf! Hinanuf strebt’s. Es schweben die Wolken Abwärts, die Wolken Neigen sich der sehnenden Liebe. Mir! Mir! In euerm Schosse Aufwärts! Umfangend umfangen! Aufwärts an deinen Busen. Alliebender Vater! |
How in the morning radiance you glow upon me from all sides, Spring, beloved! With love’s thousandfold bliss to my heart thrusts itself your eternal ardour’s sacred feeling, beauty unending!Might I clasp you in these arms!Ah, at your breast I lie, languish, and your flowers, your grass thrust themselves to my heart. You cool the burning thirst of my bosom, sweet morning wind! The nightingale calls me lovingly from the misty vale.I come, I come! Whither? Ah, whither?Upwards! Upwards the striving. The clouds float down, the clouds bow down to yearning love. To me! To me! In your lap upwards! Embracing embraced! Upwards to your bosom, All-loving Father |
| Im Abendrot
O wie schön ist deine Welt, Könnt’ ich klagen, könnt’ ich zagen? |
In the Glow of Evening
How lovely is your world, Could I complain? Could I be apprehensive? |
| Im Frühling Still sitz’ ich an des Hügels Hang, Der Himmel ist so klar, Das Lüftchen spielt im grünen Tal. Wo ich beim ersten Frühlingsstrahl Einst, ach so glücklich war.Wo ich an ihrer Seite ging So traulich und so nah, Und tief im dunklen Felsenquell Den schönen Himmel blau und hell Und sie im Himmel sah.Sieh, wie der bunte Frühling schon Aus Knosp’ und Blüte blickt! Nicht alle Blüten sind mir gleich, Am liebsten pflückt ich von dem Zweig, Von welchem sie gepflückt!Denn alles ist wie damals noch, Die Blumen, das Gefild; Die Sonne scheint nicht minder hell, Nicht minder freundlich schwimmt im Quell Das blaue Himmelsbild.Es wandeln nur sich Will und Wahn, Es wechseln Lust und Streit, Vorüber flieht der Liebe Glück, Und nur die Liebe bleibt zurück, Die Lieb und ach, das Leid.O wär ich doch ein Vöglein nur Dort an dem Wiesenhang Dann blieb ich auf den Zweigen hier, Und säng ein süßes Lied von ihr, Den ganzen Sommer lang. |
In Spring Quietly I sit on the hill’s slope, The sky is so clear. A breeze plays in the green valley. Where I was at Spring’s first sunbeam Once – alas, I was so happy!When I was walking at her side, So intimate and so close, And deep in the dark rocky spring Was the beautiful sky, blue and bright And I saw her in the sky.Look how colorful Spring already Looks out from bud and blossom! Not every blossom is the same for me, I like best to pick from the branch From which she picked hers!For all is as it was, The flowers, the field; The sun does not shine less brightly, Nor does the spring reflect any less charmingly The blue image of the sky.The only things that change are will and delusion: Joys and quarrels alternate, The happiness of love flies past, And only the love remains – The love and, alas, the sorrow.Oh, if only I were a little bird, There, on the meadow’s slope, Then would I remain here on these branches, And sing a sweet song of hers The whole summer long. |
| Nacht und Träume Heilge Nacht, du sinkest nieder; Nieder wallen auch die Träume, Wie dein Mondlicht durch die Räume, Durch der Menschen stille Brust. Die belauschen sie mit Lust; Rufen, wenn der Tag erwacht: Kehre wieder, heilge Nacht! Holde Träume, kehret wieder! |
Night and Dreams Holy night, sinking down; down too, float my dreams, like your moonlight in space, through the silent hearts of men. To these they bring joy; crying out, when day awakes: come again, holy night! Sweet Dreams, come again |
Richard Strauss
| Die Nacht Aus dem Walde tritt die Nacht, Aus den Bäumen schleicht sie leise, Schaut sich um in weitem Kreise, Nun gib acht.Alle Lichter dieser Welt, Alle Blumen, alle Farben Löscht sie aus und stiehlt die Garben Weg vom Feld.Alles nimmt sie, was nur hold, Nimmt das Silber weg des Stroms, Nimmt vom Kupferdach des Doms Weg das Gold.Ausgeplündert steht der Strauch, Rücke näher, Seel an Seele; O die Nacht, mir bangt, sie stehle Dich mir auch. |
