Beethoven and Fauré Song Cycles
Pianist James Smith. Photo: Trinity Church
The Music Ministry of Trinity Church Swarthmore will present a 30-minute recital on Sunday afternoon, November 1, at 5 p.m. Two song cycles, Beethoven’s “An die Ferne Geliebte” (“To the Distant Beloved”) and Gabriel Fauré’s “Cinq Mélodies de Venise” (“Five Songs of Venice”), will be performed by tenor Colin Doyle and pianist James Smith, the church’s music director.
“This event will help bring music lovers of our parish and beyond together for a moment of respite amid all our woes and isolation,” Smith says. He adds that the performers are excited to be able to make “what we hope will be a high quality performance, both musically and technically.” The recital will stream live on YouTube and will feature subtitles to allow listeners to follow the poetic texts word by word. Program notes will be available a week in advance on the Trinity website.
Tenor Colin Doyle. Photo: Courtesy of Trinity Church
The year 2020 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven. The performance of “An die Ferne Geliebte” “is our humble tribute to the composer,” Smith says, noting that the songs are “highly lyrical and often of an almost folk-like simplicity, but display above all Beethoven’s genial exploration of the possibilities of the piano.”
The Fauré songs are settings of poems by the symbolist poet Paul Verlaine, some of which were inspired by paintings of Antoine Watteau depicting country parties of the French nobility. “But within the poems and the music there is a deep exploration of sensual love and despair hidden beneath the gaiety of the surface,” Smith says. “Fauré’s novel harmonies seem to evoke the synesthesia of these poems, where touch, sound, sight and odor are blended into a single experience.”
The concert — the first of three — will be followed by a virtual Zoom reception with Doyle and Smith. More information and registration here.
