from philharmonia with love
Program Supplement
Texts and Translations
Madrigals by Barbara Strozzi
L’amante modesto
Volano frettolosi i giorni e presto
un secolo sarà che t’amo, o Clori,
né de’ miei lunghi ossequiosi amori
un picciol guiderdone anco t’ho chiesto
Amante son, ma candido e modesto;
voglio che taciturno il cor t’adori
e voglio disfogar gl’interni ardori
col muto fiato d’un sospir onesto.
Godati chi di me più fortunato
nacque ai diletti impuri.
A me sol basta saper
dalla mia Clori esser amato.
Così mai non guerreggia e non contrasta
rivalità; diverso è il nostro stato:
egli t’ama impudica, io t’amo casta.
TRANSLATION: The modest lover
The days fly by in a hurry, and soon
it will have been a century that I've loved you,
O Clori, and yet in my unceasing subservient love
I've not asked for even one small reward.
I'm a lover, but purehearted and modest;
I want my heart to adore you silently,
and would relieve my internal burning
with the silent breath of an honest sigh.
Let the one who is more fortunate than me enjoy you,
and invite you to licentious pleasures.
For me it is enough only
to know that I am loved by my Clori.
Thus our rivalry is without contention or quarrel;
our conditions differ:
he loves you lasciviously, I love you sincerely.
Silentio nocivo
Dolcissimi respire
De’ nostri cori amanti
Son le parole affettuose e i canti.
Sfoga, o mio core, il tuo cocente ardore,
Se tal'hor non ti tocca
Nodrirti almen di due soavi baci.
Afflittissima bocca,
Stolta sei se tu taci:
Parla, canta, respira, esala il duolo,
Canta, canta, che solo
Dolcissimi respiri...
TRANSLATION: Harmful silence
Sweetest breaths
are the passionate words and songs
of our loving hearts.
Express, oh my heart, your burning desire,
when at times you cannot
at least nourish yourself with two sweet kisses.
Afflicted mouth,
you're foolish if you remain silent:
Speak, sing, divulge your suffering,
sing, sing, for only
Sweetest breaths...
I Baci
Oh dolci, oh cari, oh desiati baci!
Unite l'alme vanno
sul labro ad incontrarsi.
Col bacio l'alme fanno
nel cor gran colpi darsi.
Vezzosette si accordano;
viperette si mordano.
Ma sono i lor dolcissimi furori
grand union dei cori.
Oh dolci, oh cari, oh desiati baci!
Bacia, mia bocca, e taci!
TRANSLATION: Kisses
Oh sweet, enticing, oh adored kisses:
souls unite
to meet upon lips.
With a kiss souls
wound hearts deeply.
Wantonly they merge,
like vipers they bite each other,
but in their sweetest fury
is a deep union of hearts.
Oh sweet, enticing, oh adored kisses,
kiss my mouth, and be silent!
Madrigals by Maddalena Casulana
Amorosetto fiore,
Che’l bel sen toccherai de la mia diva,
Prega lei che si priva
Piu non sia di pietad’e cortesia,
Ma che benigna e pia
Si mostri con un suo fedel amante.
E che le luci sante
Rivolga più soavi e gratiose
Verso le lagrimose mie
Che vengon homai pel pianger meno,
E poi godi felic’il suo bel seno.
TRANSLATION:
Alluring little flower,
That will touch the fair bosom of my goddess,
Ask her that she no longer
Be bereft of compassion and courtesy,
But that she show herself favorable and charitable
To one who is her steadfast lover.
And that she turn her blessed eyes
More sweetly and graciously
Toward my tearful ones
Which are wasting away from lamentation,
And then happily enjoy her fair bosom.
Per lei pos' in oblio,
le vag' e biond' arene,
tanto gradite, tanto gradite,
tanto gradite al gran popul di Marte,
et ogni pensier mio,
pingend' in vive carte,
lei sol' andra per queste piagg' amene,
e da lei stanc' e frale,
attend' ambe due l'ale,
per gir sempre volando,
volando, qual cigno lieto lei
sola cantando sola cantando.
TRANSLATION:
For her I have forgotten
the beautiful golden arenas
so dear, so dear, so dear
to the great warriors
and in every one of my thoughts,
crying over her letters,
she alone will roam
these pleasant shores,
and, frail and tired,
will spread her wings,
to go always flying, like a gentle swan,
alone singing alone singing.
O notte O cielo O mar O piagge O monti
Che si spesso m'udite chiamar morte
O valli O selve O boschi O fiumi O fonti
Che sost'alla mia vita fide scorte
O fere snelle che con liete fronti
Errando andate con gioiosa sorte
O testimon de miei si duri accenti
Dat'audientia insieme a miei lamenti.
TRANSLATION:
Night, sky, shore, ocean, hills—
you that have often heard me call for death;
Vales, woodlands, forests, rivers, springs -
you that have always been my companions;
beasts that pace undisturbed
and happy in your destinies—
all you witnesses of my harsh words together, give ear to my lamentation.
