VIENNA BOYS CHOIR Wiener Sängerknaben
VIENNA BOYS CHOIR Wiener Sängerknaben
VIENNA BOYS CHOIR Wiener Sängerknaben
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2012 Fall Program<br />
MUSIC FROM THE IMPERIAL CHAPEL<br />
<strong>VIENNA</strong> <strong>BOYS</strong> <strong>CHOIR</strong><br />
<strong>Wiener</strong> <strong>Sängerknaben</strong><br />
Kerem Sezen, Choirmaster<br />
Insanae et vanae curae (Mad and vain worries), Hob. XXI:1, 13c<br />
Christe eleison from Missa ad imitationem Pater noster<br />
Ego sum panis vivus (I am the living bread)<br />
Anima nostra (Our soul) from the offertory for the Feast of the<br />
Holy Innocents, MH 452<br />
Più non si trovano, K. 549<br />
Wie lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen (How beautiful are your<br />
dwellings), Op. 35<br />
ROMANTIC <strong>VIENNA</strong><br />
Um Mitternacht (At midnight), WAB 98<br />
Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)<br />
Jacobus Gallus (c. 1550 – 1591)<br />
Antonio Caldara (1670 – 1736)<br />
Michael Haydn (1737 – 1806)<br />
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)<br />
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839 – 1901)<br />
Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896)<br />
Text: Robert Eduard Prutz<br />
Vier Gesänge (Four songs), Op. 17 Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)<br />
Es tönt ein voller Harfenklang (The harp resounds with wild refrain)<br />
Lied von Shakespeare (Song by Shakespeare)<br />
Der Gärtner (The gardener)<br />
Gesang aus Fingal (Song from Fingal)<br />
CONTEMPORARY <strong>VIENNA</strong><br />
Der Traum der Armen (The dream of the poor)<br />
Laudate Dominum (Praise the Lord) from the Missa vocalis, Op. 40b<br />
Vienna<br />
— INTERMISSION—<br />
[Continued on next page]<br />
Bernhard Philipp Eder (b. 1984)<br />
Balduin Sulzer (b. 1932)<br />
Billy Joel (b. 1949)
The Longest Time<br />
This Night<br />
SONGS FROM <strong>VIENNA</strong><br />
[Continued from previous page]<br />
Derweil i noch klein war – I bin z'schwach auf der Brust<br />
(When I was little)<br />
Taubenvergiften (Poisoning pigeons)<br />
Der Gondelfahrer (The gondolier), D. 809<br />
Solo to be announced from the stage<br />
Billy Joel<br />
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)<br />
Arr. Billy Joel<br />
Louis Roth (1843 – 1929)<br />
Text: Carl Lorens (1851 – 1909)<br />
Georg Kreisler (1922 – 2011)<br />
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)<br />
Text: Johann Baptist Mayrhofer<br />
Der 23. Psalm (Psalm 23), D. 706 Franz Schubert<br />
Text: Biblical; translation by Moses Mendelssohn<br />
Morgenblätter (Morning papers), Op. 279<br />
Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825 – 1899)<br />
Arr. Helmuth Froschauer (b. 1933)<br />
Tritsch Tratsch (Chitchat), Op. 214 Johann Strauss, Jr.<br />
Arr. Gerald Wirth (b. 1965)<br />
Text: Tina Breckwoldt<br />
PROGRAM IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE<br />
Hotel Residenz Palais Coburg is the Vienna Boys Choir general sponsor.<br />
www.wsk.at<br />
Exclusive Tour Management:<br />
Opus 3 Artists<br />
470 Park Avenue South, 9 th Floor North<br />
New York, NY 10016<br />
www.opus3artists.com
Vienna Boys Choir<br />
2012 Fall Tour of the USA<br />
PROGRAM NOTES<br />
Music from the Imperial Chapel<br />
Insanae et vanae curae (Mad and vain worries), Hob. XXI:1, 13c<br />
Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)<br />
In 1775, Haydn wrote the oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia, a setting of the apocryphal book of Tobit, for the<br />
Vienna Tonkünstler-Societät, a society founded by musicians which paid small pensions to musicians<br />
and their families. Haydn had applied for membership and waived his fee. In spite of the generous<br />
gesture, which certainly helped the society’s funds, the composer had to wait until 1790 before being<br />
admitted. Another performance of Tobia, planned for 1781, could not be “produced, because of the<br />
departure of an alto”. But in 1784, the oratorio was performed again. Haydn was asked to revise<br />
Tobia. Amongst other things, he added a chorus in D minor (Svanisce in un momento). This chorus<br />
became later, with a new Latin text, Insanae et vanae curae. It is not known what prompted this<br />
(although Haydn certainly knew that he had written a very successful piece); the author of the text<br />
remains unknown. The motet was published in 1809, and was reviewed as a work in its own right in<br />
1810.<br />
Haydn contrasts the wild passages in D minor (Insanae et vanae curae, insane and vain worries) with<br />
calm passages in F Major, quid prodest, o mortalis: what good does it do, o human, to chase worldly<br />
goods? The resolution is in D Major, sunt fausta tibi cuncta si Deus est pro te: all good luck is with<br />
you, if God be with you.<br />
The piece was used in Curt Faudon’s 2009 film about the Vienna Boys’ Choir, ‘Silk Road – Songs<br />
along the Road and Time’. There, it is the piece sung by the boys to Emperor Joseph II.<br />
Text:<br />
Insanae et vanae curae invadunt mentes nostras,<br />
saepe furore replent corda, privata spe,<br />
Quid prodest o mortalis conari pro mundanis,<br />
si coelos negligas.<br />
Sunt fausta tibi cuncta, si Deus est pro te.<br />
Translation:<br />
Insane and stupid worries flood our minds,<br />
often mad fury fills the heart, robbed of hope,<br />
O mortal man, what good does it to strive for worldly things,<br />
if you neglect the heavens?<br />
All things work in your favour, with God on your side.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 2<br />
Christe eleison from Missa ad imitationem Pater noster<br />
Jacobus Gallus (c.1550 – 1591)<br />
Gallus was born in Reifnitz, Carnolia (now Ribnica, Slovenia). His birth name was probably Petelin,<br />
which in Slovenian means ‘rooster’. As he traveled all over the Habsburg Empire, he used either the<br />
German - Handl - or the Latin - Gallus - form of his name, sometimes adding the adjective Carniolus,<br />
in reference to his home country.<br />
Gallus was educated at the Cistercian monastery at Stična. He arrived in Austria as a teenager, singing<br />
first in the Benedictine Abbey at Melk and later with the Chapel Imperial in Vienna. It appears that<br />
some of his works were written for the Imperial choristers. Between 1579 and 1585, Gallus was<br />
Kapellmeister to the bishop of Olmütz (now Olomouc) in Moravia, before becoming the organist of<br />
the church sv. Jan na Zábradlí in Prague. In Prague, Gallus oversaw the systematic publication and<br />
printing of his works. His output was huge: more than 500 sacred and secular works are attributed to<br />
Gallus. He died in 1591.<br />
Gallus’s music combines ideas and elements of the Franco-Flemish, German, and Italian Renaissance<br />
styles. Some of his chromatic transitions in particular hint at much later styles of music.<br />
Contemporaries admired his works for their beautifully woven counterpoint and compared him to<br />
Palestrina (1525 - 1594). This was high praise indeed, as Palestrina’s music was considered ‘pure’ in<br />
the sense of the Platonic ideal of music.<br />
Gallus differs from Palestrina in his use of rhythm. He deftly moves between double and triple meter,<br />
he uses word accents to change rhythm, and creates moments of emotional drama and suspense,<br />
effectively painting the words.<br />
His most notable work is arguably the six part Opus musicum, 1577, a collection of 374 motets that<br />
cover the liturgical needs of the entire ecclesiastical year.<br />
The Missa ad imitationem Pater noster is one of Gallus’s 16 settings of the mass ordinary. It is for<br />
