Lauri - Almost two years ago, a few friends of mine and myself were
bemoaning that most of our recitals get two or three outings at the most.
We wanted to have an opportunity for extensive performance experience
with a standard set of repertoire in which we would have a chance to
really grow artistically. The result of this conversation was a series of
sacred art song recitals with what eventually became a group of nine
singers, two pianists and an organist, all, with the exception of one very
talented amateur soprano, college professors or professional church musicians.
We have performed a number of recitals over the past two years, mostly in
churches, always with varying personnel and repertoire. Some venues prefer
an all-English program, some English and Latin, some anything-goes. Everyone
in our group has a couple of Bach arias prepared, as well as some Purcell,
with which to form an opening group. In addition, everyone has a group
of Dvorak Biblical Songs prepared. The remainder of the program is drawn
from the repertoire listed below: several of the works have been prepared by
different singers to maximize flexibility in programming. I include the
non-mezzo items out of interest for other listers who may be interested in
this rep.
Three Sacred Songs from Old English Texts, Henk Badings (M)
Sechs Lieder nach Gedichten von Gellert, Ludwig van Beethoven (Bar)
Vier ernste Gesange, Brahms (Bar)
Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Britten (T)
Cantata, John Carter (S)
Tre Canti Sacri, Alfredo Casella (Bar)
Weihnachtslieder, Peter Cornelius (B)
The Confession Stone, Robert Fleming (M)
Pilgrimage, Carlisle Floyd (B)
Meine Seele hort im Sehen, Neun deutsche Arien, Handel (S)
Songs of the Nativity, John La Montaine (M)
Trois Chansons de Noel, Frank Martin (S)
Exsultate, jubilate, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (S)
Four Songs, Sergei Rakhmaninov (M)
Ya ne prorok
Molitva
Vsyo khochet pet
Khristos voskres
Four Songs of Solomon, George Rochberg (S)
Cycle of Holy Songs, Rorem (S)
The Way to Emmaeus, Jaromir Weinberger (S)
Five Mystical Songs, Ralph Vaughan Williams (Bar)
Four Hymns, Ralph Vaughan Williams (T)
If you are really looking for something off-the-beaten-track, you really
should look at the Badings and the Fleming (the Fleming was a work
dedicated to Maureen Forrester and performed often in her recital work.)
Best,
Mark
"Sing on the interest, not on the principal" - Florence Page Kimball, to
her student Leontyne Price
"The voice is not a fist." - Fritz Wunderlich
"I sing with a slim voice." - Birgit Nilsson
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On Tue, 30 Jul 2002, Lauri D. Goldenhersh wrote:
> Hi, gang! I have a challenge for all you repertoire geeks out there--
>
> For those of you who donıt know me, Iım a freelance pro in Southern
> California, and I sing all kinds of things, all over. (We have to really
> love our cars out here...)
>
> Iım really looking for two types of things: 1) art songs with sacred texts,
> suitable for recital situations (I use sacred here to mean spiritual, of any
> religious background), and 2) sacred solos from the last fifty years in an
> art song style (rather than popish contemporary), good for church or temple
> services, or good for auditions.
>
> Iım bored with my sacred solos, and I love modern compositional styles. I
> have a few interesting (read strange/obscure) solos that work well in an
> unusual recital format (e.g. Howells ³King David² and anything by Richard
> Cummings), but Iıd love more.
>
> Any ideas? I suspect thereıs lots out there, and Iım just having problems
> thinking outside the usual boxes. Assume that Iım a fabulous musician with
> a huge range (both are about 75% true), and that I can find anything, in
> print or out (you never know!). Throw at me anything you can think of. Iıd
> just love to hear what you love.
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