Sunday Evening, April 1, 2012, at 8:30

Isaac Stern Auditorium / Ronald O. Perelman Stage

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY)Iris Derke, Co-Founder and General Director

Jonathan Griffith, Co-Founder and Artistic Director

Presents

Distinguished Concerts Singers International

This Shining Night: The Music of Whitacre

and Lauridsen ERIC WHITACRE, Composer and ConductorSpecial Guest Artist MORTEN LAURIDSEN

TALI TADMOR, Piano

Program to be introduced from the stage

ERIC WHITACRE Animal Crackers Vol. II. The PantherII. The CowIII. The Firefly

Animal Crackers Vol. II (DCINY 2009 Premiere Project)I. The CanaryII. The EelIII. The Kangaroo

A Boy and a Girl

Five Hebrew Love SongsI. Temun (A picture)II. Kal kall (Light bride) III. Lrov (Mostly)IV. yze shleg! (What snow!)V. Rakt (Tenderness)

Lux Aurumque

Seal Lullaby

MORTEN LAURIDSEN Sure on This Shining Night

Intermission

Please hold your applause until after the final movement.PLEASE SWITCH OFF YOUR CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES.

ERIC WHITACRE the city and the sea (DCINY 2010 Premiere Project)i. i walked the boulevardii. the moon is hiding in her hairiii. maggie and milly and molly and mayiv. as is the sea marvelousv. little man in a hurry

Cloudburst

Go, Lovely Rose

Sleep

With a Lily in Your Hand

MORTEN LAURIDSEN Dirait-On

Please hold your applause until after the final movement.

NOTES ON THE ProgramWorks by ERIC WHITACRE:

Text of Animal Crackers Vol. IText by Ogden Nash

I. The PantherThe panther is like a leopard,Except it hasnt been peppered.Should you behold a panther crouch,Prepare to say Ouch.Better yet, if called by a panther,Dont anther.

II. The CowThe cow is of the bovine ilk;One end is moo, the other, milk.

III. The FireflyThe fireflys flame is something forwhich science has no name

I can think of nothing eerierThan flying around with an unidentified glow on a

persons posterier.

Text of Animal Crackers Vol. IIText by Ogden Nash

I. The CanaryThe song of canariesnever varies.And when theyre moulting,theyre pretty revolting.

II. The EelI dont mind eels,except as meals,and the way they feels.

III. The KangarooO Kangaroo, O Kangaroo,Be grateful that youre in the zoo.And not transmuted by a boomerangInto zestful, tangy Kangaroo meringue.

Text of A Boy and a GirlText by Octavio Paz

Stretched out on the grass,

a boy and a girl.Savoring their oranges,giving their kisses like wavesexchanging foam.

Stretched out on the beach,

a boy and a girl.Savoring their limes,giving their kisses like cloudsexchanging foam.

Stretched out underground,a boy and a girl.Saying nothing, never kissing,giving silence for silence.

(Please turn the page quietly.)

Text of Five Hebrew Love Songs Text by Hila Plitmann

I. Temun (A picture)A picture is engraved in my heart;Moving between light and darkness;A sort of silence envelopes your body,And your hair falls upon your facejust so.

II. Kal kall (Light bride)Light brideShe is all mine,And lightlyShe will kiss me!

III. Lrov (Mostly) Mostly, said the roof to the sky,the distance between you and I isendlessness;

But a while ago two came up here,And only one centimeter was leftbetween us.

IV. yze shleg! (What snow!)What snow!Like little dreamsFalling from the sky.

V. Rakt (Tenderness)He was full of tenderness;She was very hard.And as much as she tried to stay thus,Simply, and with no good reason,He took her into himself,And set her downIn the softest, softest place.

Text of Seal LullabyText by Rudyard Kipling

Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,

And black are the waters thatsparkled so green.

The moon, oer the combers, looks downward to find us,

At rest in the hollows that rustle between.

Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow,

Oh weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!

The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,

Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas!

Text of the city and the seaText by ee cummings

i. i walked the boulevardi walked the boulevard

i saw a dirty childskating on noisy wheels of joy

pathetic dress fluttering

behind her a mothermonsterwith red grumbling face

cluttered in pursuit

pleasantly elephantine

while nearby the fathera thick cheerful man

with majestic bulbous lipsand forlorn piggish hands

joked to a girlish bore

with busy rhythmic mouthand silly purple eyelids

of how she was with child

ii. the moon is hiding in her hair the moon is hiding inher hair.thelilyof heavenfull of all dreams,draws down.

cover her briefness in singingclose her with intricate faint birdsby daisies and twilightsdeepen her,

reciteupon herfleshthe rains

pearls singly-whispering.

