UNIV. Women`s Chorus - University of Illinois Urbana

UNIV. Women`s Chorus - University of Illinois Urbana

University Women’s Chorus
Alex Underwood, conductor
University Mixed Chorus
Allegra Martin, conductor
Portia Davis, pianist
Thursday, April 21, 2016, 7:30 pm
Community United Church of Christ, Champaign
PAUL CALDWELL AND SEAN IVORY
(b. 1940 and b. 1942)
A Pescar Camaron
Jessica Palmisano, conductor
XAVIER MONTSALVATGE
(1912-2002)
Cuba Dentro de un Piano
MONTSALVATGE
Canción de Cuna para Dormir a un Negrito
MONTSALVATGE
Canto Negro
SILVIO RODRIGUEZ
(b. 1946)
Un barco sigue al munda
Jennifer Marnul, soloist
RODRIGUEZ
Hace no sé qué tiempo ya
Shiqi Fu, soloist
RODRIGUEZ
Erase que se era
Emily Alameda, soloist
RODRIGUEZ
arr. Yosvany Estepe
Rabo de Nube
Grace Moran, soloist
STEPHEN HATFIELD
(b. 1956)
Son de Camaguey
University Women’s Chorus
Portia Davis, pianist
INTERMISSION
ANONYMOUS
(before 1622)
Hanacpachap Cussicuinin
ALBERTO GRAU
(b. 1937)
Kasar Mie La Gaji
JUAN GUTIÉRREZ DE PADILLA
(c. 1590-1664)
Tristis Est Anima Mea
PABLO MILANÉS
(b. 1943)
arr. DIEGO LUNA V
De Que Callada Manera
University Mixed Chorus
Portia Davis, pianist
If you enjoyed today's concert, consider giving to the Harold Decker Fund for Choral Excellence,
a new endowment which supports the activities of the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
choral department.
The Fund honors Harold Decker (1914 – 2003), one of the leading figures in choral music in
the mid-20th century. Professor Decker led the choral program at the University of Illinois
from 1957 – 1981, establishing the first doctoral program in the field. Under his leadership, the
University of Illinois became a preeminent center for the exploration of choral music as both an
art and an academic discipline. Decker was admired not only for his artistry and his commitment
to his students, but also for his vision for the choral department at the University of Illinois.
The Harold Decker Fund for Choral Excellence supports this vision, funding events consistent
with his dream for the University of Illinois to be recognized as a national center for the study
and performance of choral music: vibrant, intellectually engaged, and generous in sharing the
transformational power of the art with scholars, conductors, and singers.
Here are some ways your contribution could make a difference:
• $100,000 could take the Chamber Singers on a life-changing international tour
• $30,000 to commission a major new work for chorus and orchestra from a leading American
composer
• $20,000 enables the Chamber Singers to tour nationally, serving as ambassadors for the
University of Illinois
• $10,000 supports a major recording project for the choral division
• $3,000 allows a talented and needy student to travel with the Chamber Singers to Vienna in
May 2017 as part of an exchange with the Anton Webern Chamber Choir (the touring choir of
the Vienna Conservatory)
• $ 2,000 provides a scholarship for a graduate student to sing in the Chamber Singers for a
year
• $1,500 brings a leading expert in choral music, either a scholar or performer, for a two-day
residency in Champaign-Urbana
• $1,000 pays for a day-trip to Chicago for a performance, or to take the Chamber Singers for a
residency/exchange at an Illinois public school
• $250 supports the Chamber Singers' initiative to record videos designed to support the work
of our choral colleagues working in public shoot music programs
•
• If you would like to support choral music at the University of Illinois, there are two easy
ways you can contribute to the Decker Fund:
• you may give online at giving.Illinois.edu (making sure to write Harold Decker Fund for
Choral Excellence in the “Designate other Giving Options box”)
• or send a check made out to UIF/School of Music to:
School of Music Development Office
1114 West Nevada Street
Urbana, IL 61801
Please be sure to include Harold Decker Fund for Choral Excellence in the memo section of your
check or online payment.
