Friday, October 11, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Conductor’s Notes for Love Songs Through the Ages, Chapter 2
By Stephen Gothold
The second group in our concert includes four pieces by twentieth century composers, in very different musical styles, but having in common very significant texts, beautifully and expressively set.
The first piece is William Walton’s Set Me as a Seal Upon Thy Heart, a setting from the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. It is a testament of love, set in a late romantic motet style, and has been sung in Anglican and Episcopal churches, as well as concerts all over the English-speaking world, ever since it was composed in 1938. The work was composed for the wedding of the Honourable Ivor Guest and Lady Mabel Fox-Stewart.
2013 marks the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten, and we are pleased to present two of Britten’s many wonderful secular choral works on this program.
I Lov’d a Lass is set to a poem by George Wither (1588-1667) and was composed in 1934. In this piece, Britten employs what were then somewhat “new” choral techniques - especially portamento - vocal sliding between notes, in this case to emphasize the lament of the abandoned lover.
We turn next to Eric Whitacre, one of the most important composers in choral music today. For his text he chooses a poem by Octavio Paz (1914-98), Mexican writer, poet and diplomat. During his very full life he was a political activist, studied for a time at UC Berkeley, and late in life lectured at Harvard University. He also served as Mexico’s ambassador to India, and was widely traveled through Europe.
The poem is short, and on the surface, simple, as it describes the arc of a life-long love. The poem was written in Spanish, but the composition is set to an English translation.
A Boy and a Girl
Stretched out on the grass a boy and a girl.
Savoring their oranges, giving kisses, like waves exchanging foam.
Stretched out on the beach a boy and girl.
Savoring their limes, giving their kisses, like clouds exchanging foam.
Stretched out underground a boy and a girl.
Saying nothing, never kissing, giving silence for silence.
Whitacre scores the piece by employing a symmetry of sonorities to correspond to the symmetry of the text, resulting in a beautiful and captivating wedding of text and music.
The final piece in this group is by a very obscure composer named Gothold. The poem is by Kenneth Patchen, one of the “beat” poets of the 1950’s in San Francisco, and a colleague of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Jack Kerouac. Unlike much of the writing and poetry of that era, it is very lyrical and quite reassuring in its images:
O sleeping lay the maiden snow upon the branches of the city,
And O my love was warm beside me.
O nearer came the rush of dark wings over the dreams of my people.
And O my heart was full of their pain.
O sleeping lay the maiden snow upon the bitter roofs of the world,
But ah, my love was safe in my arms.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Conductor’s Notes
By Stephen
Gothold, Music Director
Love classical choral music?
Ever wanted to know more about how a Music Director selects
a program?
“Conductor’s Notes” posts several times in advance of each
of our concerts, sharing through a series of brief essays the history,
objectives, and personal passion that led to the choice of that particular
music.
On
October 26 Chorale Bel Canto sings Love Songs through the Ages at
4:00 p.m. in the Whittier College Memorial Chapel, at the corner of Philadelphia
St. and Painter Ave., just east of the Ruth B. Shannon Center for the
Performing Arts.
The music captures true love, unrequited love, illicit love,
courtly love, and humorous love, expressed by composers from five centuries,
from madrigals to George Gershwin and the Beatles—Monteverdi to McCartney!
The prospect of selecting music for a 75-minute program from
the thousands of choral compositions
dealing with the topic of Love, was
at once exciting and daunting...
In the end, I gravitated toward a program organized into
five groups, each group having certain aspects in common.
Our first group consists of three remarkable pieces from the
high Renaissance, the latter half of the 16th century—what we now
call Madrigals. Actually, the word madrigal
refers to a specific kind of 16th century composition, a
sophisticated yet expressive piece set to serious poetry. Many other genres
exist in what we now call madrigals—light pieces with “fa-la-la’s,”--humorous
and silly pieces, and chansons of
many different styles and forms.
Our program opens with Mon
coeur se recommande à vous, attributed to Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594), a
Flemish composer trained in Italy, working in Germany, and composing in French.
For the last 40 years of his life, he was court composer for Albrecht V of
Bavaria. He was extremely prolific, and besides a huge collection of sacred
music, he composed secular music in five languages, including 150 compositions
in French.
The French chanson (song)
was a widely international style, composed, performed, and printed all over
Europe during this period. The true “courtly” chanson is set to mature poetry, set for many voice parts, and
noted for its expressivity. The piece chosen for this program is perhaps the
most famous piece attributed to di Lasso, and for decades was on the
recommended repertoire lists for high school choirs all over the nation. The
text is by Clement Marot, who besides penning many chanson texts and epic
poems, achieved great fame for translating the Psalms into French, forming the
basis of worship for Jean Calvin and his followers in the Reformation.