The Night Out of the forest steps Night, Out of the trees she softly steals, Looks around her in a wide arc, Now beware.All the lights of this world, All flowers, all colors She extinguishes, and steals the sheaves From the field.She takes everything that is dear, Takes the silver from the stream, and from the Cathedral’s copper roof, She takes the gold.The bushes are left, stripped naked, Come closer, soul to soul; Oh, I fear that the night will also steal You from me. |
| Allerseelen Stell auf den Tisch die duftenden Reseden, Die letzten roten Astern trag herbei, Und laß uns wieder von der Liebe reden, Wie einst im Mai.Gib mir die Hand, daß ich sie heimlich drücke Und wenn man’s sieht, mir ist es einerlei, Gib mir nur einen deiner süßen Blicke, Wie einst im Mai.Es blüht und duftet heut auf jedem Grabe,Ein Tag im Jahr ist ja den Toten frei, Komm an mein Herz, daß ich dich wieder habe,Wie einst im Mai. |
All Souls Place on the table the fragrant mignonettes, Bring inside the last red asters, and let us speak again of love, as once we did in May.Give me your hand, so that I can press it secretly; and if someone sees us, it’s all the same to me. Just give me your sweet gaze, as once you did in May.Flowers adorn today each grave, sending off their fragrances;one day in the year are the dead free. Come close to my heart, so that I can have you again,as once I did in May. |
| Morgen! Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen Und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde, Wird uns, die Glücklichen, sie wieder einen Inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde…Und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen, Werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen, Stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen, Und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen… |
Tomorrow! And tomorrow the sun will shine again, and on the path that I will take, Will we, we happy ones, again be made one upon this sun-breathing earth…And to the broad, blue-waved shore, we shall, quiet and slow, descend, silent, into each other’s eyes we’ll gaze, and on us will joy’s speechless silence fall… |
Reynaldo Hahn
| À Chloris S’il est vrai, Chloris, que tu m’aimes, Mais j’entends, que tu m’aimes bien, Je ne crois point que les rois mêmes Aient un bonheur pareil au mien. Que la mort serait importune De venir changer ma fortune A la félicité des cieux! Tout ce qu’on dit de l’ambroisie Ne touche point ma fantaisie Au prix des grâces de tes yeux. |
To Chloris If it be true, Chloris, that thou lov’st me, And I understand that thou dost love me well, I do not believe that even kings Could know such happiness as mine. How unwelcome death would be, If it came to exchange my fortune With the joy of heaven! All that they say of ambrosia Does not fire my imagination Like the favor of thine eyes. |
Claude Debussy
| Nuit d’étoiles Nuit d’étoiles Sous tes voiles Sous ta brise et tes parfums, Triste lyre qui soupire, Je rêve aux amours défunts.La sêrene mélancolie Vient écore au fond de mon coeur Et j’entends l’âme de ma mie Tressaaillir dans le bois rèveur.Nuit d’etoiles Sous tes voiles, Sous ta brise et tes parfums, Triste lyre qui soupire, Je rêve aux amours défunts.Je revous à notre fontaine Tes regards blues comme les cieux; Cette rose, c’est ton haleine, Et ces étoiles sont tes yeuxNuit d’étoiles Sous tes voiles Sous ta brise et tes parfums, Triste lyre qui soupire, Je rêve aux amours défunts. |
Starry Night Starry night, Beneath your veils, In your breezes and your perfume, Like a sad sighing lyre, I dream of bygone loves,Serene melancholy Blooms in my heart, And I hear the soul of my love Quivering in the dreaming woods.Starry night, Beneath your veils, In your breezes and your perfume, Like a sad sighing lyre, I dream of bygone loves,At your fountain I again see Your glances, blue as the sky This rose is your breath And these stars are your eyes.Starry night, Beneath your veils, In your breezes and your perfume, Like a sad sighing lyre, I dream of bygone loves, |
