Music: Sun Apr 16

 

Can music be inherently evil? Apparently, certain theoreticians thought so, when they dubbed the interval of the tritone (C to F# or Gb, for ex.) the diabolus in musica (the devil in music). Perhaps they did so because of the tritone’s instability—it doesn’t point to single resolution. The solo piano works performed this morning all feature the tritone in abundance. In fact, the Catalan composer Federico Mompou referred to a particular chord consisting of perfect 4ths and tritones as “el acorde metalico” (the metallic chord) and wrote that it was uniquely his. In his suite Scènes d’enfants (Scenes of Children) the use of such chords prompted one commentator to speculate about the mixture of the angelic and the devilish in children. The CUUC Choir is also on hand with the medieval “Sumer is Icumen in” and a selection already familiar to CUUC parishioners….read on for programming details, and stay tuned for spoken introductions.

 

Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano

Scènes d’enfants (Scenes of Children)

            Cris dans la rue (Shouts in the street)

            Jeux sur la plage I-III (Games on the beach)

                        Federico Mompou

 

Anthem: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

“Sumer is Icumen in”

                        Anon

 

Meditation:
Scènes d’enfants (Scenes of Children)

            Jeunes filles au Jardin (Young girls in the garden)

 

Offertory:
“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”

                        Randy Newman

 

Interlude:
Cançó i dansa 14*

                        Federico Mompou

 

Postlude:
Suite, Op. 14

            Allegretto

                        Béla Bartók

 

*The “song” portion is based on a popular Catalonian folksong La cançó del lladre (The Song of the Thief):

When I was a little boy

I was boastful and presumptuous;

With an espadrille on my foot

And a handkerchief in my pocket.

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

And now that I am all grown up,

I have chosen an evil path!

I have started to rob people:

(This is) my daily job.

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

I robbed a merchant

Who was returning from the town fair;

I stole all of his money

And the sample he was carrying.

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

Once I had enough money

I kidnapped a young maiden:

I took her with lies,

Promising that I'd marry her!

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!

 

Justice has imprisoned me

And it has dragged me to a dark jail.

Justice has imprisoned me

And it shall make me pay with my life!

 

Goodbye, golden carnation!

Goodbye, day star!