PROGRAMME NOTES ©2001 John Glofcheskie

TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS

I/
ARR. BY ARNE DORUMSGAARD (B. 1921)
Selection of Early Spanish Songs

Born in 1921, the Norwegian composer and singer Arne Dørumsgaard settled in Paris, where in 1963 he began to publish his Canzone Scordate, an anthology of European song from 1400 to 1900. The first book of volume I contains Ten Early Spanish Songs (1450-1550) with his own piano accompaniments in a characteristic style, inflected with Iberian modes and rhythms. The set was first recorded by Gerard Souzay and Dalton Baldwin.

The songs come from the era of the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, whose wedding in 1469 ushered in an age of prosperity and stability (including most notably the voyages of Columbus and the Spanish Inquisition). The composition and performance of sacred music reached a high level at Court, but a truly national style was established rather in large collections of secular song (canción), the romance and villancico. The texts of these songs may be amatory or elegiac, historical or religious, connected with dancing or with the festivals of the church year. The music was performed to the accompaniment of the vihuela (ancestor of the guitar).

Of the composers represented on today's program, the poet-composers Francisco de la Torre (fl. 1483-1504), Juan de Anchieta (1462-1523), and Gabriel [Mena] (fl. 1511-16) were all singers in the Court Chapel at one time or another; Anchieta was highly regarded for his sacred music. Alonso de Mudarra's (1510 - 1580) reputation is based on his creating the third book of Spanish music in tablature, published at Seville in 1546. The music of this period was later celebrated by the great poet Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) in Don Quixote and other writings. His Sancho Panza affirms: "Madam, where you hear music, there cannot be any evil."

Pámpano verde
Pampano verde, racimo albar;
Quien vido dueñas a tal hora andar?
Encinueco entre ellas, entre las doncellas.

Green Vine
Green vine, white cluster of grapes,
Who has seen young girls pass by at such a time?
Between them a young oak stands.

Triste estaba el rey David
Triste estaba el rey David,
Triste y con gran pasión,
Cuando le vinieron neuvas
De la muerte de Absalón

King David was sad
David the King was sad
and filled with emotion,
When they brought him
the news of Absalom's death.

Con amores, la mi madre
Con amores, la mi madre, con amores m'adormí
Asi dormida soñaba lo que el corazon velaba,
Qu'el amor me consalabe
Con mas bien que mereci.

With love, my mother
I feel asleep with love, mother.
I dreamed about my heart's care
and love consoled me
far more than I deserved.

A la caza, sus, a caza
A la caza, sus, a caza,
Ea, nuevos, amadores, todos a caza de amores!

Con un vuelo de dulzor volareis altanería,
Y cazareis al amor con tristeza y alegría.
Ea, todos a porfia con halcones, con azores
Vamos a caza de amores!

Vamos todos a esta caza, a cazar siendo cazados,
Pues que todos d'esta raza del amor somos tocados.
Pues que en todos los estados tiene el amor cazadores,
Vamos a caza de amores!

To the chase!
To the chase!
Come, new lovers, come one and all!

With sweetness chase away arrogance,
in order to hunt love with joy and pain.
Take falcons, hawks, and stubbornness and let's hunt love!
What joy to be hunted while hunting,
For all of us are touched by love.
Let's go hunting, to the chase!
Let's hunt love!

II/

FOUR ITALIAN BAROQUE SONGS

The foundations of bel canto lie in the repertoire of Italian seventeenth- and eighteenth-century song known to singing students as Arie Antiche. The role of this repertoire was established in the 1880s by the Roman composer-musicologist Alessandro Parisotti who published editions with his own piano accompaniments. For him these songs were notable for their "clearness and simplicity of form, depth of feeling, and a suave serenity". "The singing must be simple, unaffected, tranquil, legato." Four fine examples of this repertoire are heard on today's program.

ANTONIO CALDARA (1670- 1736) (transl. Hugh Graham)

Born in Venice c. 1670, Antonio Caldara began his career as a singer at St. Mark's, later advancing to the position of vice-Kapellmeister at the Court of Vienna where he died in 1736, having produced a large number of operas, oratorios, and other vocal works. "Selve amiche", a bitter-sweet protestation of love, comes from Caldara's early pastoral drama La costanza in amor vince l'inganno, presented in Rome in 1711. The aria is in ternary form, with the usual return of the opening music and text after a contrasting section. The smoothly-contoured melody contains occasional ornamental decoration.

