Vado ma dove Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) This aria, like Chi sa, chi sa, was written as an insertion aria for Martin y Soler's opera Il burbero di buon core, with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, who, of course, wrote the librettos for Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, and Le Nozze di Figaro. Many of the da Ponte librettos contain very serious moments in otherwise comic operas, such as "Come scoglio" from Cosi, or Porgi amor and Dove sono from Nozze. This insertion aria follows that pattern, and would not be out of place in many more serious operas. Madama Lucilla starts by singing "Vado" (I am going), but then there is a pause, and she more quietly asks "Ma dove?" (But where?) "Ye gods, if for its torments, for my sighs, Heaven feels no pity?" In the next section, the orchestra takes on a very mournful tone in the slower "You who speak to my heart, guide my steps, love; remove that hesitation that makes me doubt." Like Chi sa, this aria has an air of dignity, even solemnity to it.   Anne Feeney, Rovi La Cloche Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921) Camille Saint-SaënsSaint-Saëns was born in Paris. A child prodigy, two years after his birth he could already read and write and began piano lessons then almost immediately began composing. His first piano recital was at age five. At ten years of age he gave public recitals of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. At the age of sixteen, he wrote his first symphony. In 1871 he co-founded the Société Nationale de Musique. He wrote dramatic works, including four symphonic poems, and 13 operas, of which Samson et Dalila and the symphonic poem Danse Macabre are among his most famous. In all, he composed over three hundred works and was the first major composer to write music specifically for the cinema. ...In 1886 he wrote his Symphony No. 3, 'avec orgue', that is, 'with Organ', perhaps the most famous of all his works. Aided by monumental symphonic organs built in France by Mr. Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, at that time the world's greatest organ builder, this work in particular is immersed in the spirit of 'gigantism' of the dying XIX century, along with the Eiffel Tower, the Universal Exposition at Paris and the beginning of the 'belle epoque'. The Maestoso of the second movement is clearly an expression of the confidence of the European man in himself, in his technology, his science, his 'age of reason' (somewhat ironically, the melody was later used as the basis for the theme music of the immensely popular film Babe). He was frequently named as 'the most German composer of all the French composers', perhaps due to his fantastic skills exhibited in the construction of melodic passages. Also in 1886, Saint-Saëns completed The Carnival of the Animals, which was first performed on March 9th, 1886. Despite being very popular today, Saint-Saëns forbade complete performances of it shortly after its première, only allowing one movement, 'The Swan', a piece for cello and piano, to be published in his lifetime....   8notes.com La Cloche Seule en ta sombre tour aux faîtes dentelés, D’où ton souffle descend sur les toits ébranlés, Ô cloche suspendue au milieu des nuées, Par ton vaste roulis si souvent remuées, Tu dors en ce moment dans l’ombre, et rien ne luit Sous ta voûte profonde où sommeille le bruit! Oh! tandis qu’un esprit qui jusqu’à toi s’élance, Silencieux aussi, contemple ton silence, Sens-tu, par cet instinct vague et plein de douceur Qui révèle toujours une soeur à la soeur Qu’a cette heure où s’endort la soirée expirante, Une âme est près de toi, non moins que toi vibrante, Qui bien souvent aussi jette un bruit solennel, Et se plaint dans l’amour comme toi dans le ciel! Allerseelen Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949) "Allerseelen" is the last of eight songs that make up Richard Strauss' Opus 10 Acht Gedichte aus "Letzte Blätter" (Hermann von Gilm), which he composed in 1885 at the age of 21. Perhaps the song's nostalgic charm and sentimental warmth were responsible for its immediate and continued popularity. Dedicated to Heinrich Vogl, a singer at the Munich Hofoper, "Allerseelen" was a staple in the concert repertory of Strauss and his wife, the soprano Pauline (née de Ahna) Strauss. Strauss' rhapsodic approach to Gilm's text yields a fantasy of poetic imagery bathed in shimmering late Romantic sound. As though swept away by the graceful simplicity of the poem's nature and love imagery, Strauss subverts its cerebral strophic construction with a musical setting that hints at ternary form in a largely through-composed arrangement. The only significant repetition in the song occurs at the beginning of the third text strophe, where the solo piano introduction is repeated with the soprano "doubling" the melody. The harmonic language is marked by quintessentially Straussian chromatic shifts (as in the approach to A flat major in first iteration of the refrain "Wie einst im Mai"), dramatic modal chiaroscuro (with the willful assertion of C minor as the new tonic key at the beginning of the second strophe and the sudden return to the home key of E flat major in the refrain before the third and final strophe), and far-reaching tonal planning (in the brief tonicization of B minor, related to the home tonic E flat major by the distant interval of a tritone, in the second strophe, with the words "deiner süßen Blicke"). Strauss' largely syllabic vocal declamation and frequent repetition of pitches underscore the nostalgic simplicity of the text. The waves of graceful arpeggiated sweeps in the piano accompaniment throughout the song reinforce Gilm's interpretation of All Souls' Day, suggesting the yearning for the ideal springtime place where love is innocent and lovers are united in otherworldly bliss.   Jennifer Hambrick, Rovi 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. In the Wand of the Wind Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011) Lee Hoiby continues the neo-Classical tradition of Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti (under whom he studied) by writing in an almost Romantic style, forging an idiom that is both melodic and accessible. He studied piano under Gunnar Johansson and Egon Petri, originally planning to become a pianist, but Menotti invited him to study composition at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Early on, he recognized Hoiby's potential, manifested by his first opera The Scarf, performed at the opening of the 1957 Spoleto Festival. He followed this in 1959, with Beatrice, writing an oratorio, A Hymn of the Nativity, the next year. His next opera, Natalia Petrovna (revised as A Month in the Country in 1981), commissioned by the New York City Opera, was premiered in 1964. His next opera was Summer and Smoke (1971). In 1974, he wrote another oratorio, Galileo Galilei. In 1982, his children's opera Something New for the Zoo had its world premiere; The Tempest, commissioned by the Des Moines Metro Opera, was performed in 1986. In 1992, he premiered another oratorio, For You O Democracy, to a text by Walt Whitman. He is also a distinguished song composer and arranger folk songs. In 1994, he wrote a song cycle, What Is the Light, on Virginia Woolf texts. His setting of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "Free at Last," as well as five Whitman poems, premiered in 1995. He also continues to compose instrumental works with a particular focus on the piano, including two piano concerti, a sonata for cello and piano, and the ballet suite After Eden. Ann Feeney © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. In the Wand of the Wind —John Fandel   Composed in 1952 This was a day the trees turned silver In the wand of the wind And wild flowers opened the eyes Even of the blind. The meadow grasses polished The green sickle of wind And finches fashioned the sun Ringing in the mind. This was a day the trees turned silver And finches fashioned the sun. F Tonal Center Allegro molto ( = 76) Colleen Gray Neubert