
Date: October 21, 2012
This performance was an early celebration, by a few months, of the centenary of Robertson Davies, one of Canada’s major 20th century novelists. He was an enthusiastic amateur musician and the theme of music recurs frequently in his writings. First presented in 1999, the programme received much help from the Davies family, as well as from other friends in Canada and Britain. A centrepiece was the set of variations for two pianos (premiered in 1999) by Derek Holman on Arne’s “Water parted from the sea”, a song which was much loved by Davies and which figures prominently in his novel A Mixture of Frailties, as does Tosti’s “Goodbye!” The Artistic Directors were good friends of Davies and his wife; furthermore, Bruce Ubukata was much involved in musical performance at Massey College (in the University of Toronto) while Davies was Master.
SONG | ARTIST | COMPOSER | POET |
---|---|---|---|
The lark in the clear air | McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Irish folksong, arr. Tate, Phyllis | Ferguson, Samuel |
Let’s all go down the Strand | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Castling, Harry / Murphy, C.W. | anon. |
I met him in the far away (Leo, the Royal Cadet) | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Telgmann, Oscar | Cameron, George Frederick |
Der Doppelgänger, D957/13 | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Schubert, Franz | Heine, Heinrich, trans. Todhunter, John |
When I was one-and-twenty (A Shropshire Lad) | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Somervell, Sir Arthur | Housman, Alfred Edward |
Into my heart an air that kills (A Shropshire Lad) | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Somervell, Sir Arthur | Housman, Alfred Edward |
Hiraeth | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Welsh folksong, arr. Jenkins, David | Hughes, Ceiriog |
The bayly berith the bell away | McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Warlock, Peter | anon. |
Pretty Ring Time | McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Warlock, Peter | Shakespeare, William |
Water parted from the sea (Artaxerxes) | McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Arne, Thomas | anon., after Metastasio, Pietro |
Variations on a Melody by Doctor Arne | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Holman, Derek | n/a |
Goodbye! | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Tosti, Sir Paolo | Whyte-Melville, George John |
Shepherd, leave decoying (King Arthur) | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Purcell, Henry, real. Britten, Benjamin | Dryden, John |
Tell me, lovely shepherd (Solomon) | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Boyce, William | Moore, Edward |
Twilight Fancies | McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Delius, Frederick | Björnson, Björnsterne trans. Copeland, F.S. |
Overture (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix | n/a |
The Nightmare Song (Iolanthe) | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Sullivan, Sir Arthur | Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck |
Never weatherbeaten sail | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Campian, Thomas | Campian, Thomas |
Bei Männern (Die Zauberflöte, K620) | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | Schikaneder, Emanuel |
Finale (Sir John in Love) | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Vaughan Williams, Ralph | Campian, Thomas |
Let’s all go down the Strand – ENCORE | Khalil, Miriam, soprano; McHardy, Allyson, mezzo; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Castling, Harry / Murphy, C.W. | anon. |