ADVANCED PERFORMANCE

Tuesday 27th 2014
1:45pm

Middleton Hall
University of Hull

Johanna Coyne Soprano
Peter Sproston Piano


Melodrama

Mad Bess – Henry Purcell
Ophelia Lieder – Richard Strauss
Five Am’rous Sighs – Jonathan Dove
Banquo’s Buried – Alison Bauld


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‘Five Am’rous Sighs’ by Jonathan Dove – (born -1959) Composed – 1997

Jonathan Dove is a well-known present-day composer who has written many famous pieces, such as his adaptation of Wagner’s ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’ for CBTO. In 1990 he wrote music for many plays for different production companies like the National Theatre where he got credited for Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials (2003).

The Five am’rous Sighs are taken from 18th century poems. Each song expresses a different emotion about how love has gone wrong and each emotion is delivered and expressed by the music. The first song is a lullaby, which has a contrast between the vocal line rising and falling and the accompaniment playing large leaps. The near octave leaps show how close the lovers are physically but not at the emotional level that the character wants. The second song is faster and starts rhythmically with the accompaniment; as the song progresses the vocal line becomes syncopated and less regimented against the piano. This reflects the character’s building anger and spite over her love. The third song begins quite slow and tender, however the last 2 bars finish with a juxtaposing line, which abruptly ends the song signifying the character has changed feelings and moved on. The fourth song has a very lively and almost jovial tempo with a 6/8+2/4 time signature that reflect the obscure nature of the lyrics thus implying the characters abstract view on love. The final song has country motion with the vocal line going one way and the accompaniment going the opposite, which suggests the character’s unwillingness to follow. Also, the use of portamento reflects the characters sighing and sorrow.




‘Banquo’s Buried’ by Alison Bauld – (born -1944)
Composed – 1982


Alison Bauld studied both acting and music but became established through her composing. Her music is primarily in the theatrical genre and is regularly performed in concerts and broadcasts. Bauld has composed several dramatic scenes based upon Shakespearian texts of which Banquo’s Buried for soprano and piano is one of her most performed.

The text is taken from Act 5 scene 1 of Macbeth where Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking. The song shows her descent into madness after the murder of Banquo. This is shown in the music throughout the piece: for example the sudden sforzando octave leaps in the vocal part reflect her mental outbursts. The abrupt changes between spoken lines and singing imply her unpredictable nature. During the final moments of the piece the piano plays rhythmically out of sync between the notes of the vocal melody, which suggest unstableness.

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