Selve amiche
Selve amiche, ombrose piante
Fido albergo del mio core,
Chiede a voi quest'alma amante
Qualche pace al suo dolore.

Friendly woods
Friendly woods, shady trees,
Trusty refuge of my heart,
This loving soul begs of you
Some respite from its sorrow.

ANTONIO LOTTI (1667- 1740) (transl. Hugh Graham)

The career of Caldara's contemporary, Antonio Lotti (1667-1740), was centred in Venice, where he similarly started as a singer at St. Mark's and later became maestro di cappella; his wife, Santa Stella, was a reputable soprano. His prolific output of vocal music (secular and sacred) was highly regarded for its elegance and craftsmanship. The ternary-form aria "Pur dicesti, o bocca bella" is characterized by lively rhythms and a playful sensuality.

Pur dicesti, o bocca bella
Pur dicesti, o bocca bella
Quel soave e caro sì,
Che fa tutto il mio piacer.

Per onor di sua facella,
Con un bacio amor t'aprì,
Dolce fonte del goder.

You have really uttered, o lovely lips
You have really uttered, o lovely lips,
That dear, sweet 'yes'
Which brings me bliss.

To honour her flame
Love opened you with a kiss,
Sweet fount of pleasure.

ANTONIO CESTI (1620- 1669) (transl. Hugh Graham)

Antonio Cesti (1623-1669) was the most celebrated of the mid-seventeenth century generation of Italian operatic composers after Monteverdi. As a tenor he was regarded as "the glory and splendour of the secular stage." Torn between monastic and secular life, after success in Venice, Cesti secured a position at the court of Innsbruck where his opera Orontea was performed in 1656. In the slow strophic aria "Intorno all'idol mio" from the end of Act II, Orontea, Queen of Egypt (and a soprano), sings of her love for the sleeping painter Alidoro. The smooth melodic line with its graceful rhythms carries a sensuous melancholy, intensifed occasionally by a controlled dissonant leap. (Note of interest: The given English translation alters the gender of the beloved; the Italian is original.)

Intorno all'idol mio
Intorno all'idol mio spirate pur, spirate,
Aure soavi e grate,
E nelle guancie elette
Baciatelo per me, cortesi aurette!
Al mio ben, che riposa su l'ali della quiete,
Grati sogni assistete.
E il mio racchiuso ardore
Svelategli per me, o larve d'amore!

Around my idol
Pray blow around my idol,
Blow, sweet welcome breezes,
And on her beloved cheeks
Kiss her for me, obliging little breezes!
To my love, who is resting on the wings of peace,
Bring pleasant dreams.
And my concealed passion
Reveal to her on by behalf, O shades of love!

CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK (1714- 1787) (transl. Hugh Graham)

In his attempt to reform Italian opera seria a century after Cesti, the Bohemian-born composer Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) sought "simplicity, truth and naturalness", an avoidance of vocal display for its own sake. "O del mio dolce ardor" comes from Paride ed Elena, the third of his reform operas (after Orfeo and Alceste), written for Vienna in 1770. In the ternary-form aria from the beginning of Act I, Paris, son of King Priam of Troy (sung by a soprano castrato), makes a passionate avowal of his love for Helen. The minor key, restless rhythms, and plaintive echoes in the accompaniment, are expressive of his ardent longing.

O del mio dolce ardor
O del mio dolce ardor bramato oggetto,
L'aura che tu respiri, alfrin respiro.
Ovunque il guardo io giro,
Le tue vaghe sembianze
Amore in me dipinge:
Il mio pensier si finge
Le piú liete speranze;
E nel desio che così m'empie il petto
Cerco te, chiamo te, spero e sospiro.

O longed-for object of my sweet passion
O longed-for object of my sweet passion,
The air which you breathe at last I also breathe.
Wherever I turn my gaze,
Love makes me see
Your fair features:
My thoughts imagine
The happiest hopes;
And in the desire which thus fills my breast
I seek you, call you, hope and sigh.

III/

GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL (1685- 1759)

Between 1711 and 1741, the German-born Georg Frederic Handel wrote some forty Italian opera seria for the London stage. They represent the high point of the genre that Gluck later tried to reform in order better to serve the drama. The structure of opera seria in the High Baroque was intended to meet the needs of the singers following a strict hierarchical pattern, with the greatest number and variety of arias going to the lead singers who were also rewarded on occasion with recitative accompanied by orchestra (rather than the usual continuo bass instruments). Strategically-placed exit arias also allowed singers to leave the stage to great applause. The scenes of the opera involved alternations of short recitatives (to advance the plot) and extended ternary-form arias (to express the resulting affect or emotion). In the da capo (or repeated section) of the aria, the singer was expected to exhibit his or her vocal agility by adding appropriate improvised ornamentatation.