eight-part double choir, and was edited by Hans Gillesberger (1909 – 1986), artistic director of the<br />
Vienna Boys Choir in the 1970s.<br />
Text:<br />
Christe eleison.<br />
Translation:<br />
Christ, have mercy upon us.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 3<br />
Ego sum panis vivus (I am the living bread)<br />
Antonio Caldara (1670 – 1736)<br />
Antonio Caldara, a Venetian, became Vice-Kapellmeister in the Viennese Chapel Imperial in 1716; his<br />
enormous output comprises over 3400 works, among them 100 operas. Ego sum panis vivus (“I am the<br />
living bread”) is a motet for Corpus Christi;; the text is from the gospel of St. John 6:51-52.<br />
Text:<br />
Ego sum panis vivus<br />
qui de coelo descendi<br />
si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane<br />
vivet in aeternum.<br />
Alleluia<br />
Translation:<br />
I am the living bread<br />
who descended from Heaven<br />
whosoever eats from this bread<br />
shall live forever.<br />
Alleluia.<br />
Anima nostra (Our soul) from the offertory for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, MH 452<br />
Michael Haydn (1737 - 1806)<br />
The younger brother of Franz Joseph Haydn, Johann Michael Haydn was born in Rohrau in 1737. Like<br />
his brother, he left home as an eight-year-old to become a chorister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in<br />
Vienna – since the court tried to save money, the cathedral choristers were in effect also the court<br />
choristers at that time.<br />
From 1762, Haydn worked in Salzburg. In 1781 he succeeded W.A. Mozart as cathedral and court<br />
organist in the employ of the archbishop of Salzburg. He held this post until his death. Michael Haydn<br />
is particularly well-known for his many sacred compositions. In 1782, he was asked to edit the<br />
Austrian hymnal to make it more accessible to the people. Basically this meant translating Latin texts<br />
into German and simplifying and transposing melodies to encourage the congregation to join in the<br />
singing.<br />
Anima nostra was written for the Feast of the Innocents on 28 December, which commemorates the<br />
mass infanticide in Bethlehem described in Matthew 2:16. The Magi had prophesied King Herod the<br />
Great that he would lose his throne to a newborn King of the Jews in Bethlehem, and Herod had all<br />
male children in the village killed to prevent this. This would tie in with Herod’s deteriorating mental<br />
and physical health and his increasing paranoia fed by his family’s intrigues, but there is no evidence<br />
that the massacre actually took place, and most modern scholars take it to be anecdotal.<br />
The text is from Psalm 124 (123):7, attributed to King David who in this psalm praises God as Saviour<br />
of Israel.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 4<br />
Text:<br />
Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est de laqueo venantium.<br />
Laqueus contritus est et nos liberati sumus.<br />
Translation:<br />
Our soul is sprung like a bird from the fowler’s net.<br />
The net is ripped and we are set free.<br />
Più non si trovano, K. 549 (1788)<br />
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)<br />
Text: Pietro Metastasio (1698 – 1782)<br />
The canzonetta Più non si trovano is one of six notturni written by Mozart on a text from Pietro<br />
Metastasio's opera L'Olimpiade – a libretto set to music by no fewer than 17 composers between 1733<br />
and 1817, among them Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Hasse, Cimarosa, and Donizetti<br />
In the 1780s, Mozart spent much time with the family of Baron Joseph Nikolaus von Jacquin (1727 –<br />
1817). Jacquin, a famous University professor of botany and chemistry, hosted weekly salons, and<br />
Mozart wrote several pieces for these. The two youngest Jacquins, Emil Gottfried (1767 – 1792) and<br />
Franziska (1769 – 1850), were among Mozart’s most talented pupils. There is some speculation as to<br />
whether Gottfried might have written some of the vocal parts of the notturni; they were published in<br />
1803 under his name. Mozart himself probably did note these pieces for publication.<br />
A (duetto) notturno, literally “night duet” is a short vocal piece for two voices, often with an<br />
instrumental bass line. The form was popular in the 18 th and 19 th centuries; the pieces – which quite<br />
often were about love - were for entertainment, and would often be performed outdoors at night.<br />
Mozart turned the bass line into a third voice, thus creating a trio for two sopranos and bass. The<br />
Vienna Boys Choir performs the piece as it was written; two boys will be joined by their choirmaster,<br />
Kerem Sezen, singing bass.<br />
Text:<br />
Più non si trovano fra mille amanti<br />
Sol due bell' anime, che sian costanti,<br />
E tutti parlano di fedeltà!<br />
E il reo costume tanto s' avanza,<br />
Che la costanza di chi ben ama<br />
Ormai si chiama semplicità.<br />
Translation:<br />
One cannot find anymore among a thousand lovers<br />
even two beautiful souls that are faithful,<br />
and everybody talks about fidelity.<br />
And the cause of such goings-on<br />
is that the (only) constant of one who knows how to love well<br />
from now on will be called simple-mindedness.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 5<br />
Wie lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen (How beautiful are your dwellings), Op. 35 (1865)<br />
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839 – 1901)<br />
Hymn based on Psalm 84 (V 83)<br />
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger was born in Liechtenstein;; he was the son of the Prince of Liechtenstein’s<br />
treasurer. Rheinberger was a nineteenth century wunderkind; at the ripe old age of seven, he became<br />
organist at Vaduz Parish Church, and his first composition was officially performed when he was<br />
eight. The treasurer – Rheinberger senior – was not taken with this chosen career, but by 1851, when<br />
Josef was 12, he gave in and allowed his son to enrol at the Munich Conservatory. Rheinberger was a<br />
quick study; at 19, he joined the staff of the conservatory, teaching piano and composition. In 1877, he<br />
became court composer to the Bavarian King Ludwig II. He was much respected and highly influential<br />
in his time.<br />
Rheinberger, who had particular regard for Bach, Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms, had a number of<br />
illustrious pupils, among them Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Wilhelm<br />
Furtwängler.<br />
Among his compositions are 14 masses, a requiem, and a Stabat Mater. He wrote operas, symphonies,<br />
chamber music, and works for organ. The latter in particular are difficult to play; the organ was very<br />
much his instrument.<br />
The text of tonight’s piece is based on Psalm 84 (V 83), verses 1 – 4 and 11. The original Biblical<br />
Psalm is a pilgrimage song, praising God as host in his temple, offering happiness and forgiveness to<br />
anyone who comes to the sanctuary, literally or figuratively speaking. Anyone who finds God will find<br />
his altars and will know how to lead a blameless life. Anyone who leads a blameless life is granted<br />
bliss.<br />
Text:<br />
Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen, o Herr!<br />
Es sehnt sich meine Seele nach dem Vorhof des Herrn.<br />
Mein Herz frohlockt in dem lebendigen Gott.<br />
Denn der Sperling findet sein Haus und die Taube Obdach im Sturm.<br />
Ich finde deine Altäre, o du mein König, Herr und Gott.<br />
Selig sind, die in deinem Hause wohnen,<br />
in alle Ewigkeit loben sie dich!<br />