Text of Lux AurumqueText by Edward Esch | Latin translation by Charles Anthony Silvestri

Lux AurumqueLux,Calida gravisque pura velut aurumEt canunt angeli molliterModo natum.

Light of GoldLight,Warm and heavy as pure goldAnd the angels sing softlyTo the newborn baby.

iii. maggie and milly and molly and maymaggie and milly and molly and maywent down to the beach (to play oneday)

and maggie discovered a shell that sangso sweetly she couldnt remember hertroubles, and

milly befriended a stranded starwhose rays five languid fingers were;and molly was chased by a horriblething

which raced sideways while blowingbubbles: and

may came home with a smoothround stone

as small as a world and as large asalone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

its always ourselves we find in the sea

iv. as is the sea marvelousas is the sea marvelous from godshands which sent her forthto sleep upon the worldand the earth withersthe moon crumblesone by onestars flutter into dust

but the seadoes not change

and she goes forth out of hands andshe returns into handsand is with sleep.

love, the breakingof your souluponmy lips

v. little man in a hurrylittle man(in a hurryfull of animportant worry)halt stop forget relax wait

(little childwho have triedwho have failedwho have cried)lie bravely down

sleep

big rainbig snowbig sun

bug moon(enter us)

(Please turn the page quietly.)

Text of CloudburstText by Octavia Paz; Adapted by Eric Whitacre; Translated by Lysander Kemp

The rainEyes of shadow-watereyes of well-water,eyes of dream-water.

Blue suns, green whirlwinds,birdbeaks of light pecking openpomegranate stars.

But tell me, burnt earth, is there nowater?

Only blood, only dust,Only naked footsteps on the thorns?

The rain awakens

We must sleep with open eyes,we must dream with our hands,we must dream the dreams of a river seeking its course,

of the sun dreaming its worlds,we must dream aloud,we must sing till the song puts forth roots,

trunk, branches, birds, stars,we must find the lost word,and remember what the blood,the tides, the earth, and the body say,and return to the point of departure

Text of SleepText by Charles Anthony Silvestri

The evening hangs beneath the moonA silver thread on darkened duneWith closing eyes and resting headI know that sleep is coming soon

Upon my pillow, safe in bed,A thousand pictures fill my head,I cannot sleep, my minds aflight,And yet my limbs seem made of leadIf there are noises in the night,A frightening shadow, flickering light

Then I surrender unto sleep,Where clouds of dream give second sight

What dreams may come, both dark and deep

Of flying wings and soaring leapAs I surrender unto sleepAs I surrender unto sleep.

Text of With a Lily in Your HandText by Federico Garcia Lorca | Translated by Jerome Rothenberg

O! o my night love! With a lily in your handI leave you, o my night love!Little widow, Little widow of my single star

I find you, I find you,Tamer of dark butterflies!I keep along my way, my way.

After a thousand years have goneyoull see me, o, my night love!By the blue footpath,tamer of dark stars.Ill make my way.Until the universe, until the universe,until the universe can fit inside myheart.

Works by MORTEN LAURIDSEN:

Text of Sure on This Shining NightText by James Agee

Sure on this shining nightOf star made shadows round,Kindness must watch for meThis side the ground. The late year lies down the north.All is healed, all is health.

High summer holds the earth. Hearts all whole.Sure on this shining night I weep forwonder wandring far

aloneOf shadows on the stars.

Text and Translation of Dirait-onText by Ranier Maria Rilke, from Les Roses

Abandon entour dabandon, tendresse touchant aux tendressesCest ton intrieur qui sans cesse se caresse, dirait-on;

se caresse en soi-mme, par son propre reflet clair. Ainsi tu inventes le thme du Narcisse exauc.

Abandon surrounding abandon, tenderness touching tendernessYour oneness endlessly caresses itself, so they say;

self-caressing through its own clear reflection.Thus you invent the theme of Narcissus fulfilled.

MEET THE ArtistsERIC WHITACREEric Whitacre is one of the most pop-ular and performed composers of ourtime, a distinguished conductor, broad-caster, and public speaker. His firstalbum as both composer and conductoron Decca/Universal, Light and Gold,won a Grammy Award in 2012, reapedunanimous five star reviews, and becamethe number one classical album on theU.S. and U.K. charts within a week ofrelease. His second album, Water Night,is scheduled for release on Decca in laterthis month. It features seven worldpremiere recordings and includ