Programs

PICTURING RACHMANINOFF

music, poetry, and painting in concert

Picturing Rachmaninoff Online Book 


Stephen Cook, piano

Poetry translations by Alyssa Gillespie


Sergei Rachmaninoff


9 Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 39 (1916–17)

Etude-Tableau No. 1 in c minor: Allegro agitato

Poem: 

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, The Demon (excerpt)

Painting:

Mikhail Vrubel, The Demon Downcast


Etude-Tableau No.2 in a minor: Lento assai

Poem:

Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev, Just as Oceans Compass all the Earth

Painting:

Ivan Aivazovsky, The Black Sea at Night

Etude-Tableau No. 3 in f# minor: Allegro Molto

Poem:

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, The Snowslide

Painting:

J.M.W. Turner, The Fall of an Avalanche in the Grisons

Etude-Tableau No. 4 in b minor: Allegro assai

Poem:

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, Fairy Tale (excerpt)

Painting:

Ivan Bilibin, Vasilisa and the White Horseman

Etude-Tableau No. 5 in eb minor: Appassionato

Poem: 

Ivan Franko, Semper Idem!

Painting:

Nikolai Roerich, Warrior of Light

Etude-Tableau No. 6 in a minor: Allegro

Poem:

Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Wolves (excerpt)

Painting:

Wladislaw Wankie, Alone in the Park


Etude-Tableau No. 7 in c minor: Lento. Lugubre

Poem: 

Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius, There

Painting:

Arnold Bocklin, Isle of the Dead

Etude-Tableau No. 8 in d minor: Allegro moderato

Poem: 

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, Incantation

Painting:

Mikhail Vrubel, Pearl Oyster


Etude-Tableau No. 9 in D Major: Allegro moderato: Tempo di Marcia

Poetry:

Ferdowsi, Shahnameh (excerpt)

Painting:

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Adoration of the Sun 


PICTURING RAVEL

Gaspard de la nuit. Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt and Callot

Pavane pour une infante défunte- Dedication from Gaspard de la nuit


Preface


Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt


Sonatine 

   I. Modéré- The Angel and the Fairy 

   II. Mouvement de menuet- My Thatched Cottage 

   III. Animé- Jean des Tilles 


Fantasies in the Manner of Callot


Gaspard de la nuit 

I. Ondine 

II. Le Gibet 

III. Scarbo 


Musical selections by Maurice Ravel

Poetic selections by Aloysius Bertrand

Translations by Ryan Cook

Piano Performance and Recitations by Stephen Cook



Music notes...

Aloysius Bertrand’s collection of prose poems titled Gaspard de la nuit: Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt and Callot was published in 1842, a little over one year after the author’s untimely death at the age of thirty-four. Characterized by a preoccupation for the Middle Ages and a predilection for the supernatural, Gaspard became, after the author’s death, the premiere example for the poeme en prose movement, inspiring such renowned French authors as Baudelaire and Mallarmé. Despite its influence within France, Gaspard, as a book, remains mostly unknown internationally.


Gaspard de la nuit as a musical work, however, is very well known to pianists and music-lovers thanks to Maurice Ravel’s celebrated triptych of the same name. Ravel’s adaptation of three poems from Bertrand’s collection (Ondine, Le Gibet, and Scarbo), is both admired and feared by pianists as one of the most difficult but evocative piano works ever written. Most listeners familiar with the three poems from Ravel’s Gaspard are probably still unaware of remainder of Bertrand’s book, which contains 65 innovative poems depicting angels, fairies, ghouls, and goblins in a medieval setting.


In his preface to Gaspard Aloysius Bertrand references the book’s subtitle: Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt and Callot. He writes: 


Art always has two contrary faces, like a medallion, for example, whose one side bears the likeness of the painter Paul Rembrandt and the other that of the illustrator Jacques Callot. 


Rembrandt is the white-bearded philosopher who retreats snail-like into his hovel, who devotes his thought to meditation and prayer, who closes his eyes in order to commune with himself, who consorts with the spirits of beauty, science, wisdom and love, and who preoccupies himself with penetrating nature’s mysterious symbols.


Callot, by contrast, is a cavalier and boastful foot soldier who gallivants through the streets, who causes commotion in the taverns, who caresses the daughters of bohemians, who swears only by his sword and his musket, and who worries about nothing but waxing his moustache.