My heart commends itself to
you,
Full of weariness and
torment;
Despite jealous eyes, at
least
Let me bid you farewell!
My mouth that was accustomed
to your smile
And used to speak with
elegance,
Now only curses those who
banished me from your eyes.
The second piece in this group is April is in My Mistress’ Face, by Thomas Morley (1557-1602) and is
taken from his First Book of Ayres
(1594). It is in madrigal style,
that is, composed expressively to a poetic text. In this case, the poet
attributes characteristics of his lover to the months of the year, and the
result is that we learn that she is rather cold-hearted.
In 1588 Nicholas
Yonge published
Morley’s Musica transalpina, (Music from across the Alps), a
collection of Italian madrigals fitted with English texts, which
touched off the explosive and colorful vogue for madrigal composition in
England. Morley obviously found his compositional direction at this time, and
shortly afterwards began publishing his own collections of madrigals (11 in
all).
April
is in my mistress’ face,
And
July in her eyes hath place.
Within
her bosom is September,
But
in her heart a cold December.
The final piece
of this set is Quel augellin che canta (from the Fourth
Book of Madrigals, by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). Monteverdi is one of
the most important composers in music history. He trained as a Renaissance
composer, but almost single-handedly propelled Italy into the Baroque period,
both with his music, and by his writings about the changing aesthetics of
music. He composed nine books of Madrigals,
the first four of which are in Renaissance style (stile antico). The
last five launch the Baroque ideals of basso
continuo, word-painting, extreme contrasts of expression, and use of
instruments (stile moderno). Some of
these later pieces resemble opera scenes, with soloists, instruments, etc.
Monteverdi sets this poem for five voices (SSATB) in mature
Renaissance style, with some sections in block chords, while flowing eighth
notes in counterpoint signify the flying, singing little bird:
That
little bird which sings so sweetly,
And
gaily flies now from the fir to the beech tree,
And
now from the beech to the myrtle,
If
he had a human mind,
Would
Say, I burn with love, I burn with love!
But
in his heart he burns indeed,
And
calls to his beloved
Who
replies to him:
I
too am burning with love!
How
fortunate you are,
Sweet
little loving bird!
Stay tuned for further notes from our
conductor!
Destination . . .
Chorale Bel Canto
By Linda de
Vries, Singer and Chair of the Board
Love classical choral music? Think Chorale Bel Canto.
Seldom or never listen to classical choral music? Think
again.
On October 26, think the City of Whittier,
where Chorale Bel Canto is singing Love Songs Through the Ages.
Think Whittier is too far to drive for just a concert? Think
again.
“Destination . . . Chorale Bel Canto” posts several Fridays
in advance of each of our concerts, offering you ideas for a different day
trip to the city in which we’re singing, with a Chorale Bel Canto concert
at the center of your experience. These trips appeal to a wide variety of
interests, and share fascinating, sometimes intricate, connections
between the city and the music.
Today,
think Presidential History
10:00 a.m.
Begin your day at the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library
and Museum in nearby Yorba Linda, where Nixon was born. It is located at 18001
Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, (714) 993-3393). It opens at 10:00 a.m.,
and admission ranges from $4.75--$11.95, children under six free.
Whatever your politics, experiencing the history surrounding
our 37th president will stun you. A trip to the Nixon Library is
particularly significant now--2013 is the 100th anniversary of his
birth.
The current exhibit—“Patriot, President, Peacemaker”—Richard
Nixon Centennial—runs through December 31, 2013. It commemorates Nixon’s 100th
birthday and traces his early political career, along with his presidency,
resignation, rehabilitation, and time as an elder statesman, including
never-before displayed family photographs.
12:00 noon
The Library has a small snack bar. For a more complete meal,
Mimi’s Cafe and Polly’s Pies are nearby. Or, you can drive to Whittier and
lunch at one of the restaurants owned and operated by more recent Whittier
College alums:
Phlight
Restaurant and Wine Bar at 6724 Bright Avenue, operated by Jay and Nikomi
Arroyo, serving Spanish tapas and boutique wine and beer; open for lunch from
11:30-2:30 and dinner 5:00-11:00 on Saturdays (562-789-0578). Reservations
recommended for Fridays, Saturdays, and for large parties.
Setá
Restaurant and Bar at 13033 Philadelphia Street, with chef Hugo Molina’s fine
dining, is open for lunch and dinner, (562-698-3355).
Or, picnic in one of Whittier’s lovely parks, possibly Penn Park at 13950
Penn Street, Palm Park at 5703 Palm Avenue, or Central Park at 6532 Friends
Avenue.
1:00 p.m.