Barmherzigkeit und Wahrheit liebt Gott,<br />
und denen, die da wandeln in Unschuld gibt er Gnade und Herrlichkeit.<br />
O wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen!<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 6<br />
Translation:<br />
How beautiful are your dwellings, o Lord.<br />
My soul longs for the court of the Lord.<br />
My heart cries out for joy to God.<br />
For the sparrow has found a home and the dove shelter from the storm.<br />
I find your altars, o my King, Lord, and God.<br />
Blessed are those who live in your house,<br />
they shall praise you forever.<br />
God loves mercy and truth<br />
And he gives grace and glory to those who are innocent.<br />
Oh, how beautiful are your dwellings.<br />
Romantic Vienna<br />
Um Mitternacht (at midnight),WAB 98 (1864)<br />
Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896)<br />
Text: Robert Eduard Prutz (1816 – 1872) (1841)<br />
Anton Bruckner, after whom one of the Vienna Boys’ touring choirs is named, was born in upper<br />
Austria. The son of a schoolteacher and organist, he became a chorister at the Augustinian monastery<br />
of St. Florian. He attended teacher-training school in Linz. From 1845, he taught at St. Florian’s;; three<br />
years later, he became the monastery’s organist. In 1855, he went to Vienna to study at the<br />
conservatory with Austria’s most famous music theorist, Simon Sechter, who also taught the imperial<br />
choristers. In 1868, he joined the court musicians at Vienna’s Imperial Chapel;; ten years later,<br />
Bruckner was made court organist. In 1892, he was released from his duties due to poor health.<br />
Bruckner’s great masses were first performed at the Imperial Chapel, by the court’s choristers, and<br />
they continue to be part of the Vienna Boys Choir’s repertoire.<br />
Bruckner, a deeply religious man, spent much time studying Renaissance polyphony as well as the<br />
works of J.S. Bach. He was famous for his skilful improvisations on the organ, and his compositions<br />
combine traits of early music with Romantic harmonic shifts.<br />
The text of Um Mitternacht is by Robert Prutz, a dissident political writer who promoted democracy<br />
freedom of the press in his writings. Prutz, whose own satirical works were censored (he even went to<br />
jail for poking fun at the German emperor), felt that he was barred from doing what he could do best.<br />
The original version in F minor for men’s chorus, alto solo and piano dates to 1864;; a second version<br />
for men’s chorus a cappella and tenor solo was written in 1886.The work was first performed in Linz<br />
on 11 December 1864, under Bruckner’s own direction.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 7<br />
Text:<br />
Um Mitternacht in ernster Stunde,<br />
tönt oft ein wundersamer Klang:<br />
s’ist wie aus liebem Muttermunde<br />
ein freundlich tröstender Gesang.<br />
In süßen, unbelauschten Thränen<br />
Löst er des Herzens bange Pein,<br />
Und alles unmuthvolle Sehnen<br />
Und allen Kummer wiegt er ein.<br />
Als käm der Mai des Lebens wieder<br />
Regt sich’s im Herzen wunderbar:<br />
Da quillen Töne, keimen Lieder,<br />
Da wird die Seele jung und klar.<br />
So tönt das stille Läuten,<br />
doch ich versteh’ die Weise nie,<br />
und nur mitunter möchte ich’s deuten<br />
als wär’s der Kindheit Melodie.<br />
Translation:<br />
At midnight, at the serious hour,<br />
There often is a wondrous sound:<br />
As if sung by a mother,<br />
A friendly, consoling song.<br />
It dissolves the heart’s pains<br />
Into sweet, unheard tears.<br />
And all longing despite yourself<br />
And all sorrow is lulled.<br />
As if life’s May had returned<br />
The heart moves blissfully:<br />
Sounds well up (and) germinate into songs,<br />
The soul becomes young and pure once more.<br />
Thus sounds the quiet tolling,<br />
But I don’t ever understand the tune,<br />
And only sometimes I would believe<br />
That it is the melody of childhood.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 8<br />
Vier Gesänge (Four songs), Op. 17<br />
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)<br />
Es tönt ein voller Harfenklang (The harp resounds)<br />
Text: Friedrich Ruperti (1805 – 1867)<br />
Lied von Shakespeare (Song by Shakespeare)<br />
Text: William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), German version by August Wilhelm von Schlegel<br />
Der Gärtner (The Gardener)<br />
Text: Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 – 1857)<br />
Gesang aus Fingal (Song from Fingal)<br />
Text: James Macpherson (1736 – 1796)<br />
Hamburg-born Johannes Brahms was a reserved, logical and thorough man, whose terse manner is<br />
reflected in his works. He knew a lot of music, and had obviously studied ancient music in some detail<br />
(this is reflected in his own use of Renaissance and Baroque polyphony). When writing vocal music,<br />
Brahms paid close attention to words; his sacred music is a deeply felt, non-denominational statement<br />
of faith.<br />
Brahms, who for a while was the artistic director of a women’s choir in Hamburg, wrote much music<br />
for high voices, motets, lieder and folk songs. He made use of traditional folk tunes, sometimes simply<br />
arranging them but also invented his own, such as his famous lullaby.<br />
Brahms wrote the four melancholy songs for his women’s chorus. All four deal with unrequited love,<br />
death or dying in some form; these are highly romantic topics. The unusual instrumentation, two<br />
French horns and a harp, matches the mood. There is an alternative version by Brahms himself, for<br />
choir and piano.<br />
Es tönt ein voller Harfenklang (The harp resounds)<br />
Text: Friedrich Ruperti (1805 – 1867)<br />
Text:<br />
Es tönt ein voller Harfenklang,<br />
den Lieb und Sehnsucht schwellen.<br />
Er dringt zum Herzen tief und bang<br />
und lässt das Auge quellen.<br />
O rinnet, Tränen, nur herab,<br />
o schlage Herz mit Beben.<br />
Es sanken Lieb’ und Glück ins Grab,<br />
verloren ist das Leben!<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 9<br />
Translation:<br />
The harp resounds with wild refrain<br />
That glows with love and yearning<br />
It fills my heart with deepest pain<br />
And tears flow hot and burning.<br />
O flow my tears and soon be shed!<br />
O shake, my heart, with beating.<br />
My love and happiness are dead,<br />
And life has lost its meaning.<br />
Lied von Shakespeare (Song by Shakespeare from Twelfth Night, Akc II, Scene 4)<br />
Text: William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), German version by A.W. von Schlegel (1826)<br />
The song is taken from Shakespeare’s 1601 comedy Twelfth Night. The scene is set in the Duke of<br />
Orsino’s house, the Duke and Viola discuss love and the Duke asks Feste the fool to sing this ‘ancient’<br />
song.<br />
Text:<br />
Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod,<br />
und versenk in Cypressen den Leib!<br />
Laß mich frei, laß mich frei, Not!<br />
Mich erschlägt ein holdseliges Weib.<br />
Mit Rosmarin mein Leichenhemd,<br />
o bestellt es!<br />
Ob Lieb ans Herz mir tödlich kommt,<br />
Treu hält es, Treu hält es.<br />
Keine Blum, keine Blum süß<br />
sei gestreut auf den schwärzlichen Sarg;<br />
keine Seel, keine Seel grüß mein Gebein,<br />
wo die Erd’ es verbarg.<br />
Um Ach und Weh zu wenden ab,<br />
bergt alleine mich,<br />
wo kein Treuer wall ans Grab<br />
und weine, und weine.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 10<br />
Shakespeare’s original text:<br />
Come away, come away, death,<br />
And in sad cypress let me be laid;<br />
Fie away, fie away, breath;<br />