Ernest Chausson
| Le Colibri Le vert colibri, le roi des collines, Voyant la rosée et le soleil clair, Luire dans son nid tissé d’herbes fines, Comme un frais rayon s’échappe dans l’air. Il se hâte et vole aux sources voisines, Où les bambous font le bruit de la mer, Où l’açoka rouge aux odeurs divines S’ouvre et porte au coeur un humide éclair. Vers la fleur dorée, il descend, se pose, Et boit tant d’amour dans la coupe rose, Qu’il meurt, ne sachant s’il l’a putarir! Sur ta lèvre pure, ô ma bien-aimée,Telle aussi mon âme eut voulu mourir, Du premier baiser qui l’a parfumée. |
The Hummingbird The green humming bird, king of the hills, Seeing the dew and the bright sun Glitter on his nest, woven of fine grasses, Like a light breeze escapes into the air. He hurries and flies to the nearby springs, Where the reeds make the sound of the sea, Where the red hibiscus, with its heavenly scent, Unfolds and brings a humid light to the heart. Towards the golden flower he descends, alights, And drinks so much love from the rosy cup That he dies, not knowing if he could have drained it! On your pure lips, oh my beloved, My soul likewise would have wanted to die Of the first kiss, which has perfumed it. |
Dominick Argento
Six Elizabethan Songs
| Spring Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year’s pleasant king; Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring, Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!The palm and may make country houses gay, Lambs frisk and play, the shepherd pipes all day, And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit, In every street these tunes our ears do greet, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!Spring! The sweet Spring! |
| Winter When icicles hang by the wall And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk comes frozen home in pail; When blood is nipt and ways be foul, Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-who! Tu-whit! Tu-who! — A merry note! While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.When all aloud the wind doth blow, And coughing drowns the parson’s saw, And birds sit brooding in the snow, And Marian’s nose looks red and raw; When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-who! Tu-whit! Tu-who! — A merry note! While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. |
| Sleep Care-charmer Sleep, son of the sable Night, Brother to Death, in silent darkness born, Relieve my anguish and restore thy light, With dark forgetting of my cares, return; And let the day be time enough to mourn The shipwreck of my ill-adventur’d youth: Let waking eyes suffice to wail their scorn, Without the torment of the night’s untruth. Cease, dreams, the images of day-desires To model forth the passions of the morrow; Never let rising sun approve you liars, To add more grief to aggravate my sorrow. Still let me sleep, embracing clouds in vain; And never wake to feel the day’s disdain. |
| Dirge Come away, come away, death, And in sad cypress let me be laid; Fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, O prepare it! My part of death, no one so true Did share it.Not a flower, not a flower sweet, On my black coffin let there be strown; Not a friend, not a friend greet My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown: A thousand, thousand sighs to save, Lay me, O where Sad true lover never find my grave, To weep there! |
