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! The quality of lyricism in music may be defined as that which expresses emotion1. It is subjective in nature, and can be applied to all music. It is not a tool at the composers disposal in the way of form, melody, harmony etc., but rather an inherent byproduct of those tools. Tonights program is an exploration of lyricism in European art song from the first half of the 20th century. All of the pieces on tonights program were composed between 1902 and 1937. The beginning of the 20th century in the Western world saw a wide and eclectic range of stylistic developments in music. As composers sought to build upon and/or divorce themselves from the Romantic style and classical forms of the previous century, a variety of new compositional techniques and stylistic movements arose: the Expressionism and atonality of Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School; the Post-Romantic chromaticism cultivated by Wagner and carried into the 20th century by the likes of Strauss and Mahler; the experiments with polytonality and polyrhythms coupled with a return to Classical forms by Stravinsky, Milhaud and others; these were some of the standouts of the time. While none of the pieces on tonights program could be considered highly radical (and some, such as those by Marx, are downright conservative), each of them achieves emotive goals through various and different means. At a time when so many new compositional tools were at their disposal, I find it interesting to study how lyricism was expressed by the composers featured tonight.

lyricism, n: An artists expression of emotion in an imaginative and beautiful way; the quality of being lyrical. OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2014. Web. 8 April 2014.
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I.

Vt!zslava Kaprlov, Czech composer and pupil of Bohuslav Martin",

began composing at age nine. Sadly, she died at the age of twenty-five in 1940. In her short lifetime, however, she published twenty-nine songs. The first of these, Jitro (Morning) was composed when she was only seventeen years old. In it we are introduced to Kaprlov as painter: her songs always manage to communicate a distinct pictorial atmosphere. In this exuberant song of the dawning of a new day, sweeping gestures and a wide range in the piano depict an epic sunrise and the soaring flight of mornings birds. The vocal line is pure joy, smoothly welcoming in the day. Ruce (Hands) is the third song in a collection of three entitled Nav#dy from 1937. By then Kaprlovs command of harmony was much more sophisticated, and the regular modulation to the dominant found in Jitro was replaced by slithering chromatic relations, employed to great effect in this poetic evocation of a wedding night. Tonal amibuity in the beginning gives way to a solid tonal center at P!t p"lms$k" bl!ch neht", but quickly slips away at lbal jsem zkrou"en!. This pattern continues throughout the song, until the triumphant ending in D major. In this dynamic interplay we hear how an inexperienced lovers confidence builds hesitantly yet steadily. Jitro (R. Bojko) Jitro zpv kol a ve mn!, zlat! ptk, jen# p%elet hory, smav dt! dne a zory, r"#ov! sen bl zem!, zem!. Jitro, sb!ratel sn" bos!, Sv!tla rozsva$ a rosy, Vldn! pozdrav boha sv!tu. Jitro se sk%ivany, kosy, Rozprostr k%idla k letu, Du"e, bl sestra kv!t". Jitro z% kol a ve mn!, z%, z% kol. Morning Morning sings around and in me, a gold bird that flew over the mountains, the smiling child of the day and the dawn sky, a rosy dream of the white earth, the earth. The morning, collector of barefooted dreams, sower of light and dew, the kind greeting of God to the world The morning with larks, with blackbirds spreads its wings toward flight, the soul, white sister of flowers. Morning shines around and in me, shines, shines around. "!

Ruce (Jaroslav Seifert) P!t prst" ruky m je lyra tich a nesm!l, chvili$ku lyru a chvilku h%eben vlasy ti spadly do $ela. P!t p"lms$k" bl!ch neht" lbal jsem zkrou"en!, Zatm co hv!zdy pln smoly rud!mi #hnuly plameny. Sv!t padal s name do propasti, my nesly"eli hran, posledn jsme pili kapky vna, je# zbylo je"t! v Kanan.

Hands The five fingers of my hand are a lyre, gentle and shy, for a little while a lyre and for a while a comb; your hair fell to your forehead. The five white half moons of fingernails I kissed penitently, while the stars, full of resin, glowed with deep red flames. The world fell with us to the abyss, we did not hear the knell, we drank the last drops of wine that still remained in Canaan. Translations by Timothy Cheek

II.

