Ravinia 2024 Issue 5

MARTIN THEATRE 7:30 PM TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2024 MATTHEW POLENZANI, tenor KEVIN MURPHY, piano SCHUBERT Five Lieder Im Frühling, D. 882 Frühlingsglaube, D. 686 Der Einsame, D. 800 Ständchen: Leise flehen meine Lieder, D. 957, no. 4 Im Abendrot, D. 799 FINZI A Young Man’s Exhortation , op. 14 Part I. Mane floreat, et transeat. Ps. 89. A Young Man’s Exhortation * Ditty * Budmouth Dears Her Temple The Comet at Yell’ham * Part II. Vespere decidat, induret, et arescat. Ps. 89. Shortening Days * The Sigh Former Beauties * Transformations * The Dance Continued * –Intermission– SCHUMANN Liederkreis (Heine), op. 24 Morgens steh ich auf und frage Es treibt mich hin, es treibt mich her Ich wandelte unter den Bäumen Lieb Liebchen, leg’s Händchen aufs Herze mein Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden Warte, warte, wilder Schiffmann Berg’ und Burgen schaun herunter Anfangs wollt ich fast verzagen Mit Myrten und Rosen, lieblich und hold IVES Five songs The World’s Highway Feldeinsamkeit Memories A. Very Pleasant: Presto B. Rather Sad: Adagio The Greatest Man When stars are in the quiet skies * First performance at Ravinia FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828) Five Lieder One cannot easily generalize about the Lieder, or German songs for solo voice and piano, by Franz Schubert. His seemingly infinite musical imagination flourished in this genre. Schubert’s approach differed from those of previous song composers in its depth of musical poeticism. Song evolved from the text—the poetic rhythm, dramatic elements in the “story,” and any in- trinsic visual imagery. Schubert enlivened more than 600 poems, consequently redefining the Lied for future generations. Song was the natural medium for Schubert’s musical expression. While a choirboy in the Im- perial Court Chapel, Schubert developed a fine voice and considerable musical ability as a con- ductor and violinist. Evidently, he underwent a particularly awkward change of voice. The fol- lowing note was found penciled in his score: “Schubert, Franz, crowed for the last time, 26 July 1812.” As a man, his voice was thin and weak. Many of his songs received their first, and sometimes only, performance during the com- poser’s tragically short lifetime at private gather- ings of friends, known as “Schubertiads.” From his earliest known Lied, Hagars Klage , D. 5 (1811), to the final song with clarinet obbligato, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen , D. 965 (1828), Schubert brought to life miniature Romantic worlds in which voice and piano illustrate every descrip- tive nuance of the text: swirling piano figures depict eddying streams, cyclic gestures the rhythmic revolutions of a spinning wheel, and unrelenting triplets the desperate father’s race to save his dying son. Visual and emotional qualities found in the po- etry by Romantic figureheads Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich von Schiller, William Shakespeare, and Sir Walter Scott as well as by lesser German poets such as Ludwig Christoph Franz Schubert RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUGUST 19 – SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 62