Spencer Pope Senior Recital
April 23, 2022 | 2:30pm | Kansas State University
Norma Roozeboom, Piano
Die schöne Müllerin (1824) Performed as a set.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Müller's poems tell a tragic love story, simple and rustic. A young journeyman miller wanders along a stream, following its path. He eventually comes to the next watermill and apprentices himself to the master miller. He falls in love with the miller's beautiful daughter, and convinces himself that she returns his feelings, but comes to realize that she loves a huntsman instead. Overwhelmed by sorrow and despair, he drowns himself in the brook.
III. Halt!
This song describes the miller's journey and his arrival at the mill. Read Translation.
III. Der Neugierige
This song follows the wooing of the maiden by the young miller: his attempts to get her to notice him, his impatience and uncertainty, his growing devotion to his beloved, and the progress of the relationship. Read Translation.
Bois épais (1684)
Jean-Baptise Lully (1632-1687)
A heartfelt lament by a man who is exiled and heartbroken. His only solace is the trees of the forest, to whom he is lamenting. Yet, even they are too happy for him, as he is begging for the trees to blot out the sun. Read Translation.
“Vecchia zimarra, senti” from La bohème (1896)
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
from Act IV. setting: Paris, c. 1830; a garret apartment
Musetta has brought Mimi, dying of consumption, to the apartment of the "bohemians." Musetta goes off with Marcello to sell her earrings and seeks medical help. Colline, the philosopher, says a gentle farewell to his old coat before taking it to the pawnbroker. Read Translation.
On the Other Shore (2018)
arr. Steven Mark Kohn (b. 1957)
From Kohn's American Folk set, the song is sourced from collections compiled by John Lomax (1867–1948) and Alan Lomax (1915–2002), a legendary father and son team, who contributed to the preservation of folk music from every walk of American life. They partnered with the Library of Congress to archive a wide range of American folk music. The text to "On the Other Shore," and variants of all selections of Kohn's American Folk Set, may be heard via recording in the collection. Read Poetry.
Ten Thousand Miles Away (2018)
arr. Steven Mark Kohn (b. 1957)
Also from his American Folk Set, this tune was originally a shore ballad sung by street singers in Ireland in the early nineteenth century. Later, it became a popular music hall number after being passed as a sea shanty. In this ballad, the narrator expresses his longing to reunite with his true love, who has been transported to Australia while he remains in England. Her deportation would have been punishment for a crime potentially as minor as petty theft. Read Poetry.
“The Innocence” from Considering Matthew Shepard (2016)
Craig Hella Johnson (1962-current)
This 17th movement from the major work, Considering Matthew Shepard, is in the middle of the passion. Remembering a time when life was full of promise and dreaming was an activity filled with hope, the solo line wonders where all of these promising times have gone. Read more about Considering Matthew Shepard.
Love: Then and Still (2019)
Susan LaBarr (b. 1981) | Charles Anthony Silvestri (b. 1965)
"I fell in love with this piece after hearing it at a conference last March. The beautiful piano line, warm melody, and delicacy of text setting are all worth noting. A true love song, it tells the story of Tony Silvestri (the poet) losing his wife to cancer and being left with his 2 kids. This song radiates Hope and Love, emhasizing they are present, then and still. Upon deciding if this was THE piece, some text really stood out to me."
"The music we shared brought us together,"
"Busy in joy and love. How simple it seemed, then."
"But scars remind us W hat was, and what yet may be"
Jacob Thomas, Piano
Shout Glory! (2002)
Byron J. Smith (b. 1960)
"A true spiritual, this piece brings me back to my first All-State audition junior year of high school. Working countless hours digging into the music, that semester was the start of my dedication to choral music. Perhaps it's a full circle moment of love and reminiscence! All that being said, I selected it for this afternoon because it is truly a banger. Enjoy!"
Jacob Thomas, Piano
Abbi Davenport, Solo
Matthew Robison, Solo
Dr. Julie Yu, Ashley Peery, Kayleigh Ballesteros, Brittany Taylor, Claire Weishaar, Emma Lansdowne, Alyssa Byers, Abbi Davenport, Chenyu Sun, Brahm Berry, Ryan Hernandez, Matthew Robison, Michael Martin, Dayton Raines, Davis Roe, Oliver Hutchison, Tim Price