"Dall'ondoso periglioￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽAure, deh, per pietà"
from Giulio Cesare (Act III)
(text: Nicola Francesco Haym; transl. Hugh Graham)

Handel's highly successful Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt) was first performed at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, in 1724. Caesar was played by the great but temperamental castrato Senesino (Handel's exact contemporary), who was described as having "a powerful, clear, equal and sweet contralto voice, with a perfect intonation and excellent shake [trill]." In Act III, scene 4, Caesar finds himself on a deserted shore, separated from his troops and his beloved, having swum the harbour of Alexandria to escape battle with the treacherous but victorious Ptolemy who has taken Cleopatra prisoner. For this crucial moment in the drama, Handel creates a unique musical structure. The scene begins orchestrally with a gentle melody representing the breezes that Caesar will later invoke. Then in an orchestrally-punctuated recitative filled with dissonant harmonies, Caesar gives voice to his distress. The moving melody of the following reflective aria is enveloped in the music of the breezes. In a stroke of dramatic genius, Handel delays the expected da capo by inserting another orchestrally-punctuated recitative. This formal breakdown parallels the broken state of Caesar himself. (Needless to say, in the final resolution of the drama, Ptolemy is killed and the royal lovers reunited.)

RECITATIVO:
Dall'ondoso periglio
salvo mi porta al lido
il mio propizio fato.
Qui la celeste parca non tranco ancor
lo stame alla mia vita!
Ma dove andrò
E chi mi porge aita?
Ove son le mie schiere?
Ove son le legioni,
Che a tante mie vittorie
Il varco apriro?
Solo in queste erme arene
al monarca del mondo errar conviene?

ARIA:
Aure, deh, per pietà
spirate al petto mio,
per dar conforto, o Dio!
al mio dolor.

Dite, dov'è, che fà
l'idolo del mio sen,
l'amato e dolce ben
di questo cor?

RECITATIVO:
Ma d'ogni intorno i' veggio
sparse d'arme e d'estinti,
l'infortunate arene, segno d'infausto annunzio alfin sarà.

Aria:
Aure, deh, per pietà
spirate al petto mio,
per dar conforto, o Dio!
al mio dolor.

RECITATIVE:
From the perilous waves... ah, for pity
From the peril of the waves,
I have been brought safe to the shore
By a favourable destiny.
The Fate in heaven above is not yet pleased
To cut my life's thread!
But where shall I go?
And who will assist me?
Where are my shattered troops?
Where are the legions
which paved the way
for so many victories?
Is the ruler of the world reduced
to wandering these deserted shores alone?

ARIA:
Breezes, ah, for pity,
waft over my breast,
and give comfort, O God,
to my suffering.

Tell me, where is she
who is the idol of my breast,
the beloved, sweet love
of my heart?

RECITATIVE:
But on every side I see
the hapless sands
strewn with corpses and with weapons,
which portend a desperate outcome.

ARIA:
Breezes, ah, for pity,
waft over my breast,
and give comfort, O God,
to my suffering.

"Venti turbini" from Rinaldo (Act I)
(text: Giacomo Rossi; transl. Hugh Graham)

Rinaldo was Handel's first opera for London, written in only two weeks in 1711, two-thirds of the score being taken from earlier works. The libretto draws from Ariosto's Orlando furioso and Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata, two of the most popular Baroque sources, and provides for many special stage effects. For the title character, played by the great castrato Nicolini, Handel wrote fresh music, taking full advantage of the singer's range in arias as diverse as the tender "Cara sposa" and the bravura "Venti, turbini". The latter aria closes Act I. A Christian knight in the First Crusade, Rinaldo is distraught at the abduction of his beloved Almirena by the enemy sorceress Armida. In the fast-paced scales and agitated rhythms of his aria, he invokes the aid of the winds and the heavens in his revenge. The da capo gives free reign to the singer to intensify his rage in virtuoso elaborations.

Venti turbini
Venti turbini, prestate
Le vostre ali a questo piè.
Cieli, Numi, il braccio Armate
Contro chi pena mi diè!

Tempests, whirlwinds
Tempests, whirlwinds, lend
Your swiftness to my feet.
Heavens, Gods, strengthen my arm
Against those who have robbed me of my love.