University Women’s Chorus
Emily Alameda
Jeannelle Alford
Megan Balk
Celeste Barajas
Jing Cai
Annika Dugad
Shiqi Fu
Kristin Gentile
Jiwen Han
Jisoo Hong
Jena Johnson
Alia Kirsch
Ga Eun Lee
Susan Liu
Nicole Loza
Jennifer Marnul
Grace Moran
Lexie Oliva
Chunqing Qian
Sara Temple
Megan Vescio
Anika Vogen
Cammy Zou
University Mixed Chorus
Upcoming Choral Department Concerts:
Soprano
Varsity Men’s Glee Club Spring Concert
April 16, 7:30pm, Foellinger Great Hall at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Sarah Blanco
Katherine Bohorquez
Meghan Clodfelter
Elizabeth Gartman
Olivia Gronenthal
Shannon Jameson
Boston Kuchar
Bridget McCarthy
Kaitlin Popovich
Amanda Shen
Alto
Alison LeBeda
Thereza Lituma
Clare McQuinn
Linzi Meng
Rebecca Panitch
Tenor
Wilson Chaney
Deleon Rocquemore
Troy Webster
Bass
Joseph Chapman
Myles Foreman
James Ickes
Osiris Ramos
Chris Sullivan
Oratorio Society, Chamber Singers, and Women’s Glee Club with the UISO present
works by Steven Stucky, Johannes Brahms, and Giuseppe Verdi
April 29 7:30pm, Foellinger Great Hall at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
The Choral Division of the School of Music has been one of America’s most important centers
for the study of the choral art since 1960, when Harold Decker established the nation’s first DMA
program in the discipline at the University of Illinois. Graduates of the program (including
Joseph Flummerfelt, Kenneth Jennings, Anton Armstrong, Andre Thomas, Chester Alwes, and
Craig Hella Johnson) stand among the most influential leaders in the field, both as scholareducators and as performers, and have held professional conducting positions throughout the
United States, Europe, Asia, and South America.
Our program offers advanced conductors a comprehensive curriculum covering
all aspects of choral music designed to encourage their growth as both scholars and artists.
Our graduate students receive significant instruction in Choral Literature, Musicology, and
Performance Practice, supported by a Music Library that has a comprehensive collection of
scores, manuscripts, and technologies to support research. Conducting is taught in both private
lessons and master classes, and our students have significant time in front of an ensemble to hone
their craft.
The University’s choral ensembles perform frequently, including regular appearances
at regional and national conventions, and demonstrate the highest level of artistry and
professionalism. Performances include music from all style periods and genres, and include
regular collaborations with the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia da
Camera, as well as with the opera and musicals regularly presented by the Voice and Opera
Division.
Our final piece is more contemporary. Pablo Milanés is a Cuban singer-songwriter, and along
with Silvio Rodriguez, one of the founders of the nueva trova style, which emerged after the
Cuban revolution. This song is from an album that is all se!ings of verses by the poet Nicolás
Guillén, known as the national poet of Cuba. The lyrics are wistful and at points even a bit
melancholy, but the flowing, swaying rhythms of the music highlight the poetic ideas of smiling
and spring.
by Allegra Martin
Texts and Translations
Pescar camaron
Fishing for shrimp
Pescar camaron.
“Cubiche, que este Cubiche,” me dice un
Americano.
¿Qué es esta canción que cantas? ¿Y qué sentido
tiene ella? Dime, dime, ¿qué significa?
Que vamo al rio a pescar camaron,
Que rio arriba a pescar camaron.
Que vamo al rio a pescar camaron,
Que rio abajo a pescar camaron.
Vamo al rio a pescar camaron.
Pues, es una canción pa’ cantar, no más,
Una canción pa’ pescar.
Y cuando la canto,
Me da alegría.
Fishing for shrimp.
“Hey, li!le Cuban,” an American said to me.
What is this song you sing? And what does it
mean? Tell me, tell me, what does it mean?
Let’s go to the river to fish for shrimp,
The river above to fish for shrimp.
Let’s go to the river to fish for shrimp,
The river down below to catch shrimp.
Let’s go to the river to fish for shrimp.
Oh, it is just a song to sing, nothing more,
A song for fishing.
And when I sing it,
It makes me happy.