Dolci e vaghi augelletti,
che per verdi boschetti
soavi versi ogn’ hor gite cantando,
fate col vostro canto
noto il mio largo pianto
a quella fera che m’infiamma e strugge,
e ride del mio male
talché mercè con lei gridar non vale,
poiché da me si fugge
et io resto gridando,
“Rendimi il cor da me già posto in bando.”
TRANSLATION:
Sweet and lovely little birds
that among the green groves
wander singing sweet verses
make my immense weeping
manifest with your song
to that wild one who inflames and torments me
and laughs at my pain,
so much so that is not worth pleading with her,
since she flees from me
and I remain, wailing,
“Give me back the heart that I have already exiled.”
Come fiammeggia e splende,
hor quindi, hor quinci il sole
così di voi, Signore,
luce l’alto valore.
Che preggio acquista a vostra nobil prole,
ne perché siate tale
vien da opra mortale
MA al RIO BEVEste l’ACQUA,
che v’infuse
l’Alma virtù de le divine Muse.
TRANSLATION:
How it blazes and shines,
now here, now there, the sun:
So from you, my Lord,
Burns lofty valor.
Such a prize will confer on your noble offspring,
since you are this way
because of mortal agency,
but at the stream you drank the water,
which infused you
with the lifegiving virtue of the divine Muse.
Water Night
Eric Whitacre
Night with the eyes of a horse that trembles in the night
Night with eyes of water in the field asleep
Is in your eyes, a horse that trembles is in
Your eyes of secret water
Eyes of shadow-water
Eyes of well-water
Eyes of dream-water
Silence and solitude
Two little animals moon-led
Drink in your eyes
Drink in those waters
If you open your eyes, night opens doors of musk
The secret kingdom of the water opens
Flowing from the center of the night
And if you close your eyes
A river, a silent and beautiful current, fills you from within
Flows forward, darkens you:
Night brings its wetness to beaches in your soul
- Translated and adapted from “Agua Nocturna” by Octavio Paz
We two boys together clinging
Lowell Hoyt
We two boys together clinging,
One the other never leaving,
Up and down the roads going,
North and South excursions
making, Power enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching,
Arm'd and fearless,
eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,
No law less than ourselves owning,
sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
Misers, menials, priests alarming,
air breathing, water drinking,
on the turf or the sea-beach dancing,
Cities wrenching, ease scorning,
statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,
Fulfilling our foray.
- from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
All seems beautiful to me
Eric Whitacre
From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that
would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space,
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.
All seems beautiful to me,
can repeat over to men and women You have done such good to me
I would do the same to you,
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.
- from Songs of the Open Road by Walt Whitman
Far away, up above
Dana K. Fiero
Tonight the stars begin to fall from the sky
Open the window and see what’s waiting outside
The end of the world as we know it is drawing near
But we’ll go somewhere new and be together again, my dear
Come with me to another place before the world falls from its orbit
Follow me to outer space, it’ll only hurt a little bit
To leave everyone here that we loved
And go far away up above
Where the light radiates through
and the darkness knows the truth
SuPer Trouper
Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
arr. Vince McNeil
Super Trouper, lights are gonna find me
But I won't feel blue
Like I always do
'Cause somewhere in the crowd, there's you
I was sick and tired of everything
When I called you last night from Glasgow
All I do is eat and sleep and sing
Wishing every show was the last show
(Wishing every show was the last show)
So imagine I was glad to hear you're coming
(Glad to hear you're coming)
Suddenly I feel all right
(And suddenly it's gonna be)
And it's gonna be so different
When I'm on the stage tonight
Tonight the Super Trouper, lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun (Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Smiling, having fun (Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Feeling like a number one
Tonight the Super Trouper, beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue (Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Like I always do (Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Because somewhere in the crowd, there's you
Somewhere Out There
James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil
Somewhere out there
Beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me
And loving me tonight
Somewhere out there
Someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another
In that big somewhere out there
And even though I know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star
And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky
Somewhere out there
If love can see us through
Then we'll be together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true
PhilHarmonia
is a community chamber choir that sings classical and contemporary choral music. Founded in 2013, PhilHarmonia continues to delight audiences with its commitment to musical excellence, and its diverse range of choral programs.
Our mission: To sing and perform great choral music for everyone.
PhilHarmonia exists to sing and perform choral music of the highest caliber. In order to achieve our goal, we are individuals acting as a single unit: A community of singers. We share this great choral music with the public from throughout the Philadelphia region to promote a common heightened life experience.
Mitos Andaya Hart
has served as the Artistic Director of PhilHarmonia since 2014. She is the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Temple University where she conducts the Temple University Singers, works with undergraduate and graduate conductors, and teaches choral literature. Prior to her appointment at Temple, she served as Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Georgia where she was awarded one of the university’s highest honors, the Richard B. Russell Undergraduate Teaching Award. Dr. Andaya Hart has taught choral and jazz at the university level in the United States, South Africa, and Australia. She served as guest conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir in Amsterdam and Arnhem in 2007 and conducted the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir in concert at the Lund International Choral Festival in Sweden. Additionally, she has served as a guest conductor, master teacher, clinician and adjudicator nationally as well internationally in Germany, Kenya, and South Korea. Dr. Andaya Hart has served at the State level as ACDA R&S Chair for Jazz and also served President of the National Collegiate Choral Organization.