Perhaps the two sides of Bertrand’s medallion represent the Classical vs. the Romantic eras. Rembrandt’s introspective and reserved nature could be seen as the personification of the Classical aesthetic. Conversely, Callot’s wild abandon could personify the Romantic spirit. 


Olivier Messiaen suggested that Gaspard de la nuit is actually an “unavowed” three-movement Romantic sonata. Ravel’s creation, in his own words, represents “a caricature of Romanticism.” With its wild abandon, vivid imagery, exaggerated contrasts, and lush pianistic techniques, Ravel’s Gaspard could be called Fantasies in the Manner of Callot.


If Ravel’s Gaspard represents a large-scale Romantic sonata, then his Sonatine (the other primary work on the program) is the antithesis; a small-scale Classical work. With its delicate, neatly etched lines, and introspective character, the Sonatine could be called Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt. Taking some poetic license, pianist Stephen Cook has selected three poems from Bertrand’s book to accompany the three movements of Ravel’s Sonatine.


The pairing of Ravel’s Sonatine with his Gaspard de la nuit represents Fantasies in the Manner of Rembrandt and Callot. With his selections, Cook hopes to shed light on Aloysius Bertrand’s fantastical collection of poetry and to pay homage to the brilliant compositions of Maurice Ravel. 

BARDIC BRAHMS

Original and newly arranged compositions of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)


Four Ballades, Op. 10 & Op. 75


Ballade Op. 10, No. 1 in d minor, after the Scottish Ballad, ‘Edward.’


Ballade Op. 75, No. 1 in f minor after the Scottish Ballad, ‘Edward.’ 

Originally scored for piano and vocal duet. 

Arranged for piano solo by Stephen Cook. *First performance of this new arrangement.


Ballade Op. 10, No. 2 in D Major


Ballade Op. 75, No. 4 in a minor after the poem, ‘Walpurgisnacht,’ by Willibald Alexis. 

Originally scored for piano and vocal duet.

Arranged for piano solo by Stephen Cook. *First performance of this new arrangement.



INTERMISSION



Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5 in F Minor


Two hearts beat as one, by love united

Enfolded in blissful embrace. -Sternau



Epilogue

Intermezzo Op. 117, No. 1 in E♭ major, Andante moderato ‘Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament’


POETIC SOURCES


‘Edward’ (anonymous ancient Scottish ballad)

'Why does your sword blade drip with blood,

Edward, Edward?

Why does your sword blade drip with blood?

And why so sad are ye, O?'

'O, I have killed my hawk so true,

Mother, mother:

O I have killed my hawk so true:

And I had no more but he, O.'


'Your hawk's blood was ne’er so red,

Edward, Edward:

Your hawk’s blood was ne’er so red,

My dear son I tell thee, O.'

'O, I have killed my red-roan steed,

Mother, mother:

O, I have killed my red-roan steed,

That was so fair and free, O.'


'Your steed was old, and we have got more,

Edward, Edward:

Your steed was old, and we have got more,

That’s not what troubles ye, O.'

'O, I have killed my father dear,

Mother, mother:

O, I have killed my father dear,

Alas! and woe is me, O!'


'And what for penance will ye serve,

Edward, Edward?

And what penance will ye serve?

My dear son, now tell me, O.'

'I'll set my feet in yonder boat,

Mother, mother:

I’ll set my feet in yonder boat,

And I’ll fare over the sea, O.'


'And what will ye do with your farm and your house,

Edward, Edward?

And what will ye do with your farm and your house,

That were so fair to see, O?'

'I’ll let them stand till they down fall,

Mother, mother:

I’ll let them stand till they down fall,

For here never more may I be, O.'


'And what will ye leave to your children and your wife,

Edward, Edward?

And what will ye leave to your children and your wife

When ye go over the sea, O?'

'The world is large, let them beg through life,

Mother, mother:

The world is large, let them beg throw life,

For them never more will I see, O.'


'And what will ye leave to your own mother dear,

Edward, Edward?

And what will ye leave to your own mother dear?

My dear son, now tell me, O.'

'The curse of hell from me shall you bear,

Mother, mother:

The curse of hell from me shall you bear,

Such counsels you gave to me, O.'