INTERMISSION

IV/

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803- 1869)

from Les Nuits d'été, Op.7 (The Nights of Summer)
(texts: Théophile Gautier (1811-1872); with singable English translation by Samuel Byrne from the Lavigne score)

In 1841 Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) published a collection of six songs for mezzo-soprano or tenor with the title Les nuits d'été to texts from the critic-poet Théophile Gautier's 1838 publication, La comédie de la mort — "poetry of exotic places and climes, perceived through the mists of revery" (D. Kern Holoman). The music represents an important stage in the evolution from the traditional simple strophic romance to the new richer and subtler mélodie—a French answer to the German Romanic lied. Originally conceived with a somewhat awkward piano accompaniment, the songs (which were not intended as a cycle) are more fully realized in the exquisitely-orchestrated versions that Berlioz published in 1856 (intended for three different voice types). With his flexible phraseology and original harmonic combinations, Berlioz creates "the embodiment in sound of intimations lying deeper than articulate thought" (Jacques Barzun).

The three songs on today's program are the first, second and last of the set. The exuberant invitations to love expressed in the two outer songs frame an intense and haunting central utterance. The passionate declamation and soaring lyricism of "La spectre de la rose" build in effect a dramatic scene. In contrast, "Villanelle", in free strophic form, presents a lively melody matched by sprightly chords and playful imitations. The ascending melodic lines of this first song are balanced by the descending lines of the closing song. "L'Île inconnue" evokes the rhythms of the sea in its imagined sensual journeying.

Villanelle

Quand viendra la saison nouvelle,
Quand auront disparu les froids,
Tous les deux nous irons, ma belle,
Pour cueillir le muguet aux bois.

Sous nos pieds égrénant les perles
Que l'on voit, au matin trembler,
Nous irons écouter les merles
Siffler.

Le printemps est venu, ma belle;
C'est le mois des amants béni;
Et l'oiseau, satinant son aile,
Dit [ses]* vers au rebord du nid.

Oh! Viens donc sur ce banc de mousse,
Pour parler de nos beaux amours,
Et dis-moi de ta voix si douce:
Toujours!

Loin, bien loin égarant nos courses,
Faisons fuir le lapin caché,
Et le daim, au miroir des sources
Admirant son grand bois penché;

Puis chez nous, tout heureux, tout aises,
En paniers, en laçant nos doigts,
Revenons, rapportant des fraises,
Des bois.

* Lavigne: "des"

Villanelle

When verdant spring again approaches,
When winter's chills have disappeared,
Through the woods we shall stroll, my darling,
The fair primrose to cull at will.

The trembling bright pearls that are shining,
Each morning we shall brush aside;
We shall go to hear the gay thrushes
Singing.

The flowers are abloom, my darling,
Of happy lovers 'tis the month;
And the bird his soft wing englossing,
Sings carols sweet within his nest.

Come with me on the mossy bank,
Where we'll talk of nothing else but love,
And whisper with thy voice so tender:
Always!

Far, far off let our footsteps wander,
Fright'ning the hiding hare away,
While the deer at the spring is gazing,
Admiring his reflected horns.

Then back home, with our hearts rejoicing,
And fondly our fingers entwined,
Let's return, let's return bringing fresh wild berries
Wood-grown.

La spectre de la rose

Soulêve ta paupière close
Qu'effleure un songe virginal!
Je suis le spectre d'une rose
Que tu portais hier au bal.

Tu me pris encore emperlée
Des pleurs d'argent de l'arrosoir,
Et, parmi la fête étoilée,
Tu me promenas tout le soir.

O toi qui de ma mort fus cause,
Sans que tu puisses le chasser,
Toutes les nuits mon spectre rose
A ton chevet viendra danser;

Mais ne crains rien, je ne réclame
Ni messe ni De Profundis.
Ce léger parfum est mon äme,
Et j'arrive du du paradis.

Mon destin fut digne d'envie,
Et pour avoir un sort si beau
Plus d'un aurait donné sa vie;
Car sur ton sein j'ai mon tombeau,

Et sur l'albâtre où je repose
Un poëte avec un baiser
Écrivit: "Cigît une rose,
Que tous les rois vont jalouser."

The ghost of the rose

Open your closed eyelid
Which is gently brushed by a virginal dream!
I am the ghost of the rose
That you wore last night at the ball.

You took me when I was still sprinkled with pearls
Of silvery tears from the watering-can,
And, among the sparkling festivities,
You carried me the entire night.

