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In these delightful pleasant groves ..................................... Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Bon jour, mon coeur ........................................................ Orlandus Lassus (1532-1594) O Primavera ...............................................................Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Frühlingsfeier .............................................................. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Våren (Spring) ................................ Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), arr. Paul Christiansen Die Primel ....................................................................................... Felix Mendelssohn

After the Winter ...................................................................... Giselle Wyers (b. 1969)

I Beheld Her, Beautiful As a Dove ..................................... Healey Willan (1880-1968) Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One

Come, gentle Spring (from The Seasons).................. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

INTERMISSION

BELLEVUE CHAMBER CHORUS Fredrick Lokken, director

presents

Program

(Please hold applause between pieces in groups.)

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About the Music

W elcome to “It Might as Well Be Spring”, our musical celebration of the return of springtime sunlight, flowers, birds, and love! Renaissance madrigals and chansons, 19th-century classics, modern gems, and popular favorites all combine to salute the delights of la primavera.

We begin with one of the last madrigals in the English tradition, Henry Purcell’s sprightly and popular In these delightful pleasant groves, written in 1676. The leading composer of 17th-century England, Purcell is most well-known for his more than 100 songs, the opera Dido and Aeneas, and his music to a version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, called The Fairy Queen.

In these delightful pleasant groves Let us celebrate our happy, happy loves! Let's pipe, pipe and dance, dance and laugh, laugh and sing. Thus, every happy, happy living thing Revels in the cheerful spring!

Fresh and Fearless ..................................................................... Daniel Elder (b. 1986)

Valse ............................................................................. Benjamin Godard (1849-1895) Jake Berreth, flute; Kristine Anderson, piano

Contre Qui, Rose (from Les chansons des Roses) ............. Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) Dirait-on (from Les chansons des Roses)

Primavera Porteña ............................ Astor Piazzola (1921-1992), arr. Oscar Escalada

It Might As Well Be Spring ................... Rodgers and Hammerstein, arr. Kirby Shaw

It Was a Lover and His Lass ........................................................ John Rutter (b. 1945)

Here Comes the Sun ............................. George Harrison (1943-2001), arr. Kirby Shaw

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The next pair of pieces feature two of the giants of the Renaissance, Orlandus Lassus and Claudio Monteverdi. Lassus (also known as Orlando di Lasso) was one of the most prolific, versatile, and famous composers of the era, with hundreds of sacred and secular vocal works to his name. His brief chanson Bon jour mon coeur, published in 1564, is a suave setting of a flirtatious text of springtime love by French poet Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585), celebrated in his time as the “Prince of Poets”.

Among his musical achievements, Monteverdi (whose 450th birth-year anniversary is celebrated this year) brought the Italian madrigal to the apex of its development and laid the groundwork for the new Baroque style. O primavera (from his Third Book of Madrigals, 1592) remains in the late Renaissance style with its overlapping phrases and continuous points of imitation. Yet Monteverdi achieves great emotional intensity by contrasting the lively rhythms used for the joyous description of spring, against the sustained chords, harmonic suspensions, and low vocal range used to describe the unhappiness of one who has lost favor in the eyes of their beloved.

Bon jour mon coeur, bon jour ma douce vie.

Bon jour mon oeil, bon jour ma chère amie!

Hé! Bon jour ma toute belle, ma mignardise,

Bon jour mes délices, mon amour, Mon doux printemps,

ma douce fleur nouvelle, Mon doux plaisir, ma douce colombelle,

Mon passereau, ma gente tourterelle! Bon jour ma douce rebelle.

Good day, my heart; good day, my sweet life; Good day, my eye; good day, my dearest friend! Ah, good day, my beauty, my daintiness, Good day my delight, my love, My sweet spring, my delicate new flower, My sweet pleasure, my gentle dove, My sparrow, my lovely turtledove! Good day, my sweet rebellious one.

O primavera, gioventù de l’anno, bella madre de’ fiori,

d’erbe novelle e di novelli amori, tu ben, lasso, ritorni,

ma senza i cari giorni de le speranze mie.

Tu ben sei quella ch’eri pur dianzi, sì vezzosa e bella;

ma non son io quel che già un tempo fui, sì caro a gli occhi altrui.

O spring, youth of the year, beautiful mother of flowers, of new leaves and new loves; You are returned, but alas, without the dear days of my hope. You are as you were before, so charming and beautiful, but I am not as I was in past times, so dear in the eyes of others.

