Composed late in his life and published posthumously, Stephen Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer (1864) is one of the composer’s most memorable ballads. It was written at least six months before Foster’s death, when he was destitute and in poor heath, and survived by selling songs (at extremely cheap rates) that were written in haste. While prolific in number, these last songs, for the most part, were less inspired than his earlier efforts, such as Oh! Susanna, which had launched his career as a songwriter.
For his songs composed after 1860, Foster turned his creative energy to the parlor ballad, a type of song noted for its sentimental or narrative text, frequently at a slow tempo. The subjects of Foster’s ballads were relatively free from minstrel-song influences and centered on topics devoid of southern themes, such as mother, love, and home. With its lilting triplet rhythm, Beautiful Dreamer exemplifies Foster’s final sentiments and has become one of America’s most beloved serenades. (Source: Library of Congress - Songs of America Project)

Lyrics:

(Verse 1)
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all passed away!
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

(Verse 2)
Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea; Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Some Folks is an upbeat and happy song that Stephen Foster wrote in 1855.

Lyrics:

(Verse 1)
Some folks like to sigh,
Some folks do, some folks do;
Some folks long to die,
But that's not me nor you.
(Chorus)
Long live the merry, merry heart
That laughs by night and day,
Like the Queen of Mirth,
No matter what some folks say.

(Verse 2)
Some folks fear to smile,
Some folks do, some folks do;
Others laugh through guile,
But that’s not me nor you.
(Chorus)

(Verse 3)
Some folks get grey hairs,
Some folks do, some folks do;
Brooding o’er their cares,
But that's not me nor you.
(Chorus)

Hard Times Come Again No More (sometimes, Hard Times) is an American parlor song written by Stephen Foster. It was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1854 as Foster's Melodies No. 28. Well-known and popular in its day, both in America and Europe, the song asks the fortunate to consider the plight of the less fortunate. (Source - Wikipedia)

Lyrics:

(Verse 1)
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh! Hard times come again no more.

Chorus:
'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more.
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh! Hard times come again no more.

(Verse 2)
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh! Hard times come again no more.
(Chorus)

If You've Only Got a Moustache is a comic song that Stephen Foster wrote in 1864.

Lyrics:

(Verse 1)
Oh! all of you poor single men,
Don't ever give up in despair,
For there's always a chance while there's life
To capture the hearts of the fair,
No matter what may be your age,
You always may cut a fine dash,
You will suit all the girls to a hair
If you've only got a moustache,
A moustache, a moustache,
If you've only got a moustache.

(Verse 2)
Your head may be thick as a block,
And empty as any foot-ball,
Oh! your eyes may be green as the grass
Your heart just as hard as a wall.
Yet take the advice that I give,
You'll soon gain affection and cash,
And will be all the rage with the girls,
If you'll only get a moustache,
A moustache, a moustache,
If you'll only get a moustache.

(Verse3)
No matter for manners or style,
No matter for birth or for fame,
All these used to have something to do
With young ladies changing their name,
There's no reason now to despond,
Or go and do any thing rash,
For you'll do though you can't raise a cent,
If you'll only raise a moustache!
A moustache, a moustache,
If you'll only raise a moustache.

(Verse4)
I once was in sorrow and tears
Because I was jilted you know,
So right down to the river I ran
To quickly dispose of my woe,
A good friend he gave me advice
And timely prevented the splash,
Now at home I've a wife and ten heirs,
And all through a handsome moustache,
A moustache, a moustache,
And all through a handsome moustache.

Originally composed for voice and piano in 1914; arranged in 1925. Premièred on January 14, 1915, in Madrid by soprano Luisa Vela and the composer. Violin/Piano version arranged by Paul Kochánski (1887–1934).

Though the original Siete Canciones Populares Españolas is virtually the only work of Falla to quote existing Spanish themes (two tiny folksong fragments were employed in The Three-Cornered Hat), so potent were these pieces in defining a national style of art song that Gilbert Chase said they provide “a model for contemporary song-writers throughout the Spanish-speaking world, in which popular and artistic elements are closely and often inextricably intertwined.” In 1925, six of the Seven Popular Spanish Songs were arranged for violin and piano as the Suite populaire es- pagnole by Paul Kochánski (1887–1934), the noted Polish violinist and Juilliard faculty member who excelled in the performance of modern works, most notably those of Karol Szymanowski, and transcribed many works for his instrument. (Source: https://calperformances.org/learn/program_notes/2015/pn_josefowicz.pdf)

Five of the six violin/piano arrangements are presented in this virtual performance in order to maintain a Fast-Slow-Fast-Slow-Fast balance. The piano is consistently portraying a guitar in these works. El Paño Moruno, whose accompaniment was inspired by the steely brilliance of the guitar, comes from Murcia in southeastern Spain. Nana is an Andalusian lullaby. Polo, Andalusian in origin, evokes the Gypsy world of flamenco. Asturiana is a lament from the northern region of Asturias. The Jota, mainly associated with the northern province of Aragon, is one of the most familiar of Spanish dance forms.