Cuba Dentro de un Piano
Cuba Within a Piano
Program Notes for University Mixed Chorus
Cuando mi madre llevaba un sorbete de
fresa por sombrero
y el humo de los barcos aún era humo de
habanero.
Mulata vuelta abajeram...
Cádiz se adormecía entre fandangos y
habaneras
y un lorito al piano quería hacer de
tenor.
...dime dónde está la flor
que el hombre tanto venera.
Mi tío Antonio volvía con su aire de
insurrecto.
La Cabaña y el Príncipe sonaban por los
patios de El Puerto.
(Ya no brilla la Perla azul del mar de las
Antillas.
Ya se apagó, se nos ha muerto.)
Me encontré con la bella Trinidad...
Cuba se había perdido y ahora era de
verdad.
Era verdad,
no era mentira.
Un cañonera huído llegó cantándolo en
guajira.
La Haban ya se perdió.
Tuvo la culpa el dinero...
Calló,
cayó el cañonero.
Pero después, pero ¡ah! después
fué cuando al SÍ
lo hicieron YES.
When my mother wore
a strawberry ice for a hat
and the smoke from the boats was still
Havana smoke.
Mulata from Vuelta Abajo...
Cadiz was falling asleep to fandango and
habanera
and a li"le parrot at the piano tried to sing
tenor.
...tell me, where is the flower
that a man can really respect.
My uncle Anthony would come home
in his rebellious way.
The Cabaña and El Príncipe resounded in the
patios of the port.
(But the blue pearl of the Caribbean
shines no more.
Extinguished. For us more.)
I met beautiful Trinidad...
Cuba was lost, this time it was
true.
True
and not a lie.
A gunner on the run arrived, sang Cuban
songs about it all.
Havana was lost
and money was to blame…
The gunner went silent,
fell.
But later, ah, later
they changed SÍ
to YES.
The first piece on our program is, to current knowledge, the oldest piece of polyphony printed
in the Americas, meaning it is the oldest piece of music printed with more than one independent
vocal part. Hanacpachap cussicuinin is in Quechua, the primary language of the Incan empire,
which is still spoken today by 8-10 million people; it is one of the official languages of Bolivia,
Ecuador, and Peru. (You can, in fact, study Quechua right here at the University of Illinois!) It
was published in 1631 by Juan de Peréz Bocanegra, a Franciscan priest who lived and worked
in and around Cusco, Peru. Bocanegra published Hanacpachap cussicuinin at the end of a manual
for priests that he wrote in both Spanish and Quechua. We know nothing about whether the
composer was a native Quechua speaker, a Spanish priest, or possibly Bocanegra himself. It is
a Christian hymn in adoration of the Virgin Mary, but incorporates Indian imagery, such as a
reference to a jaguar in one of the later verses. We will follow the lead of most choral groups
when performing this piece, and sing only the first two verses of the twenty that are published.
Our second piece is by contemporary composer Alberto Grau, a choral conductor and composer
from Venezuela. His first major professional accomplishment was winning the International
Guido d’Arezzo Prize in polyphonic singing in 1974 with the group he founded, the Schola
Cantorum of Caracas. Since then, he has been a leader in the choral movement in Venezuela.
Kasar Mie La Gaji sets a text from a dialect of the Sahel region, a biogeographic zone of Africa that
is a band stretching across the entire continent from east to west, south of the Sahara but north
of Sudanian Savanna. The text means “the earth is tired” and Grau uses a number of sounds, not
only singing, to evoke the sense of a powerful, non-human presence expressing weariness, pain,
and anger.
The third piece on our program, Tristis Est Anima Mea, is similar to Hanacpachap cussicuinin in
that it reflects the spread of Christianity in South and Central America as a result of Spanish
colonization. Mexico City during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries emerged as a center
of Baroque music, and we have many existing choral works from composers employed by the
cathedrals during that time, a vast repertoire that has only begun to be explored in the past
twenty years. Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla was born in Spain, but moved to Mexico in 1622. From
1629-1664 he served as the maestro di cappella at the Puebla Cathedral, about fifty miles outside
Mexico City, where he had a large choir to work with – 14 boys and 28 men. The motet we will
sing tonight is smaller in scale than much of his work, but quite intense and sad. It is a se"ing of a
text from the Book of Ma"hew in the Bible describing the feelings of Jesus on the evening before
he was captured and crucified. The style of this piece is more Renaissance than Baroque, with its
smooth, unmetered feel and the imitative way the different voices interact. Even into the Baroque,
composers continued to compose in what they called stile antico, or the “old style.”