~ Battista Guarini (1538-1612)

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German composer Felix Mendelssohn once said, “The most natural music of all occurs when four people go out together in the woods or in a boat, and carry the music with them and inside them!” To facilitate that kind of outdoor music-making, Mendelssohn wrote several sets of a cappella part-songs primarily about nature, including a group of six entitled Der erste Frühlingstag - Sechs Lieder im Freien zu singen (The First Spring Day – Six Songs to be Sung Outdoors), published in 1840. From that group we present two sparkling musical miniatures.

Frühlingsfeier (Spring celebration)

Die Primel (The primrose)

In addition to his beloved piano compositions and his music for the Henrik Ibsen play Peer Gynt, Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg also wrote over 170 songs, many inspired by his wife who was a talented singer. The poignant Våren (Spring) first appeared as a solo song written in 1881, and was then arranged by Grieg for string orchestra. This gorgeous choral arrangement by the long-time director of the Concordia Choir (MN), Paul Christiansen, was done in 1957.

Green was the grass and the flowers now shown forth, in brilliant array. Once more I hear the joyous song of spring,

And of summer.

Yet once again I could see winter leave, And springtime advancing.

Buds soon appeared on hedge and tree, And flowers were dancing.

Life in its beauty once again I see, But must from it sever;

Sad then of heart I wonder if this be The last spring forever.

Süsser, gold'ner Frühlingstag! Inniges Entzücken!

Wenn mir je ein Lied gelang, sollt' es heut' nicht glücken?

Doch warum in dieser Zeit an die Arbeit treten?

Frühling ist ein hohes Fest: lasst mich ruh'n und beten.

Sweet, golden spring day! Heartfelt delight! If I were ever to attempt a song, should I not succeed today? Yet why at this time should I think of work? Spring is a high holiday: let me rest and pray!

Liebliche Blume, bist du so früh schon wieder gekommen?

Sei mir gegrüsset, Botin des Frühlings!

Leiser denn alle Blumen der Wiese hast du geschlummert,

liebliche Primel, Botin des Frühlings!

Lovely flower, have you come back so early already? I greet you, messenger of spring!

More quietly than all the flowers of the meadow have you been slumbering, Lovely primrose, messenger of spring!

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Giselle Wyers is Professor of Choral Music at the University of Washington, and her choral compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading ensembles across North America and Europe. After the Winter is a quietly reflective setting of poetry by Claude McKay (1889-1948), a Jamaican-born writer who became an important figure in the literary Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s. The piece was written for the local ensemble Choir of the Sound in 2011.

Organist, choir-master, and composer Healey Willan was born and educated in England, but made his career as church musician and professor in Toronto. From among his numerous choral compositions we present two brief and exquisite settings from the biblical Song of Solomon, I Beheld Her, Beautiful As a Dove and Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One, both written in the late 1920s. Intended as liturgical pieces, the beautiful poetic descriptions of love and spring fit perfectly in our secular program as well.

I beheld her beautiful as a dove, rising above the water‐brooks; and her raiment was filled with perfume beyond all price.

Even as the springtime was she girded with rosebuds and lilies of the valley.

Who is this that cometh up from the desert like a wreath of sweet smoke

arising from frankincense and myrrh?

~~<>~~<>~~<>~~

Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear upon the earth. The time of singing of birds is come.

Arise my love, my fair one, and come away.

Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) was the second of two massive oratorios (The Creation being the first) by the great Austrian Classical-era composer Franz Joseph Haydn. Both were written in his later years after a trip to London where he was

Someday, when trees have shed their leaves And against the morning’s white The shivering birds beneath the eaves Have sheltered for the night, We’ll turn our faces southward, love, Toward the summer isle Where bamboos spire the shafted grove And wide-mouthed orchids smile.

And we will seek the quiet hill Where towers the cotton tree, And leaps the laughing crystal rill, And works the droning bee. And we will build a cottage there Beside an open glade, With black-ribbed blue-bells blowing near, And ferns that never fade.

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inspired by Handel’s popular oratorios. Based loosely on a popular English literary work of the time, The Seasons depicts the human relationship with a divinely-ordered nature throughout the course of the changing seasons. The lilting chorus Come, gentle Spring appears at the end of the first part of the oratorio and describes the promise of spring, still threatened by ‘Winter’s blast’, and the gradual awakening of nature.

INTERMISSION

Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness, come! And from her wintry grave

bid drowsy nature rise.

See, gentle Spring delightful comes! Her soft and balmy breath we feel,

The joy of renovated life. See, gentle Spring delightful comes!

As yet the year is unconfirmed, And oft returning Winter’s blast,

Or black envenomed fog, The bud and bloom destroys.

Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness, come!

And smiling on our plains descend. O come, gentle Spring, while music wakes

around.