Morgen! is the last in a set of four songs composed in 1894 by the German composer Richard Strauss. It is designated Opus 27, Number 4. The text of this Lied, the German love poem Morgen!, was written by Strauss's contemporary, John Henry Mackay, who was of partly Scottish descent but brought up in Germany. Strauss had met Mackay in Berlin, and set Morgen! to music on 21 May 1894. It was one of his four Lieder Opus 27, a wedding present to his wife Pauline. Initially, he set the accompaniment for piano alone, and for piano with violin. In 1897 he arranged the piece for orchestra with violin solo.

Morgen! remains one of Strauss's best-known and most widely recorded works. (Source - Wikipedia)

Lyrics:

Morgen!
Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen
und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde,
wird uns, die Glücklichen[4] sie wieder einen
inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde...
und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen,
werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen,
stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen,
und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes[5] Schweigen...

Translation:
(English edition by John Bernhoff, 1925 Universal-Edition)

Tomorrow!
Tomorrow's sun will rise in glory beaming,
And in the pathway that my foot shall wander,
We'll meet, forget the earth, and lost in dreaming,
Let heav'n unite a love that earth no more shall sunder...
And towards that shore, its billows softly flowing,
Our hands entwined, our footsteps slowly wending,
Gaze in each other's eyes in love's soft splendour glowing,
Mute with tears of joy and bliss ne'er ending...

Zueignung (translated as "Dedication"), is a Lied composed by Richard Strauss in 1885 (completed 13 August), setting a poem by the Austrian poet Hermann von Gilm. It was included in Strauss's first published collection of songs, as Op. 10 in 1885. Originally scored for voice and piano, the song was orchestrated in 1932 by the German conductor Robert Heger and in 1940 by Strauss himself. It is one of the composer's best-known songs. (Source - Wikipedia)

Lyrics:

Zueignung
Ja, du weißt es, teure Seele,
Daß ich fern von dir mich quäle,
Liebe macht die Herzen krank,
Habe Dank.

Einst hielt ich, der Freiheit Zecher,
Hoch den Amethysten-Becher,
Und du segnetest den Trank,
Habe Dank.

Und beschworst darin die Bösen,
Bis ich, was ich nie gewesen,
heilig, heilig an's Herz dir sank,
Habe Dank.

Translation:

Dedication
Well you know, o dearest soul,
That far from you I torment myself,
Love doth make the heart grow sick,
Have my thanks.

Revelling in freedom, once I held
Aloft the goblet made of amethyst,
And you gave that drink a blessing,
Have my thanks.

And therein you conjured bad times,
Till I, (where I had never been before)
Sank, holy, holy, into your embrace,
Have my thanks.

Méditation is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra. The opera premiered at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on March 16, 1894. The Méditation has been transcribed for violin and piano and for other instruments as well.

The Méditation is an instrumental entr'acte performed between the scenes of Act II in the opera Thaïs. In the first scene of Act II, Athanaël, a Cenobite monk, confronts Thaïs, a beautiful and hedonistic courtesan and devotée of Venus, and attempts to persuade her to leave her life of luxury and pleasure and find salvation through God. It is during a time of reflection following the encounter that the Méditation is played by the orchestra. In the second scene of Act II, following the Méditation, Thaïs tells Athanaël that she will follow him to the desert.

The piece is in D major and is approximately five minutes long (although there are a number of interpretations that stretch the piece to over six minutes). Massenet may also have written the piece with religious intentions; the tempo marking is Andante religioso, signifying his intention that it should be played religiously (which could mean either strictly in the tempo or literally with religiously-founded emotion) and at walking tempo, or around 60 BPM. The piece opens with a short introduction, with the solo violin quickly entering with the motif. After the violin plays the melody twice, the piece goes into a section marked animato, gradually becoming more and more passionate (Massenet wrote poco a poco appassionato). The climax is reached at a place marked poco piu appassionato (a little more passion) and is then followed by a short cadenza-like passage from the soloist and returns to the main theme. After the theme is played twice, the violin joins the piano while playing harmonics on the upper register as the piano quietly plays below the solo line. (Source - Wikipedia)

Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond
Synopsis & Background

Synopsis: Hunding comes home and wants to hear his story. Siegmund tells that one day when returned home, he found his mother killed, his home burned and his twin sister had disappeared. Later he learned that his sister was being forced into a marriage she did not want. Siegmund tried to defend her. Now Hunding recognizes Siegmund as an old enemy. Traditionally he grants Siegmund the right to stay for the night but challenges him to a duel for next morning. Sieglinde gives Hunding a sleeping drug and shows Siegmund a sword stuck in a tree. Wotan had pushed it the sword in the tree and declared that it will belong to the one who is strong enough to pull it out. Siegmund succeeds and calls the sword Nothung. . Siegmund and Sieglinde realize that they are siblings. The door of the house opens and the season has changed to spring, illuminated by the full moon at night.

