Episode 80. Sad Songs (with a twist)
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It’s been a year since the pandemic sent us all into various degrees of lockdown, panic, and depression. In certain parts of the world there is no end in sight, while in other parts, medical expertise is being blatantly defied as lockdown measures are carelessly lifted. I did a survey of my friends and listeners this week regarding their favorite sad songs, and I got hit with an avalanche of a wide range of not-happy music. In this episode I am limiting myself to so-called “classical” music. Because the music itself is so heavy, I impersonate (at the top of the episode) a radio announcer for WOKE-FM, a fictional Milwaukee “Top 40 Classical Radio Station,” who is taking calls from all over the world from listeners requesting their favorite sad music. These spurious callers have invariably good taste, and request some glorious music, albeit very sad indeed, by some transcendent performers, including Irmgard Seefried, Maria Callas, Janet Baker, Pierre Bernac, Nan Merriman, Lois Marshall, Peter Pears, and two beautiful French sopranos, Renée Doria and Andréa Guiot, who, at extremely advanced ages, each recently departed this earth. Composers from Dowland, Rameau, and Monteverdi are represented, alongside Poulenc, Schubert, Mahler, Debussy, and Stravinsky. The episode also includes guest vocal appearances by singers, including Cathy Berberian, Magda Olivero, Charles Panzéra, Jorma Hynninen, and Bethany Beardslee, who will receive full-episode treatment in the near future. Ultimately, we return to the atmosphere of a normal Countermelody episode, and are deeply moved by the singers, composers, and music represented.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
and Gérard Souzay (8 December 1918 – 17 August 2004).
Jayme Ovalle, Manuel Bandeira: Azulão. Gérard Souzay; Dalton Baldwin [1958]
Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian: Plaisir d’amour, Renée Doria; Franco Vertezza, Wiener Symphoniker [recording date unknown]
Hugo Wolf, Eduard Mörike: Das verlassene Mägdlein (Mörike-Lieder). Irmgard Seefried; Victor Graef [1945]
Jean-Baptiste Rameau: Tristes apprêts, pâles flambeaux (Castor et Pollux). Jeanette Scovotti; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Concentus Musicus Wien [1972]
Henry Purcell: When I Am Laid in Earth (Dido and Æneas). Lois Marshall; Amsterdams Kamerorkest [telecast from 29 September 1963]
John Dowland: Flow, My Tears (The Second Booke of Songes). Peter Pears; Julian Bream [live Aldeburgh 7 June 1958]
Gustav Mahler: Der Einsame im Herbst (Das Lied von der Erde). Janet Baker; George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra [live 05 February 1970]
Christoph Willibald Gluck: J’ai perdu mon Eurydice (Orphée et Eurydice). Maria Callas; Georges Prêtre, Orchestre National de la RTF [1961]
Charles Griffes, William Sharp: The Lament of Ian the Proud (Three Poems of Fiona MacLeod, Op. 11/1. Phyllis Bryn-Julson; Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra [1976]
Giacomo Puccini: Senza mamma (Suor Angelica). Magda Olivero; Alfredo Simonetto, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI [1949]
Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Francesco Busenello: Disprezzata regina (L’incoronazione di Poppea). Cathy Berberian; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Concentus Musicus Wien [1974]
Johannes Brahms: Denn es gehet dem Menschen (Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 122/1). Jorma Hynninen; Ralf Gothóni [1985]
Claude Debussy, Paul Verlaine: Il pleut dans mon coeur (Ariettes oubliées, L.60/2). Bethany Beardslee; Robert Helps [1989]
Gabriel Fauré, Paul Verlaine: Prison, Op. 83/1. Bernard Kruysen; Noël Lee [1965]
Reynaldo Hahn, Paul Verlaine: D’une prison. Charles Panzéra; Magdeleine Panzéra-Baillot [1923]
Robert Schumann, Heinrich Heine: Ich wandelte unter den Bäumen (Liederkreis, Op. 24/3). Brigitte Fassbaender; Irwin Gage [1985]
and Francis Poulenc (7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963)
Francis Poulenc, Guillaume Apollinaire: Sanglots (Banalités, FP 107/5). Pierre Bernac; Francis Poulenc [1950]
Igor Stravinsky, Dylan Thomas: Do not go gentle (In Memoriam Dylan Thomas). Alexander Young; Igor Stravinsky, The Columbia Chamber Ensemble [1965]
Jacques Leguerney, Pierre de Ronsard: Ma douce jouvence est passée. Kurt Ollmann; Mary Dibbern [1985]
James Joyce, arr. Edmond Pendelton: Bid adieu. Nan Merriman; Felix de Nobel [live Amsterdam 27 April 1965]
Francis Poulenc: Au jardin des oliviers (Les dialogues des Carmélites). Andréa Guiot; Jean Fournet, Orquestra del Teatro Colón [live Buenos Aires 1965]
Franz Schubert, Wilhelm Müller: Des Baches Wiegenlied (Die schöne Müllerin, D.795/20). Gérard Souzay; Dalton Baldwin [1964]