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.<br />
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,<br />
O prepare it!<br />
My part of death, no one so true<br />
Did share it.<br />
Not a flower, not a flower sweet,<br />
On my black coffin let there be strown;<br />
Not a friend, not a friend greet<br />
My poor corpse, when my bones shall be thrown:<br />
A thousand sighs to save,<br />
Lay me, O where<br />
Sad true lover never find my grave,<br />
To weep there!<br />
Der Gärtner (The gardener)<br />
Text: Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 – 1857)<br />
Eichendorff’s text clearly hit a contemporary nerve; there is also a famous duet by Mendelssohn.<br />
Brahms’s version is a song with verses, in 6/8 time.<br />
Text:<br />
Wohin ich geh und schaue,<br />
in Feld und Wald und Tal,<br />
vom Berg hinab in die Aue:<br />
viel schöne, hohe Fraue,<br />
grüß’ ich dich tausendmal.<br />
In meinem Garten find ich<br />
viel Blumen schön und fein,<br />
viel Kränze wohl draus wind ich<br />
und tausend Gedanken bind’ ich<br />
und Grüße mit darein.<br />
Ihr darf ich keinen reichen,<br />
sie ist zu hoch und schön,<br />
die müssen alle verbleichen,<br />
die Liebe nur ohne gleichen<br />
bleibt ewig im Herzen stehn.<br />
Ich schein’ wohl froher Dinge<br />
und schaffe auf und ab,<br />
und ob das Herz zerspringe<br />
Ich grabe fort und singe<br />
und grab’ mir bald mein Grab.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 11<br />
Translation:<br />
Wherever I may wander in field and wood and plains.<br />
From hill or valley yonder,<br />
I send you ever fonder a thousand sweet refrains.<br />
My garden now discloses the fairest flow’rs I know<br />
A thousand thoughts it encloses,<br />
and with my garlands of roses a thousand greetings go.<br />
Alas, the one I cherish, she is a thing apart,<br />
my wreaths must wither and perish,<br />
but boundless love will flourish<br />
forever in my heart.<br />
I try to bear it gladly<br />
And labour bravely forth,<br />
and though my heart beats madly<br />
I work there singing sadly<br />
And dig my grave on earth.<br />
Gesang aus Fingal (Song from Fingal)<br />
Text: James Macpherson alias Ossian (1761); German text by an anonymous author<br />
Gesang aus Fingal (Song from the Fingal epic) is a lament for the death of Scottish warrior, “graceful<br />
Trenar”. Passages for women’s voices a cappella alternate with accompanied passages, first with one<br />
horn, then two, then harp, effectively creating the mood.<br />
The text is a poetic German rendition of a passage from James MacPherson’s Fingal, first published in<br />
1762. MacPherson claimed to have discovered fragments of an ancient Gaelic epic by Ossian, the son<br />
of Fingal, a third-century king of Scotland. MacPherson’s heroes are noble savages, combining the<br />
virtues of Achilles in combat with “civilised” and enlightened reasoning, and the “discovery” was<br />
greeted with enthusiasm. An Ossian craze swept Europe, and visitors flocked to Scotland to visit<br />
Ossian’s and Fingal’s caves. Napoleon was known to carry a copy of the book, and Goethe’s Werther<br />
drops The Iliad, his favourite bedtime reading, for Fingal, which he feels is infinitely more stirring and<br />
“closer to his roots”.<br />
Despite the book’s phenomenal success, contemporary critics suspected MacPherson of forgery, in<br />
particular, as he never made the original manuscripts available to other scholars. The dispute was not<br />
settled until years after MacPherson’s death, when it was established that Fingal was indeed one of the<br />
more spectacular literary hoaxes of its time. By the time Brahms wrote his song, he would probably<br />
have known that the epic was a fake, and its author Ossian a pastiche of several celtic heroes and<br />
bards, as imagined by MacPherson.<br />
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Program Notes – page 12<br />
Text:<br />
Wein’ an den Felsen der brausenden Winde<br />
weine o Mädchen von Inistore!<br />
Beug’ über die Wogen dein schönes Haupt,<br />
lieblicher du als der Geist der Berge wenn er um Mittag in einem Sonnenstrahl<br />
über das Schweigen von Morven fährt.<br />
Er ist gefallen, dein Jünglein liegt darnieder, bleich sank er unter Cuthullins Schwert.<br />
Nimmer wird Mut deinen Liebling mehr reizen,<br />
das Blut von Königen zu vergiessen.<br />
Wein’ an den Felsen der brausenden Winde,<br />
weine, o Mädchen, von Inistore.<br />
Trenar, der liebliche Trenar, starb. O Mädchen von Inistore!<br />
Seine grauen Hunde heulen daheim; sie sehen seinen Geist vorüberziehen.<br />
Trenar, der liebliche Trenar, starb. O Mädchen von Inistore.<br />
Sein Bogen hängt ungespannt in der Halle nichts regt sich auf der Heide der Rehe.<br />
Wein’ an den Felsen der brausenden Winde, weine, o Mädchen von Inistore. Wein!<br />
Translation:<br />
Weep on the rocks where the storm winds are raging,<br />
weep, o thou maiden of Inistore!<br />
Bend over the waters thy lovely head;<br />
Fairer art thou than the mountain spirit<br />
When he at noon in the brightness of the sun<br />
Touches the silence of Morven’s height.<br />
For he is fallen, thy true love lies defeated,<br />
slain by the might of Cuthullin’s sword.<br />
Never again will his valour inspire him<br />
To sheathe his sword in the blood if princes.<br />
Weep on the rocks where the storm winds are raging,<br />
weep, o thou maiden of Inistore.<br />
Trenar, ah, Trenar the fair is dead! Dead, o maiden of Inistore.<br />
See his growling hounds, they howl in his hall; suspicious his ghost walks past the door.<br />
Trenar, ah, Trenar the fair is dead.Dead, o maiden of Inistore. [...]<br />
His bow is unstrung and hangs in his castle;<br />
Hushed, hushed silence is where deer once did wander.<br />
Weep on the rocks where the storm winds are raging,<br />
weep, o thou maiden of Inistore. Weep! [...]<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 13<br />
Contemporary Vienna<br />
Der Traum der Armen (The Dream of the Poor) (2001)<br />
Bernhard Philipp Eder (b. 1984)<br />
Text: Karl Simrock (1802 – 1876), after Ulrich von Liechtenstein (1200 – 1275)<br />
Bernhard Philipp Eder was born in Vienna. He discovered his passion for music early on; he studied<br />
piano as a child and attended Vienna's Musikgymnasium. Eder was determined to become a composer;<br />
he took private lessons, and enrolled in the Vienna Conservatory. In 2005, Eder started studying at<br />
Vienna's University for Music;; in 2006, he received first prize at the competition “Salieri today”.<br />
Ulrich von Liechtenstein (1200 – 1275) was a medieval minnesinger and a powerful politician. His<br />
family took its name from their castle near Judenburg in Styria; there is no connection to the<br />
principality of Liechtenstein. His political positions include that of steward or seneschal and later of<br />
marshal and judge of Styria. Ulrich, who owned three castles, wrote a collection of poems called<br />
Frauendienst (Service of the Lady), in which a knight performs great deeds for – married –<br />
noblewomen, relations strictly Platonic in keeping with medieval court rules. The hero, who is called<br />
Ulrich, travels from Venice to Vienna dressed of all possible guises as Venus. Venus competes in<br />
jousts; he breaks 307 lances and defeats all challengers. The Lady however, is not impressed; she asks<br />
for more deeds and even requests a mutilation. Ulrich goes on another quest, this time dressed as King<br />
Arthur. In Brian Helgeland's 2001 movie, A Knight's Tale, the main character, William Thatcher,<br />
played by Heath Ledger, adopts the name of Ulrich von Liechtenstein.<br />