Program Notes for University Women’s Chorus
Canción de Cuna para Dormir a un Negrito
Cradle Song to put a Li!le Negro to Sleep
Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory were American composers who based A Pescar Camaron off of AfroCuban folk songs. This song is based off of a specific style of Afro-Cuban dance music - the Son
Montuno. Son Montuno originated in the 1940’s from the older Son style of music that was a fusion
of the songs from the Spanish farmers and African slaves. In general, Son Montuno involves a
larger instrument ensemble, more elaborate arrangements, and open sections for improvisation.
Ninghe, ninghe, ninghe,
Tan chiquitito,
El negrito
Que no quiere dormir.
Cabeza de coco,
Grano de café,
Con lindas motitas,
Con ojos grandotes
Como dos ventanas
Que miran al mar.
Cierra los ojitos,
Negrito asustado;
El mandinga blanco
Te puede comer.
¡Ya no eres esclavo!
Y si duermes mucho,
El señor de casa
Promete comprar
Traje con botones
Para ser un “groom”.
Ninghe, ninghe, ninghe,
Duérmete, negrito,
Cabeza de coco,
Grano de café.
Ninghe, ninghe, ninghe,
Tiny li#le child,
Li#le black boy
Who won’t go to sleep.
Head like a coconut,
Grain of a coffee bean,
With pre#y freckles
And wide eyes
Like two windows
Looking out to sea.
Close your tiny eyes,
Frightened li#le boy,
Or the white devil
Will eat you up.
You’re no longer are slave!
And if you sleep soundly,
The master of the house
Promises to buy
A suit with bu#ons
To make you a “groom.”
Ninghe, ninghe, ninghe,
Sleep, li#le black boy,
Head like a coconut,
Grain of a coffee bean.
The next three songs are by Spanish composer and music critic, Xavier Montsalvatge (1912 –
2002), one of the trend-leading music figures in Catalan music during the la#er half of the 20th
century. Finding inspiration in the colonial Spanish world of the Caribbean which had its own
lively music, he proceeded to import this style back to the land of its very distant genesis. This
West Indian manner found, in the composer’s words, “a place at the periphery of our traditions
as a new, vague and evocative manifestation of musical lyricism.” Cuba Dentro de un Piano was
wri#en originally by Rafael Alberti in 1936. The text consists of the author reminiscing about
how Cuba had been before the imperialistic presence of the United States in Cuba. Canción
de cuna para dormir a un negrito (Cradle Song to Put a Li#le Negro to Sleep) is a poem wri#en
by Idefonso Pereda Valdés. The song is a lullaby that a mother sings to her son; however,
within its soothing melody are references to slavery, both subtle and obvious, cleverly woven
in. Canto negro, which translates to Negro Song, has a lively and fast-paced rhythm. The song
itself is about black people singing and dancing, and many of the untranslated words have
origins from African languages. The vocal and piano versions of this song were wri#en in 1945;
Montsalvatge’s orchestration appeared four years later.
Silvio Rodriguez was a Cuban composer, considered one of the best folk singers of the time and
a huge influence on Cuban music. He was the leader of the Nueva Trova movement in music,
which started in 1967 and involved combining traditional folk music with progressive and
political lyrics. Rabo de Nube was a reaction to all of the political turmoil that was taking place in
Cuba during the 1960’s and 1970’s, right after the Cuban Revolution and the rise of Fidel Castro.
Freedom of speech was greatly restricted during this time; political thoughts and values that
opposed the new regime could not be expressed freely.
Stephen Hatfield is a Canadian composer who based this song off of traditional Cuban folk songs.
Son de Camaguey is a lively song that involves repeating pa#erns of phrases that are based off of
Cuban folk songs.
by Jing Cai, Annika Dugad, and Cammy Zou
Canto Negro
Negro Song
De qué callada manera
In what a quiet way
¡Yambambó, yambambé!