| Diapheni Diaphenia, like the daffadowndilly, White as the sun, fair as the lily, Heigh ho, how I do love thee! I do love thee as my lambs Are beloved of their dams: How blest were I if thou would’st prove me.Diaphenia, like the spreading roses, That in thy sweets all sweets encloses, Fair sweet, how I do love thee! I do love thee as each flower Loves the sun’s life-giving power; For dead, thy breath to life might move me.Diaphenia, like to all things blessed, When all thy praises are expressed, Dear joy, how I do love thee! As the birds do love the spring, Or the bees their careful king, — Then in requite, sweet virgin, love me! |
| Hymn Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep, Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted manner keep: Hesperus entreats thy light, Goddess excellently bright.Earth, let not thy envious shade Dare itself to interpose; Cynthia’s shining orb was made Heav’n to clear when day did close; Bless us then with wished sight, Goddess excellently bright.Lay thy bow of pearl apart, And thy crystal shining quiver; Give unto the flying hart Space to breathe, how short so-ever: Thou that mak’st a day of night, Goddess excellently bright. |
Yuanren Zhang
| 听雨 我来北地已半年， 今日初听一宵雨。 若移此雨在江南， 故园新笋添几许？ |
Listening to the Rain I have been in the North for half a year, I heard a night of rain today for the first time. If this rain is moved to the south of the Yangtze River, How many new bamboo shoots are sprouting in my hometown? |
Rui Zhang
| 雪花的快乐 假如我是一朵雪花， 翩翩的在半空里潇洒， 我一定认清我的方向 — 飞扬，飞扬，飞扬 — 这地面上有我的方向。 不去那冷寞的幽谷， 不去那凄清的山麓， 也不上荒街去惆怅 — 飞扬，飞扬，飞扬 — 你看，我有我的方向！ 在半空里娟娟地飞舞， 认明了那清幽的住处， 等着她来花园里探望 — 飞扬，飞扬，飞扬 — 啊，她身上有朱砂梅的清香！ 那时我凭借我的身轻， 盈盈地，沾住了她的衣襟， 贴近她柔波似的心胸 — 消溶，消溶，消溶 — 溶入了她柔波似的心胸！ |
Happiness of the Snowflake If I were a snowflake, Dancing in the mid-air in elation, I must know where I’m going— Flying, flying, flying— Somewhere on the ground is my direction. I won’t go to the cold valleys, Nor to the hills in desolation, Nor to the empty streets for melancholy— Flying, flying, flying— You see I have my direction! Flying in the mid-air in elegance, I recognize that quiet residence, Waiting in the garden for her visiting— Flying, flying, flying— Ah, the plum aroma from her body is emitting! Then by my light-weight, I land on her lappet gently, Close to her soft breast— Melting, melting, melting— Melting into the soft wave of her mind! |
Yi Zhou
| 钗头凤 红酥手，黄縢酒，满城春色宫墙柳。 东风恶，欢情薄，一怀愁绪，几年离索。 错错错！ 春如旧，人空瘦，泪痕红浥鲛绡透。 桃花落，闲池阁。山盟虽在，锦书难托。 莫莫莫！ |
Phoenix Hairpin Your soft apple-red hands, holding onto Yellow-Vine wine, Spring’s here, but you’re distant like a willow inside a palace wall. The east wind’s heartless, feelings are worn thin, a sorrow-filled cup, I have been alone for years since separation. Wrong, so wrong, so very wrong.Spring’s as always, you’ve slimmed, tears run down through rouge and soak a handkerchief. Peach flowers drop, the pond side pavilion is quiet. A pledge of love remains, it’s hard to put into words. Don’t, so don’t, so please don’t. |
Zaiyi Lu
| 桥 水乡的小桥姿态多 石板缝里长藤罗 三步两桥连水港啊 条条玉带映碧波 姑娘挑藕桥头歇 老汉送粮桥下过 离家千年也恋水乡啊 愿做人间桥一座 离家千年也恋水乡啊 愿做人间桥一座 |
The Bridge The bridges of the water town have so many different shapes, between the stone bricks there are green vines. Within three steps you find two bridges. The reflections of them are on the streams across the town. The young lady who carries the lotus root is resting on the bridge, the old man who sends bags of grains is passing under the bridge. Even if I left my home for a thousand years, I would still love my water town, If I left my home for a thousand years, I would wish to be a bridge in this world. |
Qing Liu
| 越人歌 今夕何夕兮， 搴舟中流。 今日何日兮， 得与王子同舟。 蒙羞被好兮， 不訾诟耻。 心几顽而不绝兮， 得知王子。 山有木兮木有枝， 心说君兮君不知。 |
Yue People’s Song O what night is tonight？ All through the waves I row. O what day is today？ I share with Your Highness the same canoe O ashamed, ashamed am I, In status so low O disturbed, disturbed am I, Your Highness I come to know O trees grow uphill, On the trees boughs grow O my heart goes to you, But you don’t know. |