Songs of Love: Requited and Not Quite
by Gary Wood, Music Director
"Songs of Love: Requited and Not Quite" was performed on May 5 & 6, 2007

Ah, Love! Probably one of the “universal themes of life,” don’t you think? When planning this program, I started thinking about love, and all of the choral repertoire about love, perhaps thousands of works. What about unrequited love, when it isn’t returned; or spurned love; or jealous love; or mad, passionate love; or…well, you get the picture. Sometimes love “makes it” and two people end up together, but other times it just “doesn’t quite” make it. So there you have it, the seeds of programming for “Songs of Love: Requited and Not Quite.”

The three extended works that form a framework for this concert were written by two composers on opposite ends of the time continuum. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) was an important composer who showed the way out of the Renaissance polyphonic style into the more dramatic and operatic style of the Baroque. His books of madrigals clearly show this transition, with the early books written in the long flowing lines of independent voices that meld together and create what we associate with Renaissance music. Later books demonstrate more definable phrase lengths, more emphasis on dramatic textual declamation, and solo singing (monodic, or one voice, style). Monteverdi’s “Lamento d’Arianna” was originally for solo voice, and later set for five-part chorus, the version you will hear in this concert. The text is from the viewpoint of Ariadne (Arianna), who had forsaken her homeland to go with Theseus and help him in his quest to rule. Unfortunately, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on an island, continuing his conquering ways without her. Monteverdi sets this text so appropriately, with great passion and drama.

Another simply great work by Monteverdi is the “Lamento della Ninfa” for soprano solo and men’s chorus. This work begins with a declamatory choral statement, and then a soprano sings of love (“Amor”) in a beautiful monodic, melodic style, supported by choral interjections from the men’s voices. Both of these works will be accompanied by theorbo, an early instrument with similarities to the lute/guitar, and we are fortunate to have Douglas Freundlich as our guest artist.

Norman Dello Joio composed “Love Songs at Parting” on commission, but apparently at that time he was concerned with his health and ended up writing about leaving this earth and how he would miss his beloved wife. So this work comments on yet another aspect of “lost love,” and Dello Joio sets the four texts (which he also wrote) with his own inimitable choral style, using shifting dynamics, varied choral articulations, and a unique harmonic approach.

The program is supplemented by eclectic choral works that span various styles. Brahms is represented with “Der Gang zum Liebchen.” Listen for the deeper, richer, and darker choral timbres that are appropriate for this Romantic choral music, quite a different style than Monteverdi or Dello Joio. French choral music is here as well, with three short chansons by Orlando di Lasso, a Renaissance composer, and the very engaging “Madrigal” by Gabriel Fauré, who is better known for his Requiem setting, a larger work that is frequently performed.

Morten Lauridsen has become a well-known contemporary American composer, and his simple and engaging setting of “Dirait-on,” with text by Rilke, is also sung in French. There is also a little bit of vocal jazz, with two works from the American composers Rodgers & Hart and the Gershwins, “My Funny Valentine” and “Embraceable You.” Perhaps these works capture the most common themes of requited love, and further, their great melodic ideas are supported by rich harmonies in these arrangements by Kirby Shaw and Steve Zegree.

Folksongs are also represented as we search for love, with “Three Scottish Folksongs” arranged by Mack Wilberg, who is now an arranger and assistant conductor with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. These three settings are rhythmically challenging and add a colorful component to this program. And the Swedish composer Sven Lekberg’s setting of the American folk tune “Weep, O Willow” details the joy of love yet the heartbreak of being forsaken at the altar. And the well known American choral conductor and composer/arranger Gregg Smith sets the simple “Blow the Candles Out,” which ends with words that capture the essence of the concert theme: “…so roll me in your arms, love, and blow the candles out.”