John Alden Carpenter Recital
John Alden Carpenter’s songs can be chronologically, and stylistically, divided into four categories: “Songs of Innocence” (1900-1916), “The War” (1917-1918), “Jazz Age” (1920s), and the “Ellen Years” (1933-1951). Songs that fall into “Songs of Innocence” were written with his first wife, Rue, and represent an early-twentieth century naïveté and Carpenter’s well-loved deadpan wit. With the entrance of the United States into WWI in 1917, Carpenter composed to bolster morale but also to commentate on "The War," creating an echo of musical conflict through harmonic texture. After the war, Carpenter continued seeking an American sound, this time through jazz and black folk sounds, appropriately suggested as the "Jazz Age." The final period, the “Ellen Years,” is when with the death of his first wife Carpenter was able to marry his long-time mistress, Ellen. Songs from this last period are few, but poignant in their partial return to his prewar lush elegance paired with the more complex harmonic and tonal novelties he developed in the interim. This performance will present six pieces that fall into these categories. They also happen to all be lullabies. Carpenter wrote a large number of lullabies comparative to his total song output. The pieces, in order, are “Lullaby,” from Improving Songs for Anxious Children [McClurg, 1907 edition], “The sleep that flits on baby’s eyes,” from Gitanjali [1914], “Berceuse de guerre” [1917], “The Lawd is Smilin' through the Do’ [1918], “Serenade,” from Two Night Songs [1920], and “Rest,” from Songs of Silence [1934].
Contact if interested in programing
Lullaby Catalog
Almost all pieces are found on imslp.org
All age/level suggestions are subjective
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Young voices
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English
"Slumber my Darling," - Stephen Foster [1826-64]
"Lullaby" - Peter Warlock [1894-1930]
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German
"Wiegenlied" ("Schlafe, schlafe"), D498, Op. 98, No. 2 - Franz Schubert [1797-1828]
"Mutter, o sing mich zur Ruh," Op. 10, No. 3 - Robert Franz [1815-92]
"Wiegenlied," Op. 49, No. 4 - Johannes Brahms [1833-97]
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French
"Berceuse" - Désiré Dihau [1833-1909]
"Berceuse d'amour"- Henri Lutz [1864-1919]
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Italian
"Ninna Nanna," - Francesco Paolo Tosti [1846-1916]
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Norwegian
"Margrettes vuggesang," Romanser, Op. 15, No. 1 - Edvard Grieg [1843-1907]
"Vuggesang," 6 Sange, Op. 16, No. 1 - Agathe Backer-Grøndahl [1847-1907]
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Danish
"Sof sött, du lilla Sonja!" - Carl Nielsen [1865-1931]
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Swedish
"Vaggvisa," 5 Songs, Op. 12, No. 3 - Agathe Backer-Grøndahl [1847-1907]
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Undergraduate voices
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English
"Sleep, and remember, Beloved," - Francesco Paolo Tosti [1846-1916]
"The Ferry for Shadowtown," from Five Lullabies, Op. 51, No. 5 - Reginald De Koven [ca. 1859-1920]
"Hush, Baby Dear," Mother Songs, Op. 69, No. 2 - Amy Marcy Beach [1867-1944]
"The sleep that flits on baby's eyes," Gitanjali, No. 3 - John Alden Carpenter [1876-1936]
"Cradle Song," 114 Songs, No. 33 - Charles Ives [1874-1954]
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German
"Wiegenlied in drei Tonen," 6 Deutsche Lieder, Op. 103, No. 4 - Louis Spohr [1784-1859]
"Maria Wiegenlied," Op. 76, No. 52 - Max Reger [1873-1916]
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French
"Berceuse d'Amorique," - Poldowski [1880-1932]
"Ma poupée chérie," - Déodat de Séverac [1872-1921]
"Berceuse," from 6 Morceaux - Pauline Viardot [1821-1910]
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Italian
"Piccino Picciò," - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco [1895-1968]
"Ninna-Nanna," - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco [1895-1968]
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Russian
"Kolybelnaya," 5 Songs, Op. 1, No. 5 - Alexander Gretchaninov [1864-1956]
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Norwegian
"Barnesang," 4 Sange, Op. 65, No. 3 - Agathe Backer-Grøndahl [1847-1907]
"Vuggesang," 6 Sange, Op. 27, No. 5 - Agathe Backer-Grøndahl [1847-1907]
"Sov saa stille," Barnets vaardag, Op. 42, No. 8 - Agathe Backer-Grøndahl [1847-1907]
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Swedish
"Vaggsång før hafvet," 2 Sange fra havet, Op. 48, No. 1 - Agathe Backer-Grøndahl [1847-1907]
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Spanish
"Canción de cuna para Dormir a un Negrito," Cinco Canciones Negras, no. 4 - Xavier Montsalvatge [912-2002]
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Upperclassmen voices
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English
Any selection from A charm of lullabies, Op. 41 - Benjamin Britten [1913-76]*
"Sea Slumber Song," Sea Pictures, Op. 37, No. 1 - Edward Elgar [1857-1934]
"Sleep" - Peter Warlock [1894-1930]
"Berceuse," 114 Songs, No. 93 - Charles Ives [1874-1954]
"O Death, rock me asleep" - Peter Warlock [1894-1930]
"A Welsh Lullaby," 74 Songs, Set 5, No. 7 - C. Hubert H. Parry [1848-1918]
"Sleep," 74 Songs, Set 7, No. 6 - C. Hubert H. Parry [1848-1918]
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German
"Schlummerlied," - Max Reger [1873-1916]
"Wiegenlied," ("Träume, träume, du mein süβes leben," 5 Lieder, Op. 41, No. 1 - Richard Strauss [1864-1949]
"O, mein Kind durch die schweigende Nacht," Op. 63, No. 6 - Pyotr Tchaikovsky [1840-93]
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French
"Berceuse de guerre," - John Alden Carpenter [1876-1951]*
"Dors, mon enfant," from Trois Melodies - Richard Wagner [1813-83]
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Russian
"Kolbelnaya," - Kliment Korchmaryov [1899-1958]*
"Kolybel'naya," Pesni I plaski smerti, No. 1 - Modest Mussorgsky [1839-81]
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Norwegian
"Vuggesang," Romancer og Ballader af A. Munch, Op. 9, No. 2 - Edvard Grieg [1843-1907]
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Spanish
"Canción de cuna india" - Gilardo Gilardi [1889-1963]
"Nanna," Siete canciones populares españolas, No. 5 - Manuel de Falla [1876-1946]
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Graduate/Professional voices
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English
A charm of lullabies, Op. 41 - Benjamin Britten [1913-76]*
"Sleep," 5 Elizabethan Songs, No. 4 - Ivor Gurney [1890-1937]
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French
"Berceuse," Cinq poèmes de Max Jacob, No. 4 - Francis Poulenc [1899-1963]
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*Challenging collaboration piece
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