O you, who caused my death:
Without the power to chase it away,
You will be visited every night by my ghost,
Which will dance at your bedside.

But fear nothing; I demand
Neither Mass nor De Profundis;
This mild perfume is my soul,
And I've come from Paradise.

My destiny is worthy of envy;
And to have a fate so fine,
More than one would give his life'
For on your breast I have my tomb,

And on the alabaster where I rest,
A poet with a kiss
Wrote: "Here lies a rose,
Of which all kings may be jealous."

L'Île Inconnue

Dites, la jeune belle,
Où voulez-vous aller?
La voile enfle son aile,
La brise va souffler.
L'aviron est d'ivoire,
Le pavillon de moire,
Le gouvernail d'or fin;
J'ai pour lest une orange,
Pour voile une aile d'ange,
Pour mousse un séraphin.

Dites, la jeune belle,
Où voulez-vous aller?
La voile enfle son aile,
La brise va souffler.

Est-ce dans la Baltique?
Dans la mer Pacifique?
Dans l'île de Java?
Ou bien est-ce en Norvège,
Cueillir la fleur de neige,
Ou la fleur d'Angsoka?
Dites, la jeune belle,
Où voulez-vous aller?
Menez-moi, dit la belle,
À la rive fidèle
Où l'on aime toujours!
Cette rive, ma chère,
On ne la connaît guère
Au pays des amours.

The Unknown Isle

Say, young beauty,
Where do you wish to go?
The sail swells itself,
The breeze will blow.
The oar is made of ivory,
The flag is of silk,
The helm is of fine gold;
I have for ballast an orange,
For a sail the wing of an angel,
For foam a seraph.

Say, young beauty,
Where do you wish to go?
The sail swells itself,
The breeze will blow.

Is it to the Baltic?
To the Pacific Ocean?
To the island of Java?
Or is it well to Norway,
To gather the flower of the snow,
Or the flower of Angsoka?
Say, young beauty,
Where do you wish to go?
Lead me, says the beauty,
To the faithful shore
Where one loves always!
This shore, my darling,
We hardly know at all
In the land of Love.

V/ RICHARD HUNDLEY (B. 1931)

The art songs of Richard Hundley belong to a rich body of undersung twentieth-century American repertoire notable for its expressive directness, natural lyricism, and agreeable harmonic palette. Born to working parents in Cincinatti, Hundley grew up singing at his grandmother's piano where "making up pieces seemed the most natural thing in the world." After music study in Cincinnati, he moved in 1950 to New York City where he continued composition studies and sang tenor in the Metropolitan Opera Chorus. Beginning in the 1960s, thanks to Anna Moffo and other singers, his songs began to make their mark, much praised for their word setting. The critic James Keller wrote in 1991: "The composer is a sort of American Poulenc, expert at creating characterful melodies and illuminating their corners with flashes of harmonic surprise."

Hundley says: "My songs have always been inspired by poems which move me. My aim is to recreate the emotion I felt on first reading the poems." The haunting, wistful "Water Bird", with its vivid imagistic piano writing, was originally part of Hundley's 1980 cantata, The Sea is Swimming Tonight. Strong piquant chords accompany the Elizabethan text of "Sweet Suffolk Owl" (1979), which breaks into delightful vocalization of the bird's hooting. Hundley's best-known song, the tender and nostalgic "Come Ready and See Me" (1971), is dedicated to a friend who died young. The composer writes: "The song is about longing for a love not yet found or experienced. I prefer it to be sung simply, with great attention to line and with a touch of urgency." "Seashore Girls", from Octaves and Sweet Sounds, a collection for mezzo soprano written in 1989, "is the memory of a sunny day at the seashore shared by four friends, each of whom has a different adventure. The opening theme expresses the viewer's joy upon seeing the panorama of sky and sea. The theme is later repeated and transformed."

Waterbird (Text: James Purdy)

Waterbird, waterbird, gently afloat,
Know you my yearning for places remote,
Waterbird, waterbird, under the sea
Keep you a kingdom for sleepers like me,
Keep you a kingdom for sleepers like me.

Sweet Suffolk Owl (Text: Anonymous, 1619)

Sweet Suffolk Owl, so trimly dight
With feathers like a lady bright,
Thou singest alone, sitting by night,
Te whit, te whoo! Te whit, te whoo!
The note, that forth so freely rolls,
With shrill command the mouse controls;
And sings a dirge for dying souls,
Te whit, te whoo! Te whit, te whoo!