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American composer Daniel Elder is fast making an international name for himself with exciting music that draws most deeply from the impressionist movement. Of his vivid setting of Sara Teasdale’s text in Fresh and Fearless, written in 2016, the composer says:

“Sara Teasdale’s poem May Night takes an interesting perspective on the liveliness of spring even when absent of sunlight, and Fresh and Fearless attempts to represent the dynamic combination of life and darkness that lies within these verses. Using a trance-like repeated pattern, the piano accompaniment inserts a nearly unrelenting electric charge into the choir’s lyrics, giving these lines a sense of vigor reminiscent of the spring Teasdale envisions. Hints of medieval parallels and modal harmonies also pervade the work, which conjures memories of ancient dances heralding the coming of warmth and life to the earth. Most importantly, Fresh and Fearless depicts the joy experienced within as nature blossoms to life around oneself—hence the title’s focus on this particular phrase; a sense of invincible elation.”

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The spring is fresh and fearless And every leaf is new,

The world is brimmed with moonlight, The lilac brimmed with dew.

Here in the moving shadows I catch my breath and sing –

My heart is fresh and fearless And over-brimmed with spring.

~ Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

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Valse is the final movement of a set of three flute pieces written in 1890 by French violinist and composer Benjamin Godard. Though it has nothing specifically to do with spring, its scintillating virtuosity and exquisite charm seem to exude a spring-like energy. Our guest artist, Jake Berreth, is a Junior at Redmond High School. He studies flute with Laura Werner. He has been a member of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra for eight years and currently plays in the top orchestra, which performs at Benaroya Hall. Jake recently won First Place in the State Solo/Ensemble Competition in the flute division.

Of American composer Morten Lauridsen’s many well-known and beloved choral works, perhaps none are as popular and oft-performed as his set of five Les Chansons des Roses (1993). These settings of French poetry by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) capture their elegant and sensuous imagery with delicate beauty and lyricism. Contre qui, rose, set as a wistful nocturne, and Dirait-on, composed as a tuneful chanson populaire, provide an appropriate salutation to the queen of flowers to our springtime celebrations.

~~<<~~<>~~>>~~

Contre qui, rose, avez-vous adopté

ces épines? Votre joie trop fine vous a-t-elle forcée

de devenir cette chose armée?

Mais de qui vous protège cette arme exagérée?

Combien d'ennemies vous ai-je enlevés qui ne la craignaient point?

Au contraire, d'été en automne, vous blessez les soins

qu'on vous donne.

Against whom, rose, Have you assumed These thorns? Is it your too fragile joy That forced you to become This armed thing?

But from whom does it protect you, This exaggerated defense? How many enemies have I lifted from you Who did not fear it at all? On the contrary, from summer to autumn You wound the affection That is given to you.

Abandon entouré d'abandon, tendresse touchant aux tendresses...

C'est ton intérieur qui sans cesse se caresse, dirait-on;

se caresse en soi-même, par son propre reflet éclairé.

Ainsi tu inventes le thème du Narcisse exaucé.

Abandon surrounding abandon, Tenderness touching tenderness... Your oneness endlessly Caresses itself, so they say;

Self-caressing through its own clear reflection. Thus you invent the theme of Narcissus fulfilled.

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Primavera Porteña (Spring Time in Buenos Aires) is one of the Cuatro

Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires), a set of four tango compositions written between 1965-70 by the great Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player, Ástor Piazzolla. Written as a kind of homage to the famous Four Seasons violin concertos of Vivaldi, they were scored originally for Piazzolla’s quintet of violin, piano, electric guitar, double bass and bandoneón. All four have been given very atmospheric wordless arrangements by contemporary Argentine conductor/composer Oscar Escalada.

It Might as Well Be Spring is from the 1945 film State Fair, where it’s sung by the character Margy Frake, the young daughter of an Iowa farm family, perplexed at her restlessness and dissatisfaction with her everyday life, a set of feelings more common to spring fever. With music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, the only original film score by the famous musical theater duo, it won the Academy Award for best original song that year.

I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm, I'm as jumpy as puppet on a string.

I'd say that I had spring fever But I know it isn't spring.

I am starry eyed and vaguely discontented, Like a nightingale without a song to sing.

O why should I have spring fever, When it isn't even spring?

I keep wishing I were somewhere else, Walking down a strange new street.

Hearing words that I have never heard From a man I've yet to meet.

I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams, I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing.

I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud Or a robin on the wing.

But I feel so gay in a melancholy way That it might as well be spring.

It might as well be spring.