‘Walpurgisnacht’ by Willibald Alexis in translation by Stephen Cook

Dear Mother, last night raged the tempest so wild, 

Today’s the beginning of May, dearest child! 


Dear Mother, the storm on the mountain was swelling. 

Dear child, 'tis yonder the witches' dwelling. 


Dear Mother, but witches I don’t want to see.

Dear child, so many times witnessed have ye.


Dear Mother, the witches are in the town quarter?

They’re much closer than that, my dearest daughter.


Oh Mother, how do witches fly to the peak?

Through fog, on blazes and fire they streak.


Oh Mother, what do witches ride through the sky?

They sail, they sail, on broomsticks they fly. 


Oh Mother, last night in the town I saw brooms.

On the mountain as well, many witches do loom. 


Oh Mother, I heard something crash in the night.

From our chimney a witch must have launched into flight. 


Oh Mother, last night your broom was not home.

Dear child, because over the mountain, it roamed.


Dear Mother, you also were not home asleep? 

T’was your mother whom you had beheld on that peak!



 Junge Liebe by C. O. Sternau in translation 

Twilight is falling, moonlight shines, 

there two hearts are united in love 

and keep themselves enclosed in bliss. 

It wafts and rustles through the air, 

As if the roses were yielding all their fragrance, 

As if the little angels came on foot.  


I kiss you for the first time, 

I kiss you many thousand times. 

I kiss you again and again; 

Down your cheeks, for a long time, 

roll many tears of blissfulness like pearls.  


The hours pass away, the morning appears, 

we are still united in love 

and keep ourselves enclosed in bliss. 

It wafts and rustles through the air, 

As if the roses were yielding all their fragrance, 

As if the little angels came on foot.



Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament. A Scottish Song.

Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep

It grieves me sore to hear thee weep

If thou'lt be silent I'll be glad

Thy moaning makes my heart full sad.

Baloo, my boy, thy mother's joy

Thy father bred me great annoy

Baloo, baloo, baloo, baloo

Baloo, baloo, lu-li-li-lu.


O'er thee I keep my lonely watch

Intent thy lightest breath to catch

O, when thou wak'st to see thee smile

And thus my sorrow to beguile.

Baloo, my boy, thy mother's joy

Thy father bred me great annoy

Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep

It grieves me sore to hear thee weep.


Twelve weary months have crept away

Since he, upon thy natal day

Left thee and me, to seek afar

A bloody fate in doubtful war.

Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep

It grieves me sore to hear thee weep

If thou'lt be silent, I'll be glad

Thy moaning makes my heart full sad.


I dreamed a dream but yesternight

Thy father slain in foreign fight

He, wounded, stood beside my bed

His blood ran down upon thy head

He spoke no word, but looked on me

Bent low, and gave a kiss to thee!

Baloo, baloo, my darling boy

Thou'rt now alone thy mother's joy.

BRAHMSPHANTASIE

Music by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Based on Max Klinger’s Brahmsphantasie, Opus XII 

A collection of Brahms-inspired artwork by Max Klinger (1857-1920)

Watch Full Video 


Ballade Op. 10, No. 1 Edward for piano solo (After a Scottish folk song)

Balladen und Romanzen for two singers with piano, Op 75

Edward (After a Scottish folk song)

Guter Rat/Good Advice (After a Geman folk song)

So laß uns wandern!/So Let Us Wander. (After a Czech folk song)

Walpurgisnacht. (Poetry by Wilhelm Häring)


INTERMISSION

Capriccio for piano solo, Op. 76 No. 1 in f# minor             

Alte liebe/Old Love  Op. 72, No. 1. (Poetry by Carl Candidus)

Sehnsucht/Longing Op. 49, No. 3. (After a German folk song)

Am Sonntag Morgen/On Sunday Morning Op. 49, No. 1. (Poetry by Paul Heyse)

Feldeinsamkeit/Alone in a Field Op. 86, No. 2. (Poetry by Julius Almers)

Kein Haus, keine heimat/No House, No Homeland  Op. 94, No. 5. (Poetry by Friedrich Halm)

Schicksalslied/Song of Destiny,  Op 54 (Poetry by Friedrich Hölderlin)