
date: June 14, 1988
This concert was significant as being our first appearance at the Aldeburgh Festival. We were fortunate that, of our fine Canadian soloists, three were at the time living in England. Our first half included music from Russia and Scandinavia (Percy Grainger being considered an honorary Scandinavian); our second half was entirely Canadian. The poetry of many of the songs was concerned with winter and our responses to it. Folksong elements often recurred and were summed up in a new work, John Greer’s “All Around the Circle”. This was our very first commission and proved to be one of the most successful, particularly as regards the number of subsequent performances by ourselves and other organizations. Spoken extracts were taken mostly from the memoirs of Lord Frederic Hamilton, a 19th century British diplomat who writes engagingly about his times in St. Petersburg and in Canada. An earlier version of this programme was performed in our Sunday Series in January 1988.
Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
---|---|---|---|
Where are you, little star? | Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Mussorgsky, Modest | Grekov, Nikolai |
In the silent night, Op.4/3 | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Rachmaninov, Sergei | Fet, Afanasy |
Night | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich |
Song of the Volga Boatmen | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Russian folksong, arr. Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | n/a |
Dawn, Op.46/6 | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Surikov, Ivan |
Under the green apple tree | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Russian folksong, arr. Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | n/a |
In the orchard, by the brook, Op.46/4 | MacKenzie, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Shevchenko, Taras, trans. Surikov, Ivan |
Valse (Serenade for Strings, Op.48) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | n/a |
Amid the din of the ball, Op.38/3 | Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Tolstoy, Alexey |
Les Larmes, Op.65/5 | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Blanchecotte, Augustine-Malvina Souville |
Spring Waters, Op.14/11 | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Rachmaninov, Sergei | Tyuchev, Fyodor |
Demanten på marssnön, Op.36/6 | Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Sibelius, Jean | Wecksell, Josef Julius |
Svarta rosor, Op.36/1 | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Sibelius, Jean | Josephson, Ernst |
Faeroe Island Dance – Folksong (Let’s dance gay in green meadow) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Faeroe Island folksong, arr. Grainger, Percy | n/a |
Med en vandlilje, Op.25/4 | Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Grieg, Edvard | Ibsen, Henrik |
The Power of Love | Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Danish folksong, arr. Grainger, Percy | anon. |
Our old Canadian home | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Woodlawn, C.P. | anon. |
The Canadian Sleigh Song | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Russell, Henry | Mackay, Charles |
Now fades the last long streak of snow (The Centred Passion) | Finley Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Holman, Derek | Tennyson, Alfred, Lord |
She’s like the swallow | Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Newfoundland folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
The Role of Canada in the World Today | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Freedman, Harry | Mullin, Dave |
Sonnet | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | MacMillan, Sir Ernest | Browning, Elizabeth Barrett |
Jimmie’s got a goil (Six Songs to Poems by e.e.cummings) | Finley Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Beckwith, John | cummings, e.e. |
Brilliant Contredanse and Polka | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Strathy, George | n/a |
When the ice worms nest again (All Around the Circle) | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Folksong from the Arctic, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
The Alberta Homestead (All Around the Circle) | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Alberta folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
Old Grandma (All Around the Circle) | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Prairie folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
Rattle on the Stovepipe (All Around the Circle) | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Ontario folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
Do you see that there bird? (All Around the Circle) | Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Nova Scotia folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
The Morning Dew (All Around the Circle) | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Newfoundland folksong, arr. Greer, John | anon. |
Quodlibet (All Around the Circle) | MacKenzie, Jane, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Butterfield, Peter, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Newfoundland folksongs, arr. Greer, John | anon. |