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It Was a Lover and His Lass, the famous text from Shakespeare’s As You Like It,

gets a very jazzy contemporary treatment by John Rutter, written in 1976 for the male vocal ensemble The Scholars of London.

Finally, what better way to close our salute to spring than with this very hip vocal version of George Harrison’s upbeat and hopeful Here Comes the Sun, from The Beatles’ iconic 1969 album, Abbey Road. “It seems like years since it’s been clear”...indeed! Enjoy!

~ program notes by Fredrick Lokken

It was a lover and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny no, That o’er the green cornfield did pass, In springtime, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; Sweet lovers love the spring.

Between the acres of the rye, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny no, Those pretty country folks would lie, In springtime...

And therefore take the present time, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny no, For love is crownèd with the prime In springtime...

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Bellevue Chamber Chorus, founded in 1984, performs three major concerts each season, encompassing a variety of choral lit‐erature from the classical standards and con‐temporary works to “world music”, Broad‐way hits, and vocal jazz. The Chorus often joins other ensembles in performances of major choral/orchestral works, such as Mo‐zart’s Vespers, Faure’s Requiem, Verdi’s Req-uiem, Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Bu-

rana, Brahms’ Requiem, and in 2016, Rutter’s Mass of the Children with the Bellevue Youth Choirs. The ensemble has premiered works by regional and nationally-known composers, including commissioned works for the Washington State Centennial Celebration, the grand opening of the Theatre at Meydenbauer Center, and a special 20th anniversary season com‐missioned piece, That Music Always Round Me, by Seattle composer, John Muehleisen. The Chorus has released three CDs, “Timeframes”, “Retrospective”, and a recent holiday CD, “Christmas Visions, Winter Dreams”. Bellevue Chamber Chorus tours often and has per‐formed in Carnegie Hall, various locations in Europe, the International Music Festival (2000) in Sydney, Australia, and twice at the invitational Kathaumixw International Choral Festival in Powell River, British Columbia, where they won first place in 2008 in the adult mixed chorus category. Other performances include the Leavenworth International Choral Festival, the international “Rolling Requiem” in memory of September 11th, as one of the re‐gional choruses in the NEA sponsored American Masterpieces Choral Festival in Seattle, and in Kelowna, B.C. as part of the Okanogan Choral Society Series.

Bellevue Chamber Chorus is a non-profit organization, which receives its support from the generous donations of people interested in fine musical experiences on the Eastside.

Bellevue Chamber Chorus

Personnel

Tenor * Mike Grube Andy Haslam

Mark Liebendorfer Jeff Pierce

David Williams

Soprano ** * Maria Bayer Kelsey Boosman ** Kristine Bryan

Debra Defotis Kathie Patten

Ana Ryker Oriana Vogel Melanie West

Alto ** Louise Baldwin Kimberly Borom

** Barbara Bridge Marie Connett

* Melanie Grube Mindy Larrison Debbie Roberts

Bass ** * Allan Chartrand

Dennis Defotis ** Jan DeWulf ** Don Jones Wyatt Patten

* Denotes Section Leaders. ** Denotes Board Member.

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OUR DIRECTOR

Conductor of collegiate, community, and church choirs in Minnesota, California, and the Seattle area for nearly thirty years,

Dr. Fredrick Lokken is in his sixteenth season as music director and conductor of the Bellevue Chamber Chorus. Under his direction the Chorus has gained a growing reputation for exciting performances of diverse and innovative programs from the traditional classics to contemporary music from around the world. He received his doctoral degree in choral conducting from the University of Washington, where he studied under Abraham Kaplan and Joan Catoni Conlon. He has done further study with renowned choral conductors Joseph Flummerfelt, Helmuth Rilling, and Jon Washburn, and spent several years in the Netherlands doing choral research and writing. Dr. Lokken also holds a degree in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin and sang

with the professional Dale Warland Singers. In addition to his work with the Bellevue Chamber Chorus, Dr. Lokken directed the choral program at Shoreline Community College for several years and continues to teach on the vocal faculty, and is in frequent demand as a choral/vocal adjudicator throughout the region.

Kristine Anderson, piano: Kristine Anderson graduated with a music degree from the University of Montana at Missoula. She is well-known in the Puget Sound region for her artistic and sensitive work with singers as well as instrumentalists ranging from tuba to piccolo. Equally at home with jazz, pop, and classical, she can adjust her style from Sondheim to Gershwin to Strauss. Her clients include winners in local and national competitions, including the Seattle Young Artist Music Festival, Metropolitan Opera semifinals, and concerto contests. Kristine also serves as accompanist for the Flute and Piccolo Forum, hosted by Seattle

Symphony flutist Zart Dombourian Eby. In the fall of 2010, Kristine accompanied a former Flute Forum attendee Justin Lee on his Western Washington tour, after he won the Ladies Musical Club contest. In addition to holding three church-pianist positions in Seattle, she was music director for the Seattle Musical Theater, formerly known as Civic Light Opera, during their production of High Society, and the pianist for the Seattle Opera Guild’s Preview shows. She has been the accompanist for Bellevue Chamber Chorus for the past nine seasons. In 2012 she became an employee in the University of Washington Music Department and a staff accompanist.

