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The Great Song Marathon: Afternoon Session | Walter Hall, Toronto
The second part of an all-day celebration of the artsong

date: January 19, 2002

Our 20th anniversary celebrations consisted of a celebrity recital, a gala afternoon  –  and this marathon.  In the course of one day, we presented 23 singers, ranging from some of Canada’s leading international stars to young performers just emerging from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, many of them graduates of our Young Artists Recitals.  In all, they performed 81 songs.  Our choices were, necessarily, personal; but we also sought to give a hearing to all of the major periods and schools of artsong writing for voice and piano, including genuine, undisputed masterpieces from each.  The three sessions focussed on the three different times of day. Beginning at 2:30 pm, we included songs about the middle of the day, also about summertime and about the happiness (or sadness) of love in its full development. Russell Braun enjoyed his own, personal marathon by including one of Schubert’s longest songs, the 17 minute Schiller setting, Die Bürgschaft. The programme book quoted Auden’s poem from On This Island:  “Let the hot sun shine on!”.

Song Artist Composer Poet
Silent Noon (The House of Life) Stewart, Robert, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Vaughan Williams, Ralph Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
The Roadside Fire (Songs of Travel) Stewart, Robert, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Vaughan Williams, Ralph Stevenson, Robert Louis
Bright is the ring of words (Songs of Travel) Stewart, Robert, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Vaughan Williams, Ralph Stevenson, Robert Louis
Pace non trovo (Tre sonetti di Petrarca) Edwards, Darryl, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Liszt, Franz Petrarca, Francesco
Benedetto sia ‘l giorno (Tre sonetti di Petrarca) Edwards, Darryl, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Liszt, Franz Petrarca, Francesco
Mira que soy niña (Canciones amatorias) Anderson, Valdine, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Granados, Enrique anon. Spanish
Mañanica era (Canciones amatorias) Anderson, Valdine, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Granados, Enrique anon. Spanish
Gracia mía (Canciones amatorias) Anderson, Valdine, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Granados, Enrique anon. Spanish
My life’s delight, Op.12/2 (Seven Elizabethan Lyrics) Colvin, Michael, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Quilter, Roger Campion, Thomas
Damask roses, Op.12/3 (Seven Elizabethan Lyrics) Colvin, Michael, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Quilter, Roger anon.
By a fountainside, Op.12/6 (Seven Elizabethan Lyrics) Colvin, Michael, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Quilter, Roger Jonson, Ben
Fair house of joy, Op.12/7 (Seven Elizabethan Lyrics) Colvin, Michael, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Quilter, Roger anon.
Let the florid music praise, Op.11/1 (On This Island) Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
Now the leaves are falling fast, Op.11/2 (On This Island) Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
Seascape, Op.11/3 (On This Island) Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
As it is, plenty, Op.11/5 (On This Island) Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
INTERMISSION
Der Jäger, Op.95/4 Bella, Mary, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Brahms, Johannes Halm, Friedrich
Sapphische Ode, Op.94/4 Bella, Mary, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Brahms, Johannes Schmidt, Hans
Botschaft, Op.47/1 Bella, Mary, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Brahms, Johannes Daumer, Georg Friedrich, after Hafis
Die Bürgschaft, D246 Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Schubert, Franz Schiller, Friedrich von
Im Treibhaus (Wesendonck-Lieder) Harach, Janet, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Wagner, Richard Wesendonck, Mathilde
Schmerzen (Wesendonck-Lieder) Harach, Janet, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Wagner, Richard Wesendonck, Mathilde
Träume (Wesendonck-Lieder) Harach, Janet, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano Wagner, Richard Wesendonck, Mathilde