If you haven’t already done so, drive the scenic route from
Yorba Linda to Whittier, where Nixon lived, attended high school and college,
and joined his first law firm. As you drive along Whittier, you will pass the
locations where brother Don Nixon’s restaurants once stood, notably the Nixon
Drive-In, Whittier’s teen hangout in the 1950s.
2:00 p.m.
Appropriately, a great deal of Nixon history can be found on
Washington Avenue, named after Whittier’s first bank president,
Washington Hadley. You may wish to stop and walk about any of the following
sites, or call in advance to inquire about tours.
Turn right from Whittier Boulevard. At the corner of Penn
and Washington is the building housing the law firm of Bewley, Lassleben and
Miller, the descendent of Nixon’s first law firm, Wingert and Bewley. The
original firm was located on the 6th floor of the Bank of America
building on the nearby corner of Greenleaf and Philadelphia.
Further along Washington at 7630 you will pass the Whittier
Center Theatre, home of the Whittier Community Theatre. Though not in this
building, Richard and Thelma Catherine Ryan (Pat) Nixon first met in 1938 when
both auditioned for the Whittier Community Players production of The Dark
Tower.
At the corner of Washington and
Philadelphia you will pass First Friends Church and School. Nixon’s mother,
Hannah, was a devout Quaker who instilled the faith in her husband and
children. Whittier is named after the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier. On a
future Sunday you might wish to attend services and hear the grand Harris
Organ.
As you continue, you will pass
Central Park on your right, with a Gazebo bandstand used summer concerts. On
the southeast corner, sits a larger-than-life-size statue of the poet.
If you turn left on Philadelphia
you will pass on your right Whittier High School, which Nixon attended for his
Junior and Senior years. If, instead, you continue across Hadley and turn right
on Camilla, you will encounter more of Whittier’s Quaker history—the Jonathan
Bailey House at 13421 E. Camilla Street, (562-945-3871). It is open for tours
Sundays 1-4 p.m.
This was originally the Thomas
Ranch House, built in 1860. In 1887 Aquilla Pickering, a Chicago Quaker and
financier, held the first meeting of the Pickering Land and Water Company in a
barn behind this house and Jonathan Bailey was elected president. He and his
wife moved into the house on May 15, 1887.
Continue up Camilla and the street
ends in the Lou Henry Hoover Elementary School at 6302 Alta Avenue. Here you
encounter another US President, Herbert Hoover, our 31st president.
The school, named after his wife, was designed by William Harrison in the Art
Moderne style, built by the WPA, and completed in 1938. The facade of the
building presents an elaborately sculpted frieze depicting early Quakers and
the founding of Whittier, with a quotation from Alexander von Humboldt: “What
you would want in the life of a nation you must first put into its schools.”
Mrs. Hoover holds many honorary
degrees, including one from Whittier College, where she also served on the
Board of Trustees and first met the young attorney, Richard Nixon.
Go back down Camilla to Painter Avenue and turn left. At the
corner of Painter and Philadelphia you will arrive at Whittier College, Nixon’s
alma mater. On this corner stands the Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing
Arts. Although the future president performed in dramatic productions while a
student, it was not on this site, but in the auditorium in Founders’ Hall,
which burned to the ground in 1966.
4:00 p.m.
Just east of the Shannon Center in the Whittier College Memorial
Chapel, Chorale Bel Canto sings Love Songs Through the Ages. The
music captures true love, unrequited love, illicit love, courtly love, and
humorous love, expressed by composers from five centuries, from madrigals by
George Gershwin and the Beatles—Monteverdi to McCartney!
6:00 p.m.
To complete your day in Whittier we suggest dinner at either Phlight or
Setá, described for lunch, or at Vintage Cafe at 6741 Bright Avenue, serving
French inspired contemporary cuisine with a full bar. Open Saturdays 5:00-9:00
p.m., (562-696-5050).
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Destination . . .
Chorale Bel Canto
By Linda de
Vries, Singer and Chair of the Board
Love Classical Choral Music? Think Chorale Bel Canto.
Seldom or never listen to Classical Choral Music? Think
again.
On October 26, think the City of Whittier.
Think Whittier is too far to drive for just a concert? Think
again.
“Destination . . . Chorale Bel
Canto” posts several times in advance of each of our concerts, offering you
ideas for a different day trip to the city in which we’re singing, with
a Chorale Bel Canto concert at the center of your experience. These trips
appeal to a wide variety of interests, and share fascinating, sometimes
intricate, connections between the city and the music.
On
October 26 Chorale Bel Canto is in Whittier, singing Love Songs Through the
Ages.
Think—outdoor exercise and mid-century retro! All you
runners, joggers, cyclists, walkers—and your kids!—enjoy a day in Whittier,
with a special treat available this year on this date.
