Student Recital: Darya Narymanava, Voice

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, op. 135
I. Abschied von Frankreich
II. Nach der Geburt ihres Sohnes
III. An die Königin Elisabeth
IV. Abschied von der Welt
V. Gebet

CÉCILE CHAMINADE: Tu me dirais
I. L'anneau d'argent
II. Tu me dirais

W. A. MOZART: "Smanie implacabili" from Così fan tutte 

DOMINICK ARGENTO: Miss Manners on Music
II. Miss Manners at a Concert
VI. Miss Manners at the Opera
VII. Envoi

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Ya li v pole da ne travushka

NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Lubasha's Song, "Snaryazhay skorey" from The Tsar's Bride

DOMINICK ARGENTO (1927-2019): Miss Manners on Music (1998)
American composer Dominick Argento based his cycle Miss Manners on Music on the texts of Judith Martin, a journalist known as “Miss Manners.” Judith Martin made her career writing a famous column on etiquette, advising her readers on how to properly conduct themselves in a form of correspondence. The cycle consists of abstracts of Martin’s column addressing the proper behavior when attending various genres of musical performances. Each song, except for the first piece of the cycle, is a dialogue between Miss Manners and a “Gentle Reader,” as she calls them. After a close examination of the cycle, it becomes clear that Argento’s writing is driven by the text. The composer’s own words describing the process of writing the cycle only affirm it: “As is always the case, once the text was right, composition went rapidly.”

The beginning piece, “Prologue,” and the closing, “Envoi,” focus on the musical character of Miss Manners, while the rest of the songs portray a series of concert environments and musical genres including a concert hall, ballet, church recital, an opera, and a performance of contemporary music. Each venue and musical setting are portrayed using music typical of the presented environment. For instance, Argento begins “Miss Manners at a Concert” with a quote of a symphony. The delicate, harp-like accompaniment of the third piece, “Manners at the Ballet,” conveys the gracefulness of this art form through ascending and descending dance-like arpeggios. “Manners at a Church Recital” is full of homophonic hymn-like harmonies. The songs explore a range of harmonic possibilities with many of them being atonal.

From the beginning the second song, “Miss Manners at a Concert” immerses the listener in the atmosphere of a symphonic concert. Argento creates this effect by starting the piece with a piano introduction citing the opening statement from Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. The piece itself portrays a reader who is disturbed by people who are talking during a performance. Disturbance of the reader and murmur of the audience is depicted in dissonant tone clusters in the piano part.  On the contrary, courteous Miss Manners is introduced with a sweet, consonant melody in the voice part, marked as dolce.

Just like in the second piece, Argento begins “Manners at the Opera” with a quote. This time, the introduction is quoting the end of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto. Dramatic descending scales and use of tremolo in the piano part emphasize the grandiose style of the vocal writing in this piece. The diva-like gestures in the voice part, such as leaps up and down an octave, utilization of portamento, and fortissimo markings for the voice part make this piece the most vocally challenging in the cycle. 

The stereotypical ideas concerning contemporary music are expressed in the fourth piece of the cycle, “Manners for Contemporary Music.” This piece contains serial content with the primal row appearing in five measures at the beginning of the piece in the piano part. Argento begins the song by breaking up the twelve-tone row including individual tones in ascending lines in the piano part, which quickly become unpleasant tone clusters, due to the pedal application. The dissonance itself seems to serve as the main thematic material throughout the piece. 

Miss Manners on Music is a beautiful tribute to different musical genres, experienced and novice music listeners, and, of course, to Miss Manners’s witty personality, which Argento made an impossible task not to fall in love with.

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856): Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, op. 135 
Composed in 1852, Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart was the last song cycle written by Robert Schumann. This cycle illuminates several moments from the life of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), portrayed in her own words. Most likely, Robert and his wife, Clara, found the poems by Mary Stuart together in the local paper Kölnische Zeitung, where they appeared in a translation by Gisbert von Vincke. This cycle has a sense of devastation to it, that lies not only in the heartbreaking fate of Mary Stuart, but in the composer's own inner tragedy. Eric Sams writes: “One of the saddest entries in Schumann’s diary records his joy on completing these last five dismal songs. We can only conjecture what personal meaning he found in them. The first begins with ‘I am going away.’ The last ends ‘Save me.’ Soon after their completion came his mental breakdown, his attempt to drown himself in the Rhine, and his incarceration at the asylum at Endenich, where in July 1856 he died.”