Bernhard Eder uses the first three verses of Karl Simrock's 19th century adaptation of the medieval<br />
text; Ulrich's original has five verses. The poem celebrates the ideal of minne, courtly love, perhaps<br />
not so ideal, as the singer will never “get the girl”. He has to be content with her greeting, from afar.<br />
Text:<br />
In dem Walde süsse Töne<br />
Singen kleine Vögelein;<br />
An der Haide blühen schöne<br />
Blumen in des Maien Schein.<br />
Also blüht mein hoher Mut<br />
Wenn er denkt an ihre Güte,<br />
Die mir reich macht mein Gemüte<br />
Wie der Traum den Armen tut.<br />
Hoffnung hat auf hohe Dinge<br />
Die Erwartung mir gestellt,<br />
Dass mir noch an ihr gelinge,<br />
Süsses Los mir einst noch fällt.<br />
Der Erwartung freu ich mich:<br />
Gebe Gott, dass ichs beende,<br />
Dass sie mir den Wahn nicht wende,<br />
Der mich freut so inniglich.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 14<br />
Die viel Süsse, Wohlgetane<br />
Frei von allem Wandel gar,<br />
Lasse mich im lieben Wahne,<br />
Bis es endlich werde wahr,<br />
Dass die Freude lange währe,<br />
Dass ich weinend nicht erwache,<br />
Noch dem Trost entgegenlache<br />
Und der Huld, die ich begehre.<br />
Translation:<br />
In the forest, small birdies<br />
sing sweet notes<br />
On the heath, beautiful<br />
flowers blossom in May<br />
In the same way, my spirit blossoms<br />
when I think of her goodness<br />
which enriches my soul<br />
like a dream the poor.<br />
Hope has set my sights<br />
on high things<br />
That I might succeed for her<br />
That a sweet lot will fall to me<br />
I am glad of this hope<br />
May God grant that I can stop this<br />
That she will not turn this fantasy<br />
in which I delight<br />
The Very Sweet One, the Good One,<br />
free of any fickleness<br />
Please leave my to my imaginations<br />
until they become truth<br />
that I will not wake up weeping<br />
but be happy at the solace<br />
and the grace which I long for.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 15<br />
Laudate Dominum (Praise the Lord) from the Missa vocalis, Op. 40b (1981)<br />
Balduin Sulzer (b. 1932)<br />
Balduin Sulzer was born in Grossraming, Upper Austria. He studied philosophy, theology, history, and<br />
music in Linz, Rome, and in Vienna. Sulzer became organist at the cathedral in Linz, and taught at the<br />
city's famous Bruckner-Konservatorium. He founded an orchestra and a choir at the Musikgymnasium<br />
Linz, a grammar school with a curriculum devised for future musicians. Both ensembles recorded for<br />
EMI classics.<br />
To date, Sulzer has written 360 different works; he has composed three operas, seven symphonies, one<br />
passion, 12 concertos for solo instruments, chamber music, and much vocal music. His works have<br />
been performed by the London Philharmonic, the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stockholm<br />
Chamber Orchestra, the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.<br />
His compositions always start with an improvisation, either on the piano or on the organ. Sulzer<br />
throws everything into the mix, “let your imagination run wild, invent, be playful and put your<br />
playfulness to good use, let your mind dance, be poetic, meditate, by all means philosophise, create<br />
drama and always be mindful of the little satyr in you“. The music should speak for itself, it should<br />
appeal directly to the listeners' senses.<br />
Text:<br />
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes<br />
Laudate Dominum omnes populi<br />
Laudate eum gentes<br />
Laudate Dominum<br />
Alleluja<br />
Amen<br />
Translation:<br />
Praise the Lord, all nations<br />
Praise the Lord, all peoples<br />
Praise him, nations<br />
Praise the Lord<br />
Alleluja<br />
Amen<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 16<br />
Vienna (1977)<br />
Billy Joel (b. 1949)<br />
Vienna was first released on Joel’s 1977 album, The Stranger. In 2008, Joel himself named it in a New<br />
York Times interview as a song that made him think; it is a song about celebrating life at any age.<br />
Elsewhere Joel explained that to him, Vienna-the-city is a crossroads, and as a result, a metaphor for<br />
the rest of one’s life. After tracking down his estranged father whom he had not seen in 15 years, Billy<br />
Joel experienced Vienna as a place where cultures meet and mingle. Not only cultures, but generations<br />
as well: Joel was struck at how old people were very much part of the city’s life. Joel said it made him<br />
realise that he should not fear old age. He came up with the phrase "Vienna Waits for You", used by<br />
the Vienna Tourist Board as a slogan – which brings to mind another saying, this one attributed to one<br />
Gustav Mahler: "When the world comes to an end, I shall move to Vienna. Everything happens fifty<br />
years later there."<br />
Text:<br />
Slow down, you crazy child<br />
You're so ambitious for a juvenile<br />
But then if you're so smart, then tell me<br />
Why are you still so afraid?<br />
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?<br />
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out<br />
You've got so much to do and<br />
Only so many hours in a day<br />
But you know that when the truth is told<br />
That you can get what you want or you get old<br />
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through<br />
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?<br />
Slow down, you're doing fine<br />
You can't be everything you want to be before your time<br />
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight<br />
Too bad but it's the life you lead<br />
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need<br />
Though you can see when you're wrong, you know<br />
You can't always see when you're right, you're right<br />
You've got your passion, you've got your pride<br />
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?<br />
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true<br />
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 17<br />
Slow down, you crazy child<br />
And take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile<br />
It's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two<br />
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?<br />
And you know that when the truth is told<br />
That you can get what you want or you can just get old<br />
You're gonna kick off before you even get half through<br />
Why don't you realize, Vienna waits for you<br />
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?<br />
The Longest Time. Doo-wop song (1984)<br />
Billy Joel (b. 1949)<br />
—INTERMISSION—<br />
Like This Night, The Longest Time was released on the album An Innocent Man. On the original<br />
recording, Joel sings all the vocals: he recorded 14 different background tracks which were all mixed<br />
together. The song is accompanied only by bass guitar, hi-hats, and finger clicks.<br />
Text:<br />
Woa, oh, oh, oh<br />
For the longest time<br />
Woa, oh, oh<br />
For the longest<br />
If you said goodbye to me tonight<br />
There would still be music left to write<br />
What else could I do<br />
I'm so inspired by you<br />
That hasn't happened for the longest time<br />
Once I thought my innocence was gone<br />
Now I know that happiness goes on<br />
That's where you found me<br />
When you put your arms around me<br />
I haven't been there for the longest time<br />
Woa, oh, oh, oh<br />
For the longest time<br />
Woa, oh, oh<br />
For the longest<br />
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Program Notes – page 18<br />
I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall<br />
And the greatest miracle of all<br />