Morning. You can enjoy a morning on Whittier’s
beautiful multi-award winning Greenway Trail, a 4.5-mile recreational bikeway
and pedestrian path begun in 1997 and dedicated on January 31, 2009. The trail,
developed on abandoned Union Pacific Railroad property, begins on the City’s
eastern boundary at Mills and Lambert and travels through Whittier, linking
schools, homes, parks, shopping areas, and transit stops, ending at Pioneer
Boulevard on the western edge of the city.
Five
“stations” highlight different aspects of Whittier’s history, growth and
development. Kinetic copper and stainless steel Wind Sculptures by New Mexican
artist Lyman Whitaker punctuate the trail in three locations—Oak, Sycamore, and
Palm Stations, along with four outdoor exercise installations designed to be
used by anyone ages 14 through seniors—Oak, Laurel, Citrus, and Palm Stations.
Oak Station, on Lambert Road, west of Mills Avenue,
describes Whittier’s founding as a Quaker colony and traces the town’s growth
from a small agricultural community to a suburban city that is now 55%
Hispanic, highlighting key historic figures such as the poet John Greenleaf
Whittier and Pio de Jesus Pico, the last Governor of Alta California.
Laurel
Station, on Lambert Road
west of Calmada Avenue, boasts a demonstration garden with plants native to
Southern California’s coastal desert climate and provides information on water
conservation in landscaping.
Sycamore Station, on Whittier Boulevard near Five
Points, recognizes the native California sycamore tree and traces the history
of transportation in Whittier, from wagons to railroads to automobiles,
including a focus on the mid-century teen activity of “cruising Whittier
Boulevard” on weekend nights. Back home, indulge in retro R&B on You Tube
by listening to “Let’s Take a Trip Down Whittier Boulevard,” by Thee Midniters,
one of the first East LA Chicano crossover bands.
Citrus
Station, south of
Penn Street, in is the heart of Whittier’s original industrial area, and
focuses on early agriculture and industry, including fruit packing, with a
display of Whittier’s own citrus crate labels. The former Sunkist packinghouse
is now the home of nearby King Richard’s Antiques Mall. The Catalina swimwear
factory was located on Penn Street at Pickering Avenue for several decades.
Walnut
Station, on
Whittier Boulevard at Pacific Place, is still in the planning stages. It will
describe Whittier's once thriving nut industry and honor the city’s most
beloved tree—a Paradox Hybrid Walnut Tree planted in 1907.
Palm Station, located at Palm Park, is the fifth and
final station, and features Whittier’s varied architectural history—which will
ultimately be represented by a series of birdhouses representing housing styles
in miniature. Palm Station also features a seating area under a vine-draped
pergola that was constructed by the Whittier Conservancy, using wooden columns
saved from the former Fred C. Nelles School site and the former Theisen
Building from Uptown Whittier
Special
Treat On This Day This Year!
The Greenway Trail is a project of the non-profit Whittier
Community Foundation. This year the Foundation co-sponsors with the Whittier
Lions Club “The fourth annual “Fit for Life” Spooktacular 5K run/Walk and
“Children’s Creepy Crawly” Half-Mile Dash.
This event will be held Saturday, October 26,
starting at 7:30 a.m. at the Whittier Community Center, 7630 Washington Avenue.
This year the funds will provide amenities for Whittier’s upcoming Dog Park and
support the Lions Club “Sight of Kids,” a program that provides free eye exams
and glasses for underprivileged Whittier children.
The event features a Halloween theme, as you run through the
quaint Uptown business district and picturesque historic residential area. You
are welcome to wear family-appropriate costumes to add to the fun.
For registration and the fee information contact Greg
Alaniz, Community Services Supervisor, at 562-567-9400 or
galaniz@cityofwhittier.org.
Lunch. After your morning’s exercise, you might
want to lunch at one of Whittier’s retro restaurants:
Rocky
Cola Cafe, 6757 Greenleaf Ave., 562-907-3377
Ruby’s
Diner,
10109 Whittwood Drive, in the Whittwood Mall, 562-947-7829
Rubi’s
Grill and Frosty Freeze, 11401 Washington Blvd., 562-699-1470
Jack’s Whittier Restaurant and Coffee Shop, 13221 E. Whittier
Blvd., 562-693-8713
Norm’s, 14810 Whittier Blvd., 562-907-2760
Rick’s, 7254 Greenleaf Ave., 562-698-4464
Dinner. Maintain that romantic feeling and continue “to feel the love tonight” by dining at a retro fine dining restaurant in nearby Pico Rivera, either Clearman’s Steak ‘n’ Stein at 9545 Whittier Blvd., 562-699-8825, or Dal Rae, at 9023 Washington Blvd., 562-945-2444.
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