The first song, “Abschied von Frankreich,” captures the moment Mary was forced to leave France. As the boat pulls her away from the shore of her beloved land, she utters her final farewell. Schumann writes the piano part in a wave pattern, creating a motion that carries the voice far away. The whole cycle is written in the sorrowful key of E minor, except for the third piece, “An die Königin Elisabeth.” Written in A minor, this song portrays the queen writing a letter to her sister expressing her premonitions regarding her untimely fate. The process of writing the letter can be seen in the rests in the vocal line, almost as if she is dipping her pen in ink between phrases. In “Abschied von der Welt,” Mary is saying “goodbye to the world,” which is represented in the movement of the chords of the accompaniment, reminiscent of a funeral procession. The second and the last songs of the cycle, “Nach der Geburt ihres Sohnes” and “Gebet” respectively, are both prayers, and Schumann treats them as such by writing a hymn-like accompaniment consisting of block chords. Nevertheless, these two prayers serve different purposes in the queen’s life, which is represented by Schumann through the musical language. The second piece is a prayer dedicated by the queen to the birth of her son, James, where she is praying for his life and prosperity. Schumann fills this recitative-like song with a sense of hope in the harmony. Contrarily, the function of the prayer “Gebet” is devastating, as Mary was reciting it while preparing for her execution. The piano part carries a lot of harmonic tension throughout the piece, while the vocal line in the middle of the piece portrays a cry of despair, starting every new phrase with a higher pitch. Additionally, anticipated chords serve as a portrayal of the steps the queen was taking towards her death, each “step” preceded by the words of the prayer. The piece ends on a deceptive cadence, never receiving a “proper” ending, like both Schumann’s and Mary’s lives. 

NIKOLAI ANDREEVICH RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908): Lubasha’s Song, “Snaryazhai skorei” from The Tsar’s Bride  
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is one of the most popular and performed Russian composers. The Tsar’s Bride is the tenth opera written by the composer. The libretto was created by Illia Tyumenev and based on the eponymous novel by Lev Mey. The work premiered in 1899.

The storyline of the opera revolves around a real historical event: the shortest and mysterious marriage of Ivan the Terrible to Marfa Sobakina. Marfa was Ivan’s wife for approximately two weeks before their marriage was interrupted by her death from sickness. The story involves not only Marfa, who will be unexpectedly chosen by the Tsar to be his bride, but also her groom, Ivan Sergeevich, who will be killed by one of the Tsar’s oprichniks, Gryaznoy. The motivation for this murder is Gryaznoy’s secret love for Marfa. Marfa is not the only woman whose life was impacted by this love triangle. Lubasha, Gryzanoy’s lover, has a devastating fate because her love for Gryzanoy is not reciprocated. She then poisons Marfa out of jealousy, rage, and despair. The same feelings force Gryaznoy to kill Lubasha at the end of the opera. The character of Lubasha is introduced in the opening act of the opera with her first aria “Snaryazhai skorei,” which chronicles the miserable fate of a woman being forced into marriage with an old man. The aria, written in a folk style, uses a motif written by the composer himself, rather than taken from Russian folk tradition. Rimsky-Korsakov utilizes the idea of leit-motifs in many of his works, and The Tsar’s Bride is not an exception. Thus, this song is not only used as a predicament of the miserable fate that awaits Lubasha in the future, but also as her leit-motif, which will reoccur in the Second Act Intermezzo, when Lubasha experiences the sorrowful emotions tearing her apart. The aria consists of two verses and is sung a cappella, with an orchestral interlude between them. Because of this choice, the attention is focused on the story of the woman portrayed through the beautiful vocal line. This musical choice emphasizes the composer’s devotion to his vision of the style of the opera being “cantilena par excellence.” The aria is written in the aeolian mode, representing not only the pitiful nature of the song and a woman’s fate in this world, but also Lubasha’s own bitter present and future. The orchestral motif before the song and in between the verses is the same: two ascending gestures followed by three chords, two of which are being plucked and one sustained. It almost feels like a bird is trying to fly higher from the ground, but is shot and falls to the ground, never to move again. This bird represents Lubasha’s soul, which yearns to be free. But, despite her efforts, fate will inevitably capture her.

ROBERT SCHUMANN: Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, op. 135 
Mary Stuart (translated by Gisbert Freiherr von Vincke)

I. Abschied von Frankreich
Farewell to France

Ich zieh dahin!
I am going away!

Ade, mein fröhlich Frankenland,
Farewell, my happy France,

Wo ich die liebste Heimat fand,
Where I found the loveliest homeland,

Du meiner Kindheit Pflegerin!
You, the guardian of my childhood!