OUR ACCOMPANIST

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Thank you to our Generous Donors

Maestro - $5000 and up Rick Bulpin and Kris Bryan

Crescendo - $2500 to $4999

Bellevue Arts Commission Maria and Doug Bayer

Michael and Melanie Grube Tom and Oriana Vogel

Virtuoso - $1000 to $2499 4Culture

Louise Baldwin * Microsoft Corporation

Jim and Vicki Walch

Diva - $500 to $999 James and Amelia Bryan

** Debra and Dennis Defotis Sonja Handeland Delafosse

** Plumtree Communications Fred Lokken and Marsha Thomas J. Frank Trujillo

Aria - $250 to $499 The Bayer Family Foundation

Andrew Haslam JFT Singers

** Sean and Kathie Patten Seattle Foundation/GiveBIG

Bravo - $100 to $249 Anonymous (1)

Norma Aamodt-Nelson * Boeing

**Kim Borom ** John and Barbara Bridge

Tarry Conrad Jan DeWulf

* Nordstrom Corporation Scott and Meredith Selfon

Moine and Mabel West ** David Williams

Tutti - Up to $99 Anonymous

Robert and Sue Betts Jean Cho

Marie Connett Dave Gehrig Betty Hedge Margie Huff

Phyllis and Roland Krauss Susan Liechty Marci Melvin Jean Mishler

Mary Ann Odne Sharon Swift

George and Linda Tady Jane Wasell

Kevin Wheelock ** Pam Younghans

* indicates corporate matching grants ** indicates in-kind donations

JFT Singers Vocal Jazz Quintet For Hire

Frank Trujillo Director/Arranger/Singer

712 34th Ave Seattle, WA 98122

206.353.5594 jimmyfrank@hotmail.com

Bellevue Chamber Chorus is grateful to recognize the many individuals and families investing in our mission. Because of people like you, we can continue to bring choral music experiences to the community of Bellevue and surrounding areas. Your continued generosity inspires and motivates us—thank you!

This list reflects donations received by the Chorus between June 15, 2016 and May 9, 2017.

Bellevue Chamber Chorus works to maintain our list of donors as accurately as possible. We apologize for any misspellings or omissions. Should you find any, please contact us so that we may correct

any mistakes in future publications. Email admin@bellevuechamberchorus.org or call 425.881.0445.

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Executive Director ........................................................................................ Debra Defotis

Rehearsal Accompanist ....................................................................... Kristine Anderson

Costuming ..................................................................... Melanie Grube, Mindy Freeland

Graphic Design ............................................................ Kristine Bryan, Pam Younghans

PR Coordinator ........................................................................................... Melanie Grube

Program Ads Coordinator ........................................................................ Barbara Bridge

Score Management/Music Librarian ......................................................... Kathie Patten

Stage Manager .......................................................................................... David Williams

Ticket Coordinator ......................................................................................... Mike Grube

Volunteer Coordinator ............................................................................. Debbie Roberts

Special thanks to: Richard Bulpin (community Board Member), Andy Haslam (audio/video recording), Chris Meierding of Meierding Designs (season graphics), Jen and Kim Hofer

(website design and training), and all our volunteers who help make our concerts possible!

STAFF AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ushers and House Attendants: Cameron and Nina Boosman, Sam and Will Borom (please see our Information table for complete list)

Thank you to our Volunteers!

Bellevue Chamber Chorus is a

501(c)3 non-profit organization,

which means that all donations to

the chorus are tax-deductible.

Donations are accepted at perfor-

mances, online, or via mail at:

Bellevue Chamber Chorus P.O. Box 1714

Bellevue, WA 98009-1714

(425) 881-0445

www.bellevuechamberchorus.org

KEEP IN TOUCH!!! Join our email list and receive notifications of

upcoming concerts and events! Just visit

www.bellevuechamberchorus.org and click on

"Join Email List" on the left-hand side.

You can also follow our updates

on Facebook or Twitter(@SingBellevue)!

Cover art: “Irises” by Vincent Van Gogh Interior art—”Spring by the Seine” by Claude Monet

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