Born in Italy to an Italian mother and a German father, Ermanno Wolf-

Ferraris musical compositions also bore the traits of both countries, though it was Germany and not his native country that more readily embraced his output. He is most well known for his comic operas, such as Il segreto di Susanna (1909), which achieved international recognition during his lifetime. A rispetto is a humble Tuscan folk verse form of eight 11-syllable lines. The subject matter is usually romantic. Most rispetti were scribed in the 14th and 15th centuries, and the names of the poets have been lost. The most famous example of this type of verse in art song is found in Hugo Wolfs Italienisches Liederbuch. (Wolf and Wolf-Ferrari bear no known close relation to one another.) Although the rhyme scheme may vary, many of the poems follow a format in which the first six lines uncover the miniature story within the poem, and the last two either deliver a punch line or offer a touching summary. Wolf-Ferrari was highly sensitive to this structure, and each of these songs employs a concise vocal ending followed by a short postlude that serve to underplay and contrast ! #!

the previous outbursts of emotion in the first six lines. These punctual endings have a way of rooting the entire song in a sense of honesty, no matter how sentimental things become in the middle. As an Italian, Wolf-Ferrari crafted vocal lines of simple melodic beauty, using the wide range of the human voice for dramatic effect. The opening of Quando ti vidi takes us by surprise with its sudden leap to the higher range, much as one is taken by surprise when falling in love at first sight. Harmonically, his style is rooted in the chromatic techniques of Germans such as Wagner, and he uses these techniques to build emotional interest, as in Jo dei saluti, where the movement through different tonal centers takes us on a journey of comparison. Un verde praticello uses a slightly different tactic. By continuously altering between major and minor modes, the mood stays cool and reserved, until it comes to a lovingly affirmative close in the major. In these short songs, Wolf-Ferrari showed that he could accomplish quite a lot with very little, and in doing so paid his respects to the rispetti form. Quando ti vidi a quel canto apparire Quando ti vidi a quel canto apparire Ti assomigliai alla spera del sole. Abbassai gli occhi e non seppi che dire: Allora incominciava il nostro amore. Ora che il nostro amor cominciato Vogliami un po' di ben giovin garbato. Jo dei saluti ve ne mando mille Jo dei saluti ve ne mando mille Quante sono nel ciel minute stelle, Quante d'acqua nei fiumi sono stille, Quante dentro all'inferno son faville E di grano nel mondo son granelle. E quante primavera foglie adorna Che s bella e gentile a noi ritorna! E tanto c pericol chio ti lasci E tanto c' pericol ch'io ti lasci ! When I saw you appear on the corner When I saw you appear on the corner You seemed like a ray of the sun. I turned down my gaze and did not know what to say: That was when our love began. Now that our love has begun I want you to love me well, just a little bit, polite young man. I send you a thousand greetings I send you a thousand greetings As many as there are stars in the sky, As many as there are drops in the rivers, As many as there are sparks in hell And grains of wheat in the world. And as many as spring leaves blossom That so beautifully and kindly return to us! And there is as much danger of me leaving you And there is as much danger of me leaving you $!

Quanto in mezzo del mar fare un giardino. A torno a torno un muricciuol di sassi Ed in quel mezzo porvi un gelsomino. E quando il gelsomin sar fiorito Allora il nostro amor sar finito! Un verde praticello senza piante Un verde praticello senza piante l'immagine vera del mio amante. Un mandorlo fiorito all'acqua in riva dell'amante mio l'immagin viva. Tutti i raggi del sole e delle stelle Sono l'immagin di sue luci belle. Il dolce olezzo di giovane fiore l'immagine vera del mio amore. Amante, amante, Amore, amore, amore! O vieni avaccio a ristorarmi il core! O s che non sapevo sospirare O s che non sapevo sospirare: Del sospirar mi son fatta maestra! Sospir se sono a tavola a mangiare, Sospir se sono in camera soletta, Sospir se sono a ridere e a burlare, Sospir se sono con quella e con questa, Sospiro prima sospirando poi: Sospirare mi fanno gli occhi tuoi. Sospiro prima e sospiro fra un anno, E gli occhi tuoi sospirare mi fanno.

As there could be a garden in the middle of the sea, Return and return to that bed of stone And in the center place a jasmine. And when that jasmine has flowered, Only then will our love have finished! A green meadow with no shrubs A green meadow with no shrubs Is the true image of my lover. A blooming almond tree by the stream Is the lively image of my lover. All the rays of the sun and the stars Are the image of his beautiful light. The sweet fragrance of young flowers Is the true image of my love. Lover, lover, love, love, love! Oh come quickly to restore my heart! Ah, once I did not know how to sigh Ah, once I did not know how to sigh; Now I have been made a master of sighing! I sigh when I am eating at the table, I sigh when I am alone in my room, I sigh when I am laughing and joking, I sigh if I am with that and with this, I sigh before sighing some more: Your eyes are making me sigh. I have been sighing for more than a year, And your eyes make me sigh.

III.