Ade, du Land, du schöne Zeit.
Farewell, O land, O happy time,

Mich trennt das Boot vom Glück so weit!
The ship bears me far away from joy!

Doch trägt’s die Hälfte nur von mir:
Yet it takes but half of me:

Ein Teil für immer bleibet dein,
One part will be forever yours,

Mein fröhlich Land, der sage dir,
My happy land, recalling to you

Des andern eingedenk zu sein!
The memory of that other self!

Ade!
Farewell!

II. Nach der Geburt ihres Sohnes 
After the birth of her son

Herr Jesu Christ, den sie gekrönt mit Dornen,
Lord Jesus Christ, whom they crowned with thorns,

Beschütze die Geburt des hier Gebor’nen.
Protect this newborn boy,

Und sei’s dein Will’, lass sein Geschlecht zugleich
And, if it be Thy will, let his race

Lang herrschen noch in diesem Königreich.
Long rule in this realm.

Und alles, was geschieht in seinem Namen,      
And let all that is done in his name                                           

Sei dir zu Ruhm und Preis und Ehre, Amen.
Be to Thy glory, praise, and honor, Amen.

III. An die Königin Elisabeth
To Queen Elizabeth

Nur ein Gedanke, der mich freut und quält,
One thought alone gladdens and grieves me

Hält ewig mir den Sinn gefangen,
And dominates my mind,

So dass der Furcht und Hoffnung Stimmen klangen,
So that the voices of fear and hope resound,

Als ich die Stunden ruhelos gezählt.
When sleepless I count the hours.

Und wenn mein Herz dies Blatt zum Boten wählt,
And when my heart chooses this letter as messenger,

Und kündet, Euch zu sehen, mein Verlangen,
Revealing how I long to see you,

Dann, teurer Schwester, fasst mich neues Bangen,
Then, dear sister, a new anguish seizes me,

Weil ihm die Macht, es zu beweisen, fehlt.
Because the letter lacks the power to prove it.

Ich seh’ den Kahn im Hafen fast geborgen,
I see the boat half-hidden in the harbor,

Vom Sturm und Kampf der Wogen festgehalten,
Held back by the storm and warring waves,

Des Himmels heit’res Antlitz nachtumgraut.
And heaven’s serene face blackened by night.

So bin auch ich bewegt von Furcht und Sorgen,
So am I likewise beset by cares and fear,

Vor euch nicht, Schwester. Doch des Schicksals Walten
Not of you, my sister. But the force of fate

Zerreisst das Segel oft, dem wir vertraut.
Often lacerates the sail in which we trust.

IV. Abschied von der Welt
Farewell to the World

Was nützt die mir noch zugemess’ne Zeit?
What use is the time still allotted me?

Mein Herz erstarb für irdisches Begehren,
My heart is dead to earthly desires,

Nur Leiden soll mein Schatten nicht entbehren,
My spirit is severed from all but sorrow,

Mir blieb allein die Todesfreudigkeit.
The joy of death alone remains.

Ihr Feinde, lasst von eurem Neid:
Cease envying me, O enemies:

Mein Herz ist abgewandt der Hoheit Ehren,
My heart abjures all honor and nobility,

Des Schmerzes Übermass wird mich verzehren;
Excess of anguish will devour me,

Bald geht mit mir zu Grabe Hass und Streit.
Hatred and schism will soon be buried with me.

Ihr Freunde, die ihr mein gedenkt in Liebe,
O friends, who will remember me with love,

Erwägt und glaubt, dass ohne Kraft und Glück
Consider and believe that without power or fortune

Kein gutes Werk mir zu vollenden bliebe.
There is nothing good I can achieve.

So wünscht mir bess’re Tage nicht zurück,
So do not wish for the return of happier days,

Und weil ich schwer gestrafet werd’ hienieden,
And because I’ve been sorely punished here on earth,

Erfleht mir meinen Teil am ew’gen Frieden!
Pray that a share of eternal peace might be mine!

V. Gebet
Prayer

O Gott, mein Gebieter,
O Lord God,

Ich hoffe auf Dich!
I put my trust in Thee!

O Jesu, Geliebter,
O beloved Jesus,

Nun rette Du mich!
Rescue me!

Im harten Gefängnis,
In my harsh prison,

In schlimmer Bedrängnis
In dire affliction

Ersehne ich Dich;
I long for Thee;

In Klagen, dir klagend,
Lamenting I cry to Thee,

Im Staube verzagend,
Despairing in the dust,

Erhör’, ich beschwöre,
Hearken, I implore Thee,

Und rette Du mich!
And rescue me!

