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Contrasts | Walter Hall, Toronto
Contrasts | Walter Hall, Toronto
Music for four voices and two pianists
date: April 27, 1997
The simple idea behind this concert was that of presenting three cycles of songs written for four voices and two pianists. The first two (Canadian) works had been commissioned in earlier years by the Aldeburgh Connection and had already received a number of performances by us, including some at the Aldeburgh Festival in England. Brahms’s Neue Liebeslieder is the much less well-known companion to his Liebeslieder-Walzer and was receiving its first performance in our concerts. Between the musical numbers we interposed a few literary extracts from Canadian writers and from the memoirs of the English diplomat, Lord Frederic Hamilton, who spent time in (among many other cities) both Toronto and Vienna.
| Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oh! can you leave your native land? – A Canadian Song (Contrasts) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Holman, Derek | Moodie, Susanna |
| My jolly shantyboy – Ontario lumbermen’s song (Contrasts) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Holman, Derek | anon. |
| Le Cloître noir (Contrasts) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Holman, Derek | Nelligan, Emile |
| Autumn (Contrasts) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Holman, Derek | Scott, Duncan Campbell |
| I am a Canadian (Contrasts) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Holman, Derek | Redbird, Duke |
| When the ice worms nest again (All Around the Circle) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Folksong from the Arctic, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
| The Alberta Homestead (All Around the Circle) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Alberta folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
| Old Grandma (All Around the Circle) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Prairie folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
| Rattle on the Stovepipe (All Around the Circle) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Ontario folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
| Do you see that there bird? (All Around the Circle) | Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Nova Scotia folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
| The Morning Dew (All Around the Circle) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Newfoundland folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
| Quodlibet (All Around the Circle) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Newfoundland folksongs, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
| Verzicht, o Herz, auf Rettung, Op.65/1 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Finstere Schatten der Nacht, Op.65/2 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| An jeder Hand die Finger, Op.65/3 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Ihr schwarzen Augen, ihr dürft nur winken, Op.65/4 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Wahre, wahre deinen Sohn, Op.65/5 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Rosen steckt mir an die Mutter, Op.65/6 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Vom Gebirge, Well auf Well, Op.65/7 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Weiche Gräser im Revier, Op.65/8 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Nagen am Herzen fühl ich ein Gift mir, Op.65/9 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Ich kose süss mit der und der, Op.65/10 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Colvin, Michael, tenor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Alles, alles in den Wind, Op.65/11 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher,Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Schwarzer Wald, dein Schatten ist so düster! Op.65/12 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Nein, Geliebter, setze dich, Op.65/13 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Flammenauge, dunkles Haar, Op.65/14 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
| Zum Schluss, Op.65/15 (Neue Liebeslieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von |
| Ein kleiner, hübscher Vogel, Op.52/6 (Liebeslieder-Walzer) – ENCORE | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Swanston, Marcia, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Nickel, Brian, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |