Last updated: 11 June 2009
The schedule of performances in the fourth Song Prize recital.
View a photo gallery from recital four.
Dana Bramane - Latvia
Accompanist: Simon Lepper
Ro啪u uguns - J膿kabs Medi艈拧
In 'The Rose's Fire' the poet talks of the feelings he shares with his beloved, comparing their love to the fiery bloom of a crimson rose. When the flower dies, their memories will fade.
Mana laime - Em墨ls D膩rzi艈拧
In this passionate song, 'My happiness', the poet pledges his heart to his beloved. He wants to wash her hair with his happy tears and kiss the worried frown from her brow. If her heart should break, he would die - all his happiness is there with her.
N膩c! - J膩nis Medi艈拧
The poet calls to his lover, "Come to me when the stars are shining in the black night!" They will kiss in the moonlight, under nets of silver stars. When the storm clouds rage overhead, the fire of her love will light up the sky.
Nocturno - J膩nis Medi艈拧
Blossoms fall: the heart aches, old wounds quietly open and sad shadows run through the poet's thoughts. But sadness and heartache are submerged in sleep. Only a little rivulet of song ripples along, remembering sweet and bitter deceptions from long ago.
Sap艈u t膩lum膩 - J膩zeps V墨tols
In 'Distant Dreams' the poet is trying desperately to recover his lost happiness, but finds it impossible. He feels that the laughter and sweet music of his past joy is being lost in the mist and trampled in the mud. It will be lost forever.
T膩 ietu - J膩nis Medi艈拧
The poet wants to go with his beloved to the beautiful islands - spread out like a starry brooch - at the end of the world. There, everything is glowing, the waves seem to sing and happiness grows in the gardens.
Ak, j奴s, atmi艈as - J膩nis Medi艈拧
In 'Ah, you memories' the poet reflects that even the most beautiful memories are painful. The heart aches as the cup of joy has now been drained and the future seems empty. In every direction, he is confronted by the abyss of doubt.
膧bele - J膩nis Medi艈拧
The song is sung by the apple tree of the title. It is a magic tree, and it warns people not to approach - their breath will poison its blossom and make the flowers drop from the branches. The night is quiet, but the tree can hear the ghostly screaming of the stream.
Kungs Dievs (T膿vijai) - Jurj膩nu Andreys
This is a prayer to God, to protect the fatherland of Latvia and enable it to prosper and enjoy happy times. The Latvian people beg God to listen and grant their hearts' desire. It comes from the cantata T膿vijai, meaning 'To the Fatherland'.
Etienne Dupuis - Canada
Accompanist: Ll欧r Williams
O del mio amato ben (Arie di Stile Antico No 18) - Donaudy
The singer is missing his lost love, without whom the day feels like night and the fire seems cold. Stephano Donaudy set this text written by his brother, Alberto, in 1892.
Im wundersch枚nen Monat Mai (Dichterliebe Op 48 No 1) - Schumann
Schumann's best-known song cycle, 'The Poet's Love', was written in 1840 to texts by Heinrich Heine. The first seven are performed here. In the first, the poet sings of the wonderful month of May, when the buds and his love come to life, when the birds sing, and he tells his love of his longing.
Aus meinen tr盲nen spriessen (Dichterliebe Op 48 No 2) - Schumann
The poet sings of his tears, which water the flowers which spring up, and of his sighs, which become a choir of nightingales. For his love, he will pick the flowers, and the nightingales will serenade her. The delicate pauses in this song echo the poet's sighs.
Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube (Dichterliebe Op 48 No 3) - Schumann
This little song has the poet singing - almost breathlessly and with complete happiness - of his love for his dearest, which has replaced the feelings he once had for roses, lilies, doves and the sunshine.
Wenn ich in deine Augen seh' (Dichterliebe Op 48 No 4) - Schumann
A vein of melancholy runs through this song, although the poet sings of how his lover's glance takes his pain away, her kisses make him well and he feels so happy in her arms. But he weeps when she says she loves him.
Ich will meine Seele tauchen (Dichterliebe Op 48 No 5) - Schumann
The sensual text has the poet wishing to dip his soul in the chalice of the lily, and the lily will make a song which will tremble and quiver, like one of his beloved's kisses.
Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome (Dichterliebe Op 48 No 6) - Schumann
The song starts in a solemn, monolithic vein, with the accompaniment resembling organ music, as the poet sings about the river Rhine and Cologne Cathedral. As he describes a painting of Our Lady in the cathedral, which reminds him of his beloved, the mood becomes more intimate.
Ich grolle nicht (Dichterliebe Op 48 No 7) - Schumann
The poet's heart is breaking. His beloved has left him, but he insists - several times throughout the song - that he bears no grudge against the cause of his sorrow. She may be radiant in her diamonds, but her heart is dark. A serpent is eating her heart, and he sees how unhappy she is.
Wade Kernot - New Zealand
Accompanist: Phillip Thomas
The Vagabond (Songs of Travel No 1) - Vaughan Williams
The vagabond longs for the life of the open road, whatever the weather, whatever fate may bring. He does not need money, friendship, love or hope - just the road beneath his feet and the sky above his head. Vaughan Williams set Robert Louis Stevenson's poems in 1904.
Verrat (Op 105 No 5) - Brahms
The lover, supposedly far away, arrives at his sweetheart's house to see another man leaving. He overhears her telling him to come back the next day, saying that she loves him. But he will not be back - the betrayed lover waits for him on the heath, and later he will be found dead among the flowers. The poem ('Betrayal') is by Karl von Lemcke.
Der Kuss (Op 128) - Beethoven
The poet, alone with Chloe, wants to kiss her. She refuses, saying she will scream, but he kisses her anyway. And did she scream? Yes, says the poet - but not until much later. At this point, the singer is instructed to smile. The text is by Christian Felix Weisse.
Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh (Vier ernste Ges盲nge Op 121 No 1) - Brahms
The text, from Ecclesiastes 3:19-22, which focuses on the transience of life, begins "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts". This set of 'Four Serious Songs' was written shortly after Brahms' lifelong friend and muse, Clara Schumann, had suffered a stroke.
Hine e hine - Trad arr Carl Doy
This Maori folk song tells of a sad little girl, weeping and weary. She should be sad no longer as there is love for her in God's heart.
Eri Nakamura - Japan
Accompanist: David Gowland
Ganymed (Op 19 No 3) - Schubert
Goethe's poem describes how the mythical youth, Ganymed, is seduced by the beauty of the springtime. He longs to embrace it: the warmth, the flowers and grass and the song of birds. As the clouds float downwards, Ganymed feels himself lifted upwards towards the all-loving Father.
Gretchen am Spinnrade (Op 2) - Schubert
Gretchen sits at her spinning wheel, sad because she has been abandoned by Faust. She has no peace, and her heart is heavy. She searches for Faust all the time, looking out for his walk, his smile, and thinking of his kisses. This is one of several settings Schubert made of scenes from Goethe's Faust.
Sakura Yokocho - Yoshinao Nakada
The poet is admiring the spring flowers on Cherry Blossom Lane, and remembering his lost love. He realizes they will probably never meet again, never greet each other again, so all he can do is gaze at the abundance of cherry blossom. The text is by Sh奴ichi Kat艒, and the title means 'Cherry Blossom Lane'.
Apparition - Debussy
In Mallarm茅's poem, rich with sensual dream imagery, the 'apparition' is of the beloved, on the day of their first kiss. She appears at evening, with the light in her hair, looking like a fairy. White bouquets of perfumed stars seem to fall like snow from her hands.
Pierrot - Debussy
Th茅odore de Banville's poem describes Pierrot walking along the Boulevard du Temple after Harlequin's wedding. A girl gives him a teasing glance, and the moon in turn looks furtively at her friend, Jean Gaspard Deburau. This reference to Deburau indicates that he and Pierrot are one and the same - Deburau was a French mime artist, particularly famous for his portrayal of Pierrot.