CÉCILE CHAMINADE: Tu me dirais
Rosemonde Gérard

I. L'anneau d'argent
The silver ring

Le cher anneau d'argent que vous m'avez donné
The dear silver ring that you gave me,

Garde en son cercle étroit nos promesses encloses;
Guards in its narrow circle our enclosed promises;

De tant de souvenirs recéleur obstiné,
Obstinate receiver of so many memories,

Lui seul m'a consolée en mes heures moroses.
It alone consoled me in my gloomy hours.

Tel un ruban qu'on mit autour de fleurs écloses
Like a ribbon on which blossoming flowers were placed

Tient encor le bouquet alors qu'il est fané,
It still holds the bouquet, even when it has wilted.

Tel l'humble anneau d'argent que vous m'avez donné
Thus the humble silver ring that you gave me

Garde en son cercle étroit nos promesses encloses.
Guards in its narrow circle our enclosed promises.

Aussi, lorsque viendra l'oubli de toutes choses,
So when the oblivion of all things comes,

Dans le cercueil de blanc satin capitonné,
When in the coffin padded with white satin,

Lorsque je dormirai très pâle sur des roses,
I am sleeping, so pale upon the roses,

Je veux qu'il brille encor à mon doigt décharné,
I want it to shine on on my scrawny finger,

Le cher anneau d'argent que vous m'avez donné.
The dear silver ring that you gave me

II. Tu me dirais
Were you to tell me

Tu me dirais que l'on entend le souffle,
Were you to tell me one can hear a butterfly

Qu'au sein des fleurs exhale un papillon,
Breathe at the heart of a flower,

Et que l'on a retrouvé la pantoufle
And that the slipper had been found

Qu'en s'enfuyant laissa choir Cendrillon.
That Cinderella dropped as she fled;

Tu me dirais que ces vers sont en prose,
Were you to tell me that this poem was prose,

Et qu'une femme a gardé des secrets,
And that a woman could keep a secret,

Que le lys parle et que l'azur est rose,
That a lily could speak and that blue was pink 

Vois ma folie, ami, je te croirais.
I would believe you, I love you so insanely.

Tu me dirais que l'astre qui scintille,
Were you to tell me that the glittering star

Au ver luisant doit son éclat joyeux,
Owes its joyous light to the glow-worm,

Et que la nuit accroche à sa mantille
And that night attaches to its veil

Comme un bijou le soleil radieux;
The radiant sun as a jewel;

Tu me dirais qu'il n'est plus une fraise
Were you to tell me that no strawberries were left

Dans les recoins tout moussus des forêts,
In the moss-covered recesses of the forests,

Et qu'une plume de bengali pèse
And that a Bengali feather weighs more

Plus qu'un chagrin au coeur, je te croirais.
Than a heavy heart—I would believe you.

En t'écoutant tous mes doutes d'eux-mêmes
Listening to you, all my doubts suddenly disperse

Tombent soudain, vaincus; tu me dirais
Of their own accord; were you to tell me

Que le bonheur existe et que tu m'aimes,
That happiness exists and that you love me 

Vois ma folie, ami, je te croirais!
See how madly I love you, I’d believe you!

W. A. MOZART: "Smanie implacabili" from Così fan tutte
Lorenzo Da Ponte

Ah, scostati! Paventa il tristo effetto
Ah leave me! Flee the dread effect

D'un disperato affetto:
Of a distracted love!

Chiudi quelle finestre... Odio la luce,
Close those windows; I hate the light,

Odio l'aria che spiro... odio me stessa,
I hate the air I breathe, I hate myself.

Chi schernisce il mio duol, chi mi consola.
Who mocks at my grief? Who consoles me?

Deh, fuggi per pietà, lasciami sola!
Ah fly; leave me alone, for pity's sake!

Smanie implacabili
Implacable pangs

Che m'agitate,
Which torment me,

Entro quest'anima
Do not subside

Più non cessate
Within my being

Fin che l'angoscia
Until my anguish

Mi fa morir.
Brings me death.

Esempio misero
If I remain alive

D'amor funesto
I will furnish the Furies

Darò all'Eumenidi,
With a wretched example

Se viva resto,
Of tragic love

Col suono orribile
With the dreadful sound

De' miei sospir.
Of my sigh.

