Legacies of Hope: A Recital Benefitting Refuge for Women Pittsburgh

January is human trafficking awareness month. Please consider joining us for an afternoon of art song. The program will include female centered works that herald hope in dark times. Classical female composers such as Clara Schumann, Marion Bauer, Florence Price, and Jewel. Reception with complimentary refreshments to follow. BeanThru Coffee is proud to provide refreshments. Message Brady to find out how you also can help.

Freewill offering gratefully accepted. 100% of the proceeds benefit Pittsburgh's Refuge for Women.

Program

While in Rome, George Frideric Händel (1685-1759) was subject to papal restrictions that governed the musical life of the city. Opera was banned, and thus, Händel was frequently commissioned to write sacred works. Among these sacred works was La Resurrezione. The work received its premiere at Marquis Ruspoli’s palace. The first performance in 1708 was extravagant. While the oratorio was not dramatically staged, it was presented with florid and velvet backdrops, at least a 50 piece orchestra, and no expense spared when it came to the printed programs. Margherita Durastanti was the first to sing the role of Mary Magdalene, but the pope objected to a woman on stage, so she was replaced with a castrati for the remainder of the first run. Mary sings the “Hò un non sò che nel cor” as a brave and vulnerable rebuke of fear following Jesus’s death.

In “Se impassible immortale” Mary affirms God’s victory over sin and death in His Risen son Jesus.

Oftentimes, female composers are overlooked whilst defining the classical canon of art song. However, the feminine legacy of art song simply cannot be ignored. In both “Send Me a Dream” and “The Driftwood Fire,” Marion Bauer (1882-1955) exerts spiritual force in her compositional style. Bauer incorporates dissonance and complex harmonies, all the while maintaining a lyrical melody. Both poems send the listener on a quest through nature to find divinity. Interestingly, Marion Bauer was raised by Jewish, but she was reported to be a believer in Christian science later in life.

Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was a prodigal concert pianist, and accomplished composer. While her art song compositions shared many similarities with her husband, Robert Schumann’s, her style is uniquely and sufficiently more understated in nature. While their marriage was forbidden by Clara’s father, the Schumanns persevered in their union. They had eight children together, and prior to Robert’s significant mental decline, enjoyed much happiness. Clara composed Sechs Lieder, opus 13, in the first days of their marriage. 

Florence Price (1887-1953) was a prolific composer and truly a pioneer in her field. Price was the first black female composer to have her composition performed by a major symphony orchestra in 1933. After struggling through hardship and abuse during her first marriage, she found success in Chicago. It was there that she became acquainted with Langston Hughes, who wrote much poetry for her art songs. Many of her songs include themes of freedom, and hope. Her personal experiences and struggles with racism in her life and career make the yearning palpable in her music. Such palpability is the case in both “We Have Tomorrow” and “Sympathy.”

MUSICAL THEATER AND POP SONGS

“I Wish It So” from Juno by Marc Blitzstein

“No One is Alone” from Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim

“Hands” by Jewel and Patrick Leonard