Repica el congo solongo,
repica el negro bien
negro;
congo solongo del Songo
baila yambó sobre un pie.
Mamatomba,
serembe cuserembá,
El negro canta y se ajuma.
El negro se ajuma y canta,
el negro canta y se va.
Acuememe serembó,
aé;
yambambó,
aé.
Tamba, tamba, tamba, tamba,
tamba del negro que tumba;
tamba del negro, caramba,
caramba, que el negro tumba;
¡Yambá, yambó, yambambé!
Yambambó, yambambé!
The congo solongo is ringing,
the black man, the real black man is
ringing;
congo solongo from the Songo
is dancing the yambó on one foot.
Mamatomba,
Serembe cuserembá,
The black man sings and gets drunk,
the black man gets drunk and sings,
the black man sings and goes away.
Acuememe serembó,
aé;
yambambó,
aé.
Bam, bam, bam, bam,
bam of the black man who tumbles;
drum of the black man, wow,
wow, how the black man’s tumbling;
yambá, yambó, yambambé!
De qué callada manera
se me adentra usted sonriendo
como si fuera la primavera
yo muriendo
y de qué modo sutil
me derramó en la camisa
todas las flores de abril.
In what a quiet, smiling way
you have grown on me
As if you were spring,
and I am languishing.
In what a subtle way
you spill all over my chest
all the flowers of April.
¿Quién le dijo que yo era risa siempre
nunca llanto?
Como si fuera la primavera
¡no soy tanto!
En cambio que espiritual
que usted me brinde una rosa
de su rosal principal.
Who told you that I was always laughter
and never tears?
As if I were spring?
I am not spring!
But how soulful it is
that you give me a rose
from your most beautiful rose bush.
Kasar Mie La Gaji
The Earth is Tired
Rabo de Nube
A Whirlwind
Kasar mie la gaji.
The earth is tired.
Tristis Est Anima Mea
Sorrowful is My Soul
Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem:
sustinete hic et vigilate mecum.
Et cum processisset pusillum
procidit in faciem suam,
orans, et dicens:
Pater mi,
si possibile est transeat a me calix iste.
Verum tamen non sicut ego volo.
Sorrowful is my soul even unto death.
Stay here, and watch with me.
And going a li!le further
he fell upon his face,
praying, and saying:
My father,
if it be possible, let pass from me this cup.
Nevertheless, do not as I will.
Si me dijeran pide un deseo,
Preferiria un rabo de nube,
Un torbellino en el suelo
Y una gran ira que sube.
Un barredor de tristezas,
Un aguacero en venganza
Que cuando escampe parezca
Nuestra esperanza.
If they asked me I’d request but one wish,
I’d prefer a whirlwind,
A cyclone on the ground
With a great anger that rises.
A sweeping away of sadness,
A downpour taking revenge
And when it stopped raining there would
appear
Our hope.
Son de Camaguey
Son of Camaguey
Hanacpachap Cussicuinin
Heaven’s Joy
Esta es cosa linda,
Esta costa brava.
Camagüey, ay linda…
Estas tradiciones,
Ay que lindas son,
Son de Camagüey.
That’s a beautiful thing,
That splendid coast.
Camagüey, how beautiful…
Those traditions,
Oh, what marvelous sounds,
The sounds of Camagüey.
Hanacpachap cussicuinin,
Huaran cacta muchas caiqui.
Yupairuru pucocmallqui,
Runa cunap suyacuinin.
Callpannacpa quemicuinin,
Huaciascaita.
Heaven’s joy,
a thousand times shall we praise you.
O tree bearing thrice-blessed fruit,
O hope of humankind.
Helper of the weak,
hear our prayer!
Uyarihuai muchascaita
Diospa rampan Diospamaman.
Yurac tocto hamancaiman,
Yupascalla, collpascaita
Huahuarquiman suyuscaita
Ricuchillai.
A"end to our pleas
O column of ivory, Mother of God.
Beautiful iris, yellow and white,
receive this song we offer you
come to our assistance
show us the Fruit of your womb.