
date: April 25, 1999
This programme celebrated the life and work, in particular light of the music he loved, of the great Canadian writer, Robertson Davies, who had died a few years previously. He was an enthusiastic amateur musician and the theme of music recurs frequently in his writings. The programme received a lot of help from a number of friends in Canada and Britain, and particularly from the Davies family – indeed, we were honoured that one of the novelist’s daughters, Miranda, consented to appear and sing in our concert. A centrepiece was the premiere of a set of variations for two pianos 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 of his wife, Brenda; furthermore, Bruce Ubukata was much involved in musical performances at Massey College (in the University of Toronto) while Davies was Master.
Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
---|---|---|---|
The lark in the clear air | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Irish folksong, arr. Tate, Phyllis | Ferguson, Samuel |
Let’s all go down the Strand | Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Castling, Harry / Murphy, C.W. | anon. |
I met him in the far away (Leo, the Royal Cadet) | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Telgmann, Oscar | Cameron, George Frederick |
Der Doppelgänger, D957/13 | Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Schubert, Franz | Heine, Heinrich, trans. Todhunter, John |
When I was one-and-twenty (A Shropshire Lad) | Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Somervell, Sir Arthur | Housman, Alfred Edward |
Into my heart an air that kills (A Shropshire Lad) | Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Somervell, Sir Arthur | Housman, Alfred Edward |
Hiraeth | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Welsh folksong, arr. Jenkins, David | Hughes, Ceiriog |
The bayly berith the bell away | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Warlock, Peter | anon. |
Pretty Ring Time | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Warlock, Peter | Shakespeare, William |
Water parted from the sea (Artaxerxes) | Robbin, Catherine, 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! | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Tosti, Sir Paolo | Whyte-Melville, George John |
Shepherd, leave decoying (King Arthur) | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Robbin, Catherine mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Purcell, Henry, real. Britten, Benjamin | Dryden, John |
Tell me, lovely shepherd (Solomon) | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Boyce, William | Moore, Edward |
Twilight Fancies | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Delius, Frederick | Björnson, Björnsterne trans. Copeland, F.S. |
Lift thine eyes (Elijah, Op.70) | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Davies, Miranda, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix | Psalm 121 |
Overture: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op.21 | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix | n/a |
The Nightmare Song (Iolanthe) | Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Sullivan, Sir Arthur | Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck |
Never weatherbeaten sail | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Robbin, Catherine mezzo; Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Campian, Thomas | Campian, Thomas |
Bei Männern (Die Zauberflöte, K620) | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | Schikaneder, Emanuel |
Finale (Sir John in Love) | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Vaughan Williams, Ralph | Campian, Thomas |
Let’s all go down the Strand – ENCORE | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Neff, Daniel, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Castling, Harry / Murphy, C.W. | anon. |