Is how I need you<br />
And how you needed me too<br />
That hasn't happened for the longest time<br />
Maybe this won't last very long<br />
But you feel so right<br />
And I could be wrong<br />
Maybe I've been hoping too hard<br />
But I've gone this far<br />
And it's more than I hoped for<br />
Who knows how much further we'll go on<br />
Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone<br />
I'll take my chances<br />
I forgot how nice romance is<br />
I haven't been there for the longest time<br />
I had second thoughts at the start<br />
I said to myself<br />
Hold on to your heart<br />
Now I know the woman that you are<br />
You're wonderful so far<br />
And it's more than I hoped for<br />
This Night (1984)<br />
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), Arr. Billy Joel (b. 1949)<br />
This Night was released on Billy Joel’s album An Innocent Man, in August of 1984. The chorus uses<br />
the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata.<br />
Text:<br />
Didn't I say<br />
I wasn't ready for a romance<br />
Didn't we promise<br />
We would only be friends<br />
And so we danced<br />
Though it was only a slow dance<br />
I started breaking my promises<br />
Right there and then<br />
Didn't I swear<br />
There would be no complications<br />
Didn't you want<br />
Someone who's seen it all before<br />
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Program Notes – page 19<br />
Now that you're here<br />
It's not the same situation<br />
Suddenly I don't remember the rules anymore<br />
This night is mine<br />
It's only you and I<br />
Tomorrow<br />
Is a long time away<br />
This night can last forever<br />
I've been around<br />
Someone like me should know better<br />
Falling in love<br />
Would be the worst thing I could do<br />
Didn't I say<br />
I needed time to forget her<br />
Aren't you running from someone<br />
Who's not over you<br />
How many nights<br />
Have I been lonely without you<br />
I tell myself<br />
How much I really don't care<br />
How many nights<br />
Have I been thinking about you<br />
Wanting to hold you<br />
But knowing you would not be there<br />
This night<br />
You're mine<br />
It's only you and I<br />
I'll tell you<br />
To forget yesterday<br />
This night we are together<br />
This night<br />
Is mine<br />
It's only you and I<br />
Tomorrow<br />
Is such a long time away<br />
This night can last forever<br />
Tomorrow<br />
Is such a long time away<br />
This night can last forever<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 20<br />
Songs from Vienna – Two‘<strong>Wiener</strong>lieder’<br />
<strong>Wiener</strong>lied, literally “Viennese song”, is a genre that evolved in the first half of the nineteenth century.<br />
Initially, the songs were anonymous, and they were circulated chiefly by the “man on the street”, often<br />
in bars and restaurants. Some were printed on flyers. They were often rude and bawdy; some had<br />
political content or subtext. Many <strong>Wiener</strong>lieder were pure escapism, telling stories of spring time and<br />
love and outings in the park. Death was also a popular theme, in keeping with the Viennese character.<br />
The music is maudlin and melancholy; they use elements of the Viennese waltz, operettas, marches<br />
and Austrian folk music, especially yodels which are used to great effect.<br />
At the end of the 19th century the genre’s most popular exponents were brothers Johann and Josef<br />
Schrammel, who appear in the text. With a guitarist and a clarinettist, they formed the “Schrammel<br />
quartet”. They specialised in Viennese music, making it their own. The brothers’ incredible violin<br />
skills made them stars of their time, everybody wanted to hear them, and the Schrammels were invited<br />
to play in concert halls as well as at court. Eventually, their particular kind of music was named after<br />
them, Schrammel music. Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms were among their listeners. The<br />
<strong>Wiener</strong>lied, which was most popular in the 1930s, has enjoyed a revival since the 1970s.<br />
Contemporary composers and performers include Willi Resetarits, Ernst Molden, and Roland<br />
Neuwirth, with whom the Vienna Boys Choir have appeared.<br />
Derweil i noch klein war - I bin z’schwach auf der Brust (When I was little)<br />
Louis Roth (1843 – 1929)<br />
Text: Carl Lorens (1851 – 1909)<br />
Louis Roth was a Viennese composer and conductor. He worked in Berlin for a long time, composing<br />
Viennese operettas. Roth, whose brother was also a composer, has twelve operettas to his name.<br />
Carl Lorens on the other hand – one of the most important exponents of the <strong>Wiener</strong>lied genre – was<br />
self-taught. He started giving improvised performances in his late teens. Lorens became popular very<br />
quickly, both as a singer and as author of <strong>Wiener</strong>lieder. He wrote over 3000 texts and melodies;<br />
around 2000 have been published. In 1908, Carl Lorens celebrated 40 years as a performer, and in<br />
1909, shortly before his death, he recorded eight songs.<br />
Text:<br />
Derweil i noch klein war,<br />
bin gelegn in der Wiegn<br />
hab nach der Musik<br />
im Walzertakt geschriegn<br />
Die Leut warn ganz narrisch<br />
Wann i hab so plärrt<br />
Denn mich ham’s bestimmt glei<br />
Drei Häuser weit gehört<br />
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Program Notes – page 21<br />
Und so bin i älter<br />
Und größer dann worn<br />
Doch d’Neigung zum Singan<br />
Hab i net verlorn.<br />
Ich singat auch heut noch<br />
Voll Liebe und Lust<br />
Doch i kann net, i kann net<br />
Bin z’schwach auf der Brust.<br />
Translation:<br />
When I was still little<br />
I lay in my cot<br />
I screamed for music<br />
In waltz time.<br />
It made people crazy<br />
When I bawled like that<br />
They probably heard me<br />
Three houses down the road<br />
And then I got older<br />
And bigger<br />
But I have not lost<br />
My passion for singing.<br />
I would sing today<br />
Enthusiastically<br />
But I cannot, I cannot<br />
I am too weak in the chest.<br />
Taubenvergiften (Poisoning pigeons)<br />
Georg Kreisler (1922 – 2011)<br />
Georg Kreisler was an author, poet, and a composer. Born in Vienna to Jewish parents, Kreisler fled<br />
Austria in 1938; the family settled in the USA. Kreisler became an American citizen and wrote songs<br />
for soldiers in Britain and France during World War II. After the war, he started to perform in clubs.<br />
Kreisler had a way with words, and a particularly black sense of humour. Songs like “Please Shoot<br />
Your Husband” were considered “Un-American” in the late 1940s, and Kreisler returned to Europe.<br />
His humour and his outspoken criticism of society and politics continued to cause him trouble, and led<br />
to repeated bans of his songs from radio and television.<br />
Taubenvergiften was first released as Frühlingslied, spring song. The song is so similar to Tom<br />
Lehrer's song, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, that both men were accused of copying it from the other.<br />
Both men have denied this. Lehrer referred to Kreisler in an interview as “a Viennese who stole two of<br />
my songs”. Kreisler wrote in his autobiography, “I do not want to suggest in any way that Lehrer<br />
copied from me, that would make me no more intelligent than him.” He suggests that someone may<br />
have talked to Lehrer about Kreisler's song without mentioning his name, or that they may have hit on<br />
the idea independently.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 22<br />
Text:<br />