Although his compositions spanned a complete range of orchestral,

choral, and chamber works, Joseph Marx is primarily remembered for his lieder, which numbered over 150. He was heavily influenced by the orchestral songs of Mahler, and his own compositional style was firmly rooted in the ideals of Romanticism. Long, melodic lines; large-scale modulations, traditional forms,

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manipulated ever so slightly; and lush and fanciful accompaniments formed the basis of his song output. Und gestern hat er mir Rosen gebracht, composed in 1909, sounds like a sibling to the earliest published Strauss lieder from two decades prior. It must be said, however, that Marx executes this compositional style with utmost elegance. Pierrot Dandy provides the listener with an exceptional opportunity to compare the traditionalism of Marx with the avant-garde of Schoenberg, as the text is taken from the same set of poetry as Schoenbergs landmark Pierrot Lunaire, composed three years after Marxs song. With that in mind, it is interesting to note that in this song, Marx sounds like the most experimental version of himself a coincidence that is inspired by the subject of the poetry. The vocal line is sometimes disjunct, some of the tonal color could be described as ugly, and Pierrots waltz as played by the piano is a funny, jumpy thing. All of this, of course, serves to evocate the inner life of literatures most famous tragic clown. Nocturne is Marx at his most unabashedly Romantic, with a lushly rhapsodic accompaniment and sweeping vocal line. The onslaught to the senses is practically olfactory; one smells the fragrant, humid summer air wafting up in the extreme arpeggiations. The outpouring of emotion in his songs is readily felt through Marxs colorful accompaniments. Und gestern hat er mir Rosen gebracht (Thekla Lingen) Ach gestern hat er mir Rosen gebracht, Sie haben geduftet die ganze Nacht, Fr ihn geworben, der meiner denkt Da hab' ich den Traum einer Nacht ihm geschenkt. Und heute geh' ich und lchle stumm, Trag seine Rosen mit mir herum Und warte und lausche, und geht die Thr, So zittert mein Herz: ach, km' er zu mir! Und ksse die Rosen, die er mir gebracht, Und gehe und suche den Traum der Nacht. ! And yesterday he brought me roses Ah yesterday he brought me roses, They diffused their scent the whole night, They wooed me for him, he who thinks of me So I bestowed the dream of one night upon him. And today I wander about and smile mutely, Carry his roses around with me And wait and hearken, and if I hear the door, My heart quivers: ah, if he would only come to me! And I kiss the roses that he brought me, &!

And I go and seek the dream of the night. Pierrot Dandy (Albert Giraud, translated into German by Otto Erich Harteben) Im phantast'schen Mondenstrahle blitzen Flschchen und Krystalle, Vor dem Waschtisch schmckt der fahle Pierrot Dandy sich zum Balle. Wasserstrahl in seiner Schale klirrt gleich singendem Metalle. Im phantast'schen Mondenstrahle blitzen Flschchen und Krystalle. Pierrot, statt da auf die schmale bleiche Lippe er das dralle Rot des frischen Lebens male. Schminkt sich, da er ihr gefalle, mit phantast'schem Mondenstrahle. Nocturne S duftende Lindenblthe in quellender Juninacht. Eine Wonne aus meinem Gemthe ist mir in Sinnen erwacht. Als klnge vor meinen Ohren leise das Lied vom Glck, als tne, die lange verloren, die Jugend leise zurck. S duftende Lindenblthe in quellender Juninacht. Eine Wonne aus meinem Gemthe ist mir zu Schmerzen erwacht. Pierrot Dandy In the fantastic moonbeams flash the bottle and crystals, Before the vanity, adorning his pale self, Pierrot Dandy, going to the Ball. Streams of water in the basin clink like singing metals. In the fantastic moonbeams flash the bottle and crystals. Pierrot, instead drawing a narrow pale lip, draws the red lip of fresh life. He makes himself up, in order to please her, with the fantastic moonbeams. Nocturne Sweetly fragrant linden blossom in the lush June night. A rapture from within my soul has awakened in my senses. As if, quietly sounding, I heard the song of happiness, As if my long-lost youth were echoing back to me. Sweetly fragrant linden blossoi the lush June night. A rapture from within my soul has, to my pain, awakened.

IV.

