BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1961-1962 FIRST RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST ★ MATTIWILDA DOBBS Soprano GEOFFREY PARSONS Pianoforte SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast FRIDAY, 13th OCTOBER, 1961 at 7.45 p.m.

Ah! ritorna, eta dell'oro Christopher Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) In 1762 in his Orfeo ed Euridice, Gluck had initiated the reforms that were to lead opera from its old stilted mould of elaborate classical dramas adorned with music for which they were not intended. In the next year, however, he reverted to the old practice and set Metastasio's Il trionfo di Clelia, in which the poet had devised a romance, in the person of one Clelia, to add to the story of Lars Posenna; he chose to set it perhaps because Posenna was claimed as an ancestor of the house of Bologna where the opera was performed. It is known now only from this aria. "Return, age of gold to the deserted earth, if you were ever any- thing but a mere imagining. No, no, you have not fled, you are no dream. Every innocent heart knows you in its tranquility." Care selve I George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Of Gluck's forty-five stage works two or three still hold the stage, but of Handel's numerous operas little is now heard but some of the superb arias in which they abound. This is from Atlanta of 1736. Care selve, ombre beate Vengo in traccio del mio cor (Dear woods, beloved shades, I go in pursuit of my heart) Oh had I Jubal's lyre Handel (From the oratorio Joshua, 1748. Words by Thomas Morell) Oh had I Jubal's lyre Or Miriam's tuneful voice To sounds like his I would aspire In songs like her's rejoice. My humble strains but faintly show How much to heaven and thee I owe.

SONGS II Die Entzueckung an Laura, D 390 (Words by Lessing. Composed March, 1816. He afterwards made an attempt to rewrite this song, but two fragments only survive, D577). Tells of the poet's infatuation with Laura, her singing, her dancing, her glance and her smile, all to a gentle accompaniment of arpeggios. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Seligkeit, D 433 (Words by Hölty. Composed May 1816). A strange number of joys blossoms in heaven's realm, as our fathers taught. There should I like to be and rejoice for ever. For everyone harp and zither sound and there is dancing and singing. But should Laura smile one glance at me I would rather stay here. Nacht und Träume, D 827 (Words by Collin. Composed 1825). The holy night comes once more and dreamland spreads round us, like the moonbeams through the shadows. The heart of mankind is still. We greet you with joy and regret the coming of the day. Return, holy night and give us back our dreams. Recitative et Polonaise : Je suis Titania Liebhaber in allen Gestalten, D 558 (Words by Goethe. Composed 1817). A charming little trifle (though in Goethe's original it extended to seventeen stanzas) in which the poet imagines himself in various disguises, now as a fish, now as gold, etc., so that he might the better captivate his beloved. III Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896) From the opera Mignon, founded on the story of Goethe's Wilhelm Meister. One of the characters, the actress Philine, is in her dressing room, making ready for her appearance as Titania. With joyous abandon, much by-play with powder puffs and the like, and a celebrated dosage of coloratura she describes how she roams through the heavens lighter than air, swifter than lightning. She is accompanied by her court of sprites, equally lively. Everywhere, through the flowered woods of dawn, the meadows and the foam-flecked waves she is seen flitting lightly.

Nocturne, Op. 43, No. 2 Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) (Words by Villiers de L'Isle Adam. Composed 1886). Night opens her jewel-case revealing the flowers and stars innumerable. But for me night has but one flower and one star, my beloved. Apparition INTERVAL Notre amour, Op. 23, No. 2 (Words by Armand Silvestre. Composed 1882). Our love is light as the perfume of the breezes, charming as the bird-songs of morning, sacred as the mysteries of the woods, infinite as the sea, eternal like all that a conquering god has touched with the fire of his wing. Pierrot IV (Words by Mallarmé, 1882-1884). Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 Aria Dansa Claude Achille-Debussy (1862-1918) (Words by Theodore de Banville, 1882-1884) Next Concert :- V Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887- ) VI Lizette (Creole song from Louisiana) Michieu Banjo (Creole song from Louisiana) arr. Nickerson Unaccompanied Negro spiritual arr. Price A City called Heaven My Soul's been Anchored in de Lord TUESDAY, 7th NOVEMBER, 1961 THE STROSS STRING QUARTET