Schatz, das Wetter ist wunderschön<br />
Da leid ich's net länger zu Haus<br />
Heute muss man ins Grüne gehn<br />
In den bunten Frühling hinaus!<br />
Jeder Bursch und sein Mäderl<br />
Mit einem Fresspaketerl<br />
Sitzen heute im grünen Klee -<br />
Schatz, ich hab' eine Idee:<br />
Schau, die Sonne ist warm und die Lüfte sind lau<br />
Gehn wir Tauben vergiften im Park!<br />
Die Bäume sind grün und der Himmel ist blau<br />
Gehn wir Tauben vergiften im Park!<br />
Wir sitzen zusamm' in der Laube<br />
Und ein jeder vergiftet a Taube<br />
Der Frühling, der dringt bis ins innerste Mark<br />
Beim Tauben vergiften im Park<br />
Schatz, geh, bring das Arsen gschwind her<br />
Das tut sich am besten bewährn<br />
Streu's auf a Grahambrot kreuz über quer<br />
Nimm's Scherzel, das fressen's so gern<br />
Erst verjag'mer die Spatzen<br />
Denn die tun'am alles verpatzen<br />
So a Spatz ist zu gschwind, der frisst's Gift auf im Nu<br />
Und das arme Tauberl schaut zu<br />
Ja, der Frühling, der Frühling, der Frühling ist hier<br />
Gehn wir Tauben vergiften im Park!<br />
Kann's geben im Leben ein grössres Plaisir<br />
Als das Tauben vergiften im Park?<br />
Der Hansl geht gern mit der Mali<br />
Denn die Mali, die zahlt's Zyankali<br />
Die Herzen sind schwach und die Liebe ist stark<br />
Beim Tauben vergiften im Park...<br />
Nimm für uns was zu naschen -<br />
In der anderen Taschen!<br />
Gehn wir Tauben vergiften im Park!<br />
Translation:<br />
Darling, the weather is lovely<br />
I cannot sit around at home<br />
Today one must simply go out<br />
Into the bright spring.<br />
Every boy and his girl<br />
With a small hamper<br />
They sit in the green clover<br />
Darling, I have an idea:<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 23<br />
Look, the sun is warm and the air is mild<br />
Let’s go poisoning pigeons in the park.<br />
The trees are green and the sky is blue<br />
Let’s go poisoning pigeons in the park.<br />
We sit together in a gazebo<br />
And everyone poisons a pigeon<br />
Spring fills your innermost being<br />
When you poison pigeons in the park<br />
Darling, come on, bring on the arsenic<br />
That always works best<br />
Sprinkle it on the Graham bread<br />
Take the heel, they really like that<br />
First we chase away the sparrows<br />
For they always spoil everything<br />
A sparrow is fast, swallows the poison at once<br />
And the poor little pigeon looks on<br />
Well, spring, spring, spring is here<br />
Let’s go poisoning pigeons in the park.<br />
Can there be anything more pleasurable in life<br />
Than to poison pigeons in the park?<br />
Hans likes to go with Mali<br />
Mali pays for the cyanide<br />
The hearts are weak and the love is strong<br />
When we go poisoning pigeons in the park<br />
Take some nosh for us<br />
But in the other bag!<br />
Let’s go poisoning pigeons in the park!<br />
Der Gondelfahrer (The gondolier), D. 809 (1824)<br />
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)<br />
Text: Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 – 1836)<br />
Franz Peter Schubert was born in Lichtenthal (now a district of Vienna) in 1797. His father, a teacher,<br />
gave him violin and piano lessons. In 1808, 11-year-old Schubert auditioned for the imperial court<br />
choir and was given one of two places in the choir – this makes him one of the most famous alumni of<br />
the Vienna Boys Choir. Antonio Salieri, who was head of the Chapel at the time, became his teacher.<br />
Schubert loved the music; he did well at the choir school and wrote his first compositions there, but he<br />
complained about the food, or the lack thereof. He wrote to his brother Ferdinand, begging for an<br />
apple or money, because “it is hard to subsist on gruel and to wait for hours from one paltry meal to<br />
the next”.<br />
Program Notes continued on the next page
Program Notes – page 24<br />
In spite of his enormous talent, Schubert was never able to live off his music; he had to eke out a<br />
meagre living from teaching. First he worked as an assistant teacher at his father’s school, later he<br />
taught music at the Hungarian estate of Count Esterházy.<br />
Schubert wrote eight symphonies, six masses and chamber music. He is most famous for his lieder; he<br />
wrote more than six hundred songs on poems by Goethe, Heine, Shakespeare and others. Schubert<br />
died at the age of 31, possibly from medicine he was given to treat an illness.<br />
Mayrhofer, a poet from Upper Austria, met Schubert in Vienna in 1814; they became close friends.<br />
Schubert set 47 of Mayrhofer's poems to music, and Mayrhofer wrote the libretti of at least two<br />
unfinished operas for his friend.<br />
“The gondolier" is typically Romantic. It can be read as a poem describing a night in Venice and<br />
celebrating escapism: It is midnight, the poet (or the skipper, as the case may be) is out on the waters<br />
in Venice, having a grand old time basking in the moonlight. There is however a gloomy undertow:<br />
“meine Barke”, my skiff, might also refer to the poet himself, who – unfettered, is being rocked by<br />
“des Meeres Schoß”, literally the bottom of the sea. The choice of words would support this, a<br />
“Barke” is the kind of boat Charon uses to ferry the deceased across the River Styx. Death is the<br />
ultimate freedom.<br />
Finally, St. Mark's campanile strikes midnight – the pianist strikes the same chord twelve times.<br />
Everybody is asleep, only the skipper – the poet – is awake, or should we say conscious. No one else<br />
has seen or understood.<br />
However one chooses to interpret the words, one thing remains clear – the first verse conveys a<br />
feeling, a longing to be shot of mundane worries, to be free. This certainly applied to Mayrhofer, who<br />
was forced to work for the censor's office, a job he loathed. In the end, sadly, Mayhofer, who suffered<br />
from depression, killed himself; he jumped out of his office window in Vienna.<br />
Text:<br />
Es tanzen Mond und Sterne<br />
Den flücht'gen Geisterreih'n<br />
Wer wird von Erdensorgen<br />
Befangen immer sein!<br />
Du kannst in Mondesstrahlen<br />
Nun, meine Barke, wallen<br />
Und aller Schranken los<br />
Wiegt dich des Meeres Schoss.<br />
Vom Markusturme tönte<br />
Der Spruch der Mitternacht:<br />
Sie schlummern friedlich alle,<br />
Und nur der Schiffer wacht.<br />
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Program Notes – page 25<br />
Translation:<br />
Moon and stars dance<br />
A fleeting ghostly round -<br />
Who wants to be caught<br />
In earthly worries forever!<br />
My little skiff, you can<br />
Sail by the moonlight now,<br />
And unfettered and unhampered<br />
The sea will rock (dandle) you.<br />
From St Mark’s campanile<br />
Sounds the midnight hour:<br />
They all sleep peacefully,<br />
Only the skipper is awake.<br />
Solo lied to be announced from the stage<br />
Der 23.Psalm (Psalm 23), D. 706 (1820)<br />
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)<br />
Text: Biblical; translation by Moses Mendelssohn (1729 – 1786)<br />
The 23rd Psalm bears the title “The good shepherd”;; it is one of the most popular psalms of King<br />
David. The good (and just) shepherd is an epithet used for gods (and kings) throughout the Ancient<br />
Near East. It was duty of the king or the city deity to provide for the people and keep them from harm,<br />
in the same way in which a shepherd looks after his flock: I shall not want. The last two verses<br />
describe a festive banquet, in fact the ultimate - funereal - banquet, and God himself anoints the<br />
believer – a gesture of hospitality extended in the Near East.<br />
