Welcome to our February Newsletter!
Andy Warhol Hearts (Four) (1979-1984)
Thanks for coming to Viola, Viola!
A huge thank you to our loyal audiences as well as the many newcomers who made the January concert set “Viola, viola!” such a great success! There was a wonderful buzz at all the venues, and we had near capacity crowds, which was wonderful. Not even the snow kept you from venturing out!
Die schöne Müllerin
We hope out next concert program will entice you further from your winter hibernation, with the wonderful, versatile tenor Frank Kelley returning to perform with Sarasa in Schubert’s incredibly moving and poignant song cycle, Die schöne Müllerin. We will be presenting a version arranged for string quartet by Jeff Louie. Based on the poetry of German Romantic poet Wilhelm Müller, Schubert captures the universality of unrequited love with an utter simplicity of texture while also underlining the psychological torment of the pangs of youthful love.
Full of positive motion, the story opens with the recently apprenticed young journeyman setting out to fulfill his future. Following the sounds of a babbling brook, he comes across a working mill, and quickly falls under the spell of the miller’s beautiful daughter. Unabashed longing and infatuation are soon destroyed by the arrival of a virile huntsman, whose confident horn calls overshadow the shy,
lovelorn youth. Jealousy and rage quickly turn to inconsolable grief, and the miller ends his misery in the gentle embrace of the brook.
Have a listen to the song “Die liebe Farbe,” in which Schubert repeats one note through-out the song, like a beating heart, to symbolize how the color green transforms from hope, to jealousy to the youth’s final resting place. Moving between minor and major modes, Schubert was the supreme master at conveying smiling through tears of sadness whilst also crying through tears of joy.
The Favorite Color
In green will I dress myself,
In green weeping willows;
My sweetheart is so fond of green.
I'll look for a cypress thicket,
a hedge of green rosemary;
My sweetheart is so fond of green.
Away to the joyous hunt!
Away through heath and hedge!
My sweetheart is so fond of hunting.
The beast that I hunt is Death;
the heath is what I call love's affliction.
My sweetheart is so fond of green.
Dig me a grave in the turf,
cover me with green grass:
My sweetheart is so fond of green.
No black cross, no colorful flowers,
green, everything green all around!
My sweetheart is so fond of green.
Die liebe Farbe
In Grün will ich mich kleiden,
In grüne Tränenweiden:
Mein Schatz hat's Grün so gern.
Will suchen einen Zypressenhain,
Eine Heide von grünem Rosmarein:
Mein Schatz hat's Grün so gern.
Wohlauf zum fröhlichen Jagen!
Wohlauf durch Heid' und Hagen!
Mein Schatz hat's Jagen so gern.
Das Wild, das ich jage, das ist der Tod;
Die Heide, die heiß' ich die Liebesnot:
Mein Schatz hat's Jagen so gern.
Grabt mir ein Grab im Wasen,
Deckt mich mit grünem Rasen:
Mein Schatz hat's Grün so gern.
Kein Kreuzlein schwarz, kein Blümlein bunt,
Grün, Alles grün so rings und rund!
Mein Schatz hat's Grün so gern
Schubert - Die schöne Müllerin
March 7th, 2020 – 8:00pm
Harvard-Epworth Methodist Church, Cambridge
March 8th, 2020 – 3:30pm
First Parish in Lexington, Lexington
A rare chance to hear Schubert’s astounding song cycle depicting a journeyman’s turbulent experience of unrequited love, etched by sounds of a babbling brook, a restless mill, the confident horn calls of a hunter, all captured in an arrangement for tenor and string quartet.
Frank Kelley, tenor; Christina Day Martinson, Jesse Irons, violins; Jessica Troy, viola; Jennifer Morsches, cello
GET TICKETS HERE
In the news…
A huge round of applause and hearty congrats to mezzo soprano Krista River and her winning colleagues, who received a Grammy for the Best Opera Recording for the recording of Tobias Picker's Fantastic Mr. Fox at the 2020 Awards Ceremony! Krista has performed on several occasions with Sarasa on its regular concert series, and is a devoted member of Sarasa's Outreach Residency team-- bringing music and hope to incarcerated teens in the youth detention system.
When Sarasa was awarded the Commissioner’s Community Partner Award in October 2018, Krista sang a beautiful rendition of Ann Reed’s “Heroes” at the ceremony. It’s a moving song about the empowerment of young girls and women.
Not Just Your Average Cellist – Tapping Maple Trees 101
With the arctic jet stream especially off kilter right now, temperatures are higher in New England than is typical for this time of year. Tm Merton is racing against the clock to ‘tap out’ his maple trees to produce that maple syrup we all enjoy so much. Here’s a short video of how to tap a tree and attach the tubing for the sap to run through. 4,000 more trees to go!!
Some delicious treats in advance of Valentine’s Day!