Francis Poulenc was a talented pianist who had a gift for melody and an

inherent understanding of poetry, particularly the nuances of French language in poetry, so it is only natural that much of his greatest work can be found in his ! '!

songs. Often referred to as a Neoclassicist, his compositions are indeed rooted in Classical harmony, as instructed by his teacher Charles Koechlin, but that is not to say he was not tonally modern. His compositions are peppered with twentieth century sonorities such as polytonality, mixture, ambiguous cadences, and colorful Impressionist-inspired nonchord tones. He possessed a rich imagination and an eclectic harmonic vocabulary.2 The ascribed poet of these three songs, Louise Lalanne, never existed. In fact, the name was a pseudonym of Guillaume Apollinaire, a friend of Poulencs and one of his favorite poets to set to music. Furthermore, two of these poems, Le present and Hier, were penned by Marie Laurencin, a girlfriend of Apollinaires. Everything Poulenc did in his songs, he did to serve the poetry. His lyricism was not of the kind that was forced upon an unsuspecting poem, rather it was brought forth, inside-out, from the words themselves. Of Hier Poulenc said, If you think of the words you are saying, the colour will come of itself.3 Even in the setting of Chanson, a poem that is completely meaningless, Poulenc manages to get to the very heart of the meaningless matter. Le Prsent (Marie Laurencin) Si tu veux je te donnerai Mon matin, mon matin gai Avec tous mes clairs cheveux Que tu aimes; Mes yeux verts Et dors Si tu veux. The Present If you wish, I will give you My morning, my gay morning With all my bright hair That you love; My eyes green And gold If you wish.

Je te donnerai tout le bruit I will give you all the sound Qui se fait Which is made Quand le matin seveille When the morning rises Au soleil To the sun !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "!Wood, Vivian Lee Poates. Poulenc's Songs: an Analysis of Style. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi,
1979.
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Bernac, Pierre. Francis Poulenc, the Man And His Songs. New York: Norton, 1977.

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Et leau qui coule Dans la fontaine Tout aupres! Et puis encor le soir qui viendra vite Le soir de mon me triste A pleurer Et mes mains toutes petites Avec mon cur quil faudra prs du tien Garder. Chanson (Guillaume Apollinaire) Les myrtilles sont pour la dame Qui nest pas l La marjolaine est pour mon me Tralala! Le chvrefeuille est pour la belle Irrsolue. Quand cueillerons-nous les airelles Lanturlu. Mais laissons pousser sur la tombe, O folle! O fou! Le romarin en touffes sombe Latou! Hier (Marie Laurencin) Hier, cest ce chapeau fan Que jai longtemps tran. Hier, cest une pauvre robe Qui nest plus la mode. Hier, ctait le beau couvent Si vide maintenant Et la rose mlancolie Des cours de jeunes filles Hier, cest mon cur mal donn Une autre, une autre anne! Hier nest plus, ce soir, quune ombre Prs de moi dans ma chambre.

And the water that flows In the fountain Nearby! Then again the evening that comes quickly The evening of my sad soul Weeping And my hands all tiny With my heart that needs to be close to yours To keep. Song Myrtle is for the lady Who is not here Marjoram is for my soul Tral la! Honeysuckle is for the fair Irresolute. When we gather the bilberries Lanturlu. But let us plant on the tomb, Oh madness! Oh crazy! Rosemary in dark tufts Latou! Yesterday Yesterday, it is this faded hat That I have trailed about so long. Yesterday, it is a shabby dress That is no longer in fashion. Yesterday, it was the beautiful convent So empty now And the pink melancholy Of the classes of young girls Yesterday, it is my heart badly given In a different, a different year! Yesterday is no more, tonight, than a shadow Close to me in my room.

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V.

Like Poulenc, Benjamin Britten was very close to his chosen poetry and

occasionally even the poets, as was the case with W.H. Auden, the author of On This Island (1936). Unlike Poulenc, however, Britten could not resist subjecting the words to his own lyrical interpretation and musical invention. One of Brittens compositional gifts was the ability to create a small, single unit of a musical idea and exploit that unit to its fullest, enabling him to achieve an elusive layer of subtext in his songs. His lyricism expressed itself as the life of the mind. The splashy Baroque fanfare of Let the florid music praise! has a gushing quality to it, especially once it is taken up by the voice. It soon gives way to a more narrow and somber melodic focus, though, taking us from public outpouring to private thought. In Now the leaves are falling fast, a simple descending fifth, from dominant to tonic, is employed in the left hand of the piano repeatedly and at oddly occurring intervals. This gesture contributes greatly to the doomsday quality of the piece, all the way to the end. Seascape features an undulating ebb and flow of the tide in the bass of the accompaniment, with shimmering waves in the treble. It is the vocal line, though, with its comely contours and turn of melody, that is left to express the emotion of love and admiration for the scene at hand. Britten employs a unit of formal structure to best effect in Nocturne, as the regular rise of three measures/fall of three measures pattern evokes the peaceful breathing of one who is in deep sleep. The unusual harmonies enforce Brittens interpretation of the poem, which seems more ominous than the words alone. The set concludes with As it is, plenty, a jazzy number inspired by cabaret style. The syncopation in the vocal part, relentless throughout, is extremely effective at conveying irony, which is precisely what a reading of the poem demands.

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