Come Ready and See Me (Text: James Purdy)

Come ready and see me
No matter how late
Come before the years run out.
I'm waiting with a candle
No wind will blow out,
But you must haste on foot or by sky
For no one waits forever
Under the bluest sky I can't wait forever
For the years are running out.

Seashore Girls (Text: e.e. cummings)

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and
millie befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were: and
molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

VI/ MAURICE RAVEL (1875 - 1937) Cinq mélodies populaires grecques (Five Greek Folksongs) (Texts: Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi (1877-1944); transl. Lionel Salter)

In contrast to Berlioz, the piano writing of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) shows careful but imaginative craftsmanship, with clear gestures and refined colours. Of the five Greek folksong accompaniments published in 1906, two were written for a lecture on the music of oppressed peoples by Pierre Aubry in 1904, the other three for a later lecture by the Greek writer Calvocoressi who had helped Ravel choose the songs and translated the texts into French. Four of the songs were collected by Pernot on the island of Chios in 1898-99. "Quel galant!", comes from Matsa's Constantinople collection of 1883. Ravel and Calvocoressi had met through the "Apaches", a Parisian circle of artistic and intellectual "outcasts" which met regularly between 1900 and 1914.

The first song captures the vibrant atmosphere of the morning of a Greek wedding, as the young peasant awakens his bride. For the slow second and fourth songs (the oldest in the set), Ravel provides a sustained accompaniment that allows the modal melodies to unfold naturally. The original Greek text to the second song makes clear (unlike the English translation) that brave soldiers lie in the little cemetary behind the church. The fourth song enjoys a quickening of the accompaniment at the point where the lover appears. The central song, the virile "Quel galant!" opens with striking bravado and moves to tenderness in the expression of love at the end. As for the exhilarating conclusion, "Tout gai!", the French singing professor Charles Panzera writes: "it proceeds from a zone of clarity where, carefree and glad to be alive, the voice dances--like those tiny objects with which the juggler plots trajectories in the space which belongs to him."

1. Le Réveil de la mariée

Réveille-toi, perdrix mignonne,
Ouvre au matin tes ailes.
Trois grains de beauté mon coeur en est brûlé!
Vois le ruban d'or que je t'apporte,
Pour le nouer autour de tes cheveux.
Si tu veux, ma belle, viens nous marier!
Dans nos deux familles, tous sont alliés!

A Song to the Married One

Wake up, pretty partridge.
Open your wings to the morning.
Three beauty spots, and my heart is aflame!
See the golden ribbon I bring you
To tie around your hair.
If you wish, my beauty, let us marry!
In our two families, all are united!

2. Là-bas, vers l'église

Là-bas, vers l'église Ayio Sidéro,
O Vierge sainte, l'église Ayio Costanndino,
Se sont réunis, rassemblés en nombre infini,
Du monde, ô Vierge sainte, tous les plus braves!

Down there by the church

Down there by the church of St. Sideros,
O holy Virgin, the church St. Costantine,
Are gathered, assembled in infinite numbers,
All the finest people of the word, o blessed Virgin.

3. Quel Galant!

Quel galant m'est comparable,
D'entre ceux qu'on voit passer?
Dis, dame Vassiliki?
Vois, pendus à ma ceinture, pistolets et sabre aigu...
Et c'est toi que j'aime!

What Gallant!

What gallant can compare with me,
Of all those seen passing by?
Tell me, lady Vassiliki!
Look, hanging on my belt Pistols and a sharp sword…
And it is your love!

4. Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques

O joie de mon âme, joie de mon coeur,
Trésor qui m'est si cher;
Joie de l'âme et du coeur,
Toi que j'aime ardemment,
Tu es plus beau qu'un ange.

O lorsque tu parais, ange si doux
Devant nos yeux,
Comme un bel ange blond,
Sous le clair soleil,
Hélas! tous nos pauvres coeurs soupirent!

Song of the Lentisk Gatherers

O joy of my soul, joy of my heart,
Treasure so precious to me
Joy of my heart and soul,
You whom I love so ardently,
You are more beautiful than an angel.

O when you appear, angel so sweet,
Before our eyes,
Like a lovely fair angel,
Under the bright sun,
Alas! all our poor hearts sigh!

5. Tout gai!

Tout gai, ha, tout gai!
Belle jambe, tireli, qui danse;
Belle jambe, la vaisselle danse,
Tra la la.

Gaily!

Gaily, ha, gaily!
Lovely legs, tra la, dancing;
Lovely legs; the dishes are dancing too,
Tra la la.