DOMINICK ARGENTO: Miss Manners on Music
Judith Martin (Miss Manners)

II. Miss Manners at a Concert 

Dear Miss Manners: 

Shush! I believe in shushing people who talk during concerts. I didn’t pay to hear them blabbering, blabbering, blabbering. Yet a friend who went with me told me I was being rude in telling people to shut up. It seems to me that what rudeness is, is talking during music.

Gentle Reader: 

Both are rude. The polite thing would be to say to the noisy person, “I beg your pardon, but I can’t hear the music. I wonder if you would mind talking more softly?” By the time you have said all this, a third party will utter a loud shush, thereby accomplishing your purpose without sacrificing your manners.

VI. Miss Manners at the Opera 

Dear Miss Manners:

I am terribly upset about some people’s deplorable conduct at the conclusion of a recent opera. Barely had the final curtain touched the stage, the opera stars not yet gone forward to take their bows, and throngs of what I consider extremely rude patrons started a fast exit up the aisles, supposedly to beat the crowds to the doors, parking lots, or after-theater suppers. My being able to rise and applaud the players on stage is as much a part of an enjoyable evening at the opera as the actual performance, but when six people push their way past me to make their exits, and a near platoon is en route from the front rows, I am personally angered, and goodness knows what the performers must think seeing a sea of backs. I cannot believe that this is proper conduct, but I am at a loss on how either to halt this exodus or to appease my anger. Would you please help?

Gentle Reader:

Well, actually, no. In fact, as a violent opera lover herself, Miss Manners (who just loves violent operas) endorses the lively school of audience reaction, rather than the genteel one that you represent. Uniformly respectful applause is the result of ritualizing the experience of attending an opera to the point that no real expression of opinion is permitted. If Miss Manners were an opera singer (and she has all the qualifications but voice) should would prefer the occasional excesses of enthusiasm when ecstatic fans pulled her carriage through the streets (even if it also meant occasional obviously misguided disapproval) to hearing the same tepid politeness for her triumphs and her failures.

VII. Envoi 

Dear Miss Manners:

Who says there is a “right” way of doing things and a “wrong”?

Gentle Reader:

Miss Manners does. You want to make something of it?

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Я ли в поле да не травушка
Ivan Surikov

Was I not a little blade of grass

Я ли в поле да не травушка была,
Was I not a blade of grass in the field,

Я ли в поле не зеленая росла;
Did I not grow, all green, in the field?

Взяли меня, травушку, скосили,
They took me, blade of grass, and cut me down,

На солнышке в поле иссушили.
They left me out to dry in the field under the sun.

Ох, ты, горе мое, горюшко!
Oh you, oh woe of mine, miserable woe!

Знать такая моя долюшка!
Such is my lot in life!

Я ли в поле не калинушка была,
Was I not a guelder-rose in the field,

Я ли в поле да не красная росла;
Did I not grow, my berries red, in the field?

Взяли калинушку, сломали,
They took the rose bush and cut it down

Да в жгутики меня посвязали!
And tied me up in a bunch of twigs!

Ох, ты, горе мое, горюшко!
Oh you, oh woe of mine, miserable woe!

Знать такая моя долюшка!
Such is my lot in life!

Я ль у батюшки не доченька была,
Was I not my father’s little daughter,

У родимой не цветочек я росла;
Did I not grow up as my mother’s little flower?

Неволей меня, бедную, взяли,
They took me against me will, poor girl,

Да с немилым, седым повенчали!
And married me off to a gray old man I didn’t love!

Ох, ты, горе мое, горюшко!
Oh you, oh woe of mine, miserable woe!

Знать такая моя долюшка!
Such is my lot in life!


NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Песня Любаши “Снаряжай скорей” from The Tsar's Bride
Lev Mey

Lubasha’s Song, “Prepare quickly”

Снаряжай скорей, матушка родимая,
Do not delay, dear mother,

подъ венец свое дитятко любимое.
but lead your beloved child to the altar.

Я гневить тебя нынче зарекалася,
I have vowed not to displease you

от сердечного друга отказалася.
and have renounced my true love.

Расплетай же мне косынку шелковую,
Remove my silken scarf

положи меня на кровать тесовую.
and lay me down on a plank bed.

Пелену набрось мне на груди белые,
Cover my white breasts with a shroud

и скрести под ней руки помертвелыe.
and cross my lifeless hands under it.

В головах зажги свечи воску ярого
Light a candle next to my pillow

и зови ко мне жениха-то старого.
and summon my aged betrothed.

Пусть старик войдет, смотрит да дивуется,
Let the old man come and gaze on me

на красу мою девичью любуется.
and marvel at my girlish beauty.

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