Schubert wrote this piece for Anna Fröhlich and her pupils in December of 1820. The poetic<br />
translation sung today is by philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729 – 1786), Felix Mendelssohn’s<br />
grandfather.<br />
Text Translation:<br />
Gott ist mein Hirt, mir wird nichts mangeln God is my shepherd, I shall not want.<br />
Er lagert mich auf grüner Weide, He makes me lie down in green pastures,<br />
Er leitet mich an stillen Bächen He leads me beside still waters.<br />
Er labt mein schmachtendes Gemüt He restores my aching soul,<br />
Er führt mich auf gerechtem Steige He leads me on the right path<br />
Zu seines Namens Ruhm. To honour his name.<br />
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Program Notes – page 26<br />
Und wall' ich auch im Todesschattentale, And though I walk through the valley of<br />
the shadow of death,<br />
so wall’ ich ohne Furcht, I fear no evil:<br />
denn du beschützest mich. For you watch over me.<br />
Dein Stab und deine Stütze Your rod and your staff<br />
Sind mir immerdar mein Trost. Comfort me always.<br />
Du richtest mir ein Freudenmahl You prepare a banquet for me<br />
Im Angesicht der Feinde zu, Before my enemies.<br />
Du salbst mein Haupt mit Öle You anoint my head with oil<br />
Und schenkst mir volle Becher ein. And fill my cup to the brim.<br />
Mir folget Heil und Seligkeit Goodness and mercy shall follow me<br />
In diesem Leben nach, All the days of my life.<br />
Einst ruh' ich ew'ge Zeit And I shall dwell forever<br />
Dort in des Ew'gen Haus. In the House of the eternal God.<br />
Morgenblätter (Morning papers), Op. 279<br />
Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825 – 1899)<br />
Arr. Gerald Wirth<br />
In 1863, Strauss and his orchestra were asked to provide the music for the annual ball of the Writers’<br />
and Journalists’ Association in Vienna (aptly named “Concordia”);; they were to play, and Strauss was<br />
to write a new waltz. Concordia had also commissioned Jacques Offenbach to write a new piece for<br />
the occasion. Offenbach supplied his piece without a name, leaving it to Concordia to find one, and<br />
Strauss followed suit. The journalists, who must have been having a fun time with this one, named one<br />
“Abendblätter”, the other “Morgenblätter”. If they had been after a bit of discord, they would have<br />
been disappointed at the ball: Offenbach did not come.<br />
Strauss’s waltz found its way into literature: Thomas Hardy mentions it in his poem, "At a Seaside<br />
Town in 1869"; it must have been popular to be listed alongside sunlit cliffs, meetings on the<br />
promenade, and the band – sans umlaut to boot.<br />
Text:<br />
The boats, the sands, the esplanade,<br />
The laughing crowd;<br />
Light-hearted, loud<br />
Greetings from some not ill-endowed;<br />
The evening sunlit cliffs, the talk,<br />
Hailings and halts,<br />
The keen sea-salts,<br />
The band, the Morgenblatter Waltz.<br />
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Program Notes – page 27<br />
Tritsch Tratsch (Chitchat), Op. 214<br />
Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825 – 1899)<br />
Arr. Gerald Wirth<br />
Text: Tina Breckwoldt<br />
Tritschtratsch (Chitchat) is the title of a vaudeville by Johann Nestroy, first performed in 1833. In<br />
1858, Viennese journalists created a satirical newspaper by the same name; Tritsch-Tratsch poked fun<br />
at famous people. On 21 March 1858, the paper printed a humorous portrait of Johann Strauss,<br />
speculating about his yearly visits to Russia. Strauss spent the summers in Pawlowsk with his<br />
orchestra, performing for the holidaymakers there. The paper obliquely hinted at an affair with a<br />
Russian woman, and the gossip spread through Vienna like wildfire. Strauss penned the polka as an<br />
answer.<br />
Tritsch Tratsch was composed between August and November of 1858 and was first performed in a<br />
public house called ‘The Great Siskin’ in the Spittelberg area of Vienna on 24 November. The<br />
Viennese media printed notices about the piece’s composition, its first performance and also its<br />
publication; a most unusual amount of publicity for a short piece of music – nineteenth century hype.<br />
There are a number of texts for Tritsch Tratsch. The text sung by the Vienna Boys Choir deals with<br />
gossip mongering and what it can do to people, ending with a tongue-in-cheek bow to Plato.<br />
The cheerful polka has sometimes been put to unexpected use: it features in the James-Bond-movie<br />
Moonraker, where it accompanies Bond alias Roger Moore, gliding across St Marc’s Square in a<br />
hovercraft.<br />
The Vienna Boys Choir has performed this popular piece – a signature tune for Austrian musicians -<br />
twice at the New Year’s Day Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1988 and in 1998, and<br />
the boys performed it again on 1 January 2012.<br />
Text:<br />
Er ist – man sagt – (Ach, Klatsch - und Tratsch)<br />
Man hat sich schon beschwert<br />
Er fragt – man klagt (Wir sind - empört)<br />
Das ist doch unerhört.<br />
Er meint – es scheint (Nur Klatsch - und Tratsch)<br />
Er stellt sich gern zur Schau<br />
Man glaubt – man meint (Wie schön - ist das)<br />
Ich weiss es nicht genau.<br />
Gerüchte brodeln ganz ungeniert<br />
raffiniert, kommentiert<br />
auf einmal fühlt man sich exponiert<br />
wie es denn das nur passiert?<br />
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Program Notes – page 28<br />
Das hat man noch nie vernommen!<br />
Ist das schon mal vorgekommen?<br />
Wie sind wir hierher gekommen,<br />
hier an diesen Punkt?<br />
Das Gehirn geht im Kreis<br />
Der Verstand liegt auf Eis<br />
während sie die Mär verbreiten<br />
Trio<br />
Wenn sie kleine Erbsen zählen<br />
Um die anderen zu quälen<br />
Zwischen Schwert und Worten wählen<br />
wollen sie nur zeigen<br />
dass sie tüchtig sind.<br />
Treiben sie es auf die Spitze,<br />
feixen, frozzeln, reissen Witze,<br />
reden sich in Dauerhitze,<br />
um sich zu beweisen,<br />
dass sie wichtig sind.<br />
Wir kommen jetzt so richtig erst in Fahrt<br />
Inzwischen geht es wirklich hart auf hart<br />
Wir streiten um des alten Kaisers Bart<br />
Ja, um des Kaisers Bart.<br />
Coda<br />
Es ist ein Gerücht.<br />
Was weiss man denn? Man weiss doch nichts.<br />
Das weiss ich!<br />
Translation:<br />
He is – they say (That’s gossip - more gossip)<br />
They have already complained<br />
He asks – they moan (We are - outraged)<br />
This is simply not on!<br />
He says – it seems (Just gossip - more gossip)<br />
He likes to show off and pose<br />
They believe – they surmise (How nice - that is)<br />
I don’t exactly know.<br />
Rumours fly about shamelessly<br />
Tricky, annotated,<br />
And all of a sudden you feel utterly exposed<br />
How did that happen?<br />
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Program Notes – page 29<br />
This is totally unheard of<br />
Has something like this happened before<br />
How did we get here,<br />
To this point?<br />
The mind walks in circles<br />
Brain totally numb<br />
While they continue to spread tales<br />
Trio<br />
When they get worked up over peanuts,<br />
Just to torture others,<br />
Choose between sword and words,<br />
They only want to show<br />
How efficient they are.<br />
When they carry on<br />
Smirking, taunting, cracking jokes,<br />
Blathering on forever,<br />
They want to prove to themselves<br />
That they are important.<br />
We are just getting started<br />
Now we are really talking<br />
We fight over nothing,<br />
Yes, over nothing.<br />
Coda<br />
It is merely a rumour.<br />
What do you know? We know nothing.<br />
That I do know!<br />
Programme notes (c) Tina Breckwoldt