The aria describes how a brother finds his sister. Siegmund sings ambiguously and yet clearly how the brother (Spring/Lenz) finds his sister (Love/Liebe) and “The young couple greets each other cheering, love and Spring are united”.
(Source: https://opera-inside.com/wintersturme-wichen-dem-wonnemond-an-aria-from-the-opera-die-walkure/)

SIEGMUND
Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond,
in mildem Lichte leuchtet der Lenz;
auf linden Lüften leicht und lieblich,
Wunder webend er sich wiegt;
durch Wald und Auen weht sein Atem,
weit geöffnet lacht sein Aug': -
aus sel'ger Vöglein Sange süß er tönt,
holde Düfte haucht er aus;
seinem warmen Blut entblühen wonnige Blumen,
Keim und Spross entspringt seiner Kraft.
Mit zarter Waffen Zier bezwingt er die Welt;
Winter und Sturm wichen der starken Wehr:
wohl musste den tapfern Streichen
die strenge Türe auch weichen,
die trotzig und starr uns trennte von ihm. -
Zu seiner Schwester schwang er sich her;
die Liebe lockte den Lenz:
in unsrem Busen barg sie sich tief;
nun lacht sie selig dem Licht.
Die bräutliche Schwester befreite der Bruder;
zertrümmert liegt, was je sie getrennt:
jauchzend grüßt sich das junge Paar:
vereint sind Liebe und Lenz!

Translation:

SIEGMUND
Winter storms gave way to the merry moon,
Springtime gleams in mild light;
On bland airs, gentle and lovely
He* sways by doing wonders;
Through woods and meadows blows his breath,
His eye laughs widely apart: -
He chimes from overjoyed bird's sweet singing,
He exhales lovely fragrances;
Delightful flowers reflourish his warm blood,
Germ and sprout arise from his strength.
With tender weapon's ornament he conquers the world;
Winter and storm gave way to the strong fight:
Even the rigid door
Which defiantly and rigidly seperated us from him
Had do give way to the brave strokes. -
He came here to his sister;
Love tempted springtime:
It** hided deeply in our bosom;
Now it smiles overjoyed at the light.
The brother unchained the bridal sister,
Whatever seperated them lies in ruins:
The young couple welcomes each other with jubilation:
Love and springtime are united!

In March 1928, Maurice Ravel wrote an article for the Musical Digest titled ‘Take Jazz Seriously!’ in which he claimed that “Abroad we take jazz seriously. It is influencing our work. The Blues in my sonata, par example, is stylized jazz, more French than American in character perhaps, but nevertheless influenced strongly by your so-called ‘popular music.’”

A trip to America (including an appearance with the San Francisco Symphony) had given Ravel’s fascination with jazz a power boost; we hear of meetings with George Gershwin, Paul Whiteman, and Bix Beiderbecke, and of nights in the Cotton Club where he soaked up the musicians’ “frightening virtuosity.”

Ever sensitive to both the physical and acoustic qualities of the instruments for which he wrote, Ravel recognized that a fundamental mis match exists between violin and piano: one is capable of sustaining tones through continual control of a string’s vibration, while the other is a percussion instrument that sets the string into motion with one sharp blow. In the Violin Sonata he exploited the two instruments’ differences more than their similarities, generally avoiding a smooth blend between the two.

In this work Ravel often treats the piano in the manner of a Baroque sonata, in which the keyboard instrument is assigned two simultaneous melodic lines rather than playing block harmonies or conjuring up washes of sound. Such a clear horizontal texture is bound to complement the violin’s single-voice melodic line. The Blues movement is celebrated for its evocation of blues singing, as a ruminative melody, free in both rhythm and precise pitches, is spun out over a steady chordal accompaniment. In this movement, however, it’s not always the violin that is the blues singer, nor is it always the piano that’s the piano; the two trade places from time to time. —Scott Foglesong
(Source: https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/R/Ravel-Sonata-in-G-major-for-Violin-and-Piano)

The second verse of this performance of Somebody Loves Me utilizes the Gershwin piano roll transcription accompaniment.

Of the many explanations of how George Gershwin used blues notes to inflect his compositions with a jazz flavor, the clearest, and probably the best, especially for non-musicians, comes from Gerald Mast. (Can't Help Singin' The American Musical on Stage and Screen. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 1987.) Mast describes Gershwin's "partiality" for blue notes as being characterized by their unexpected arrival at a given point in a song, "rupturing a simple melodic pattern, usually at the very end of a musical phrase." What happens here, according to Mast, is that the phrase is ended or resolved, in a spot where it ordinarily couldn't be, by the use of a blue or flatted note changing the key from major to minor, a change that is often associated with the evocation of sadness. This occurs in the refrain of Somebody Loves Me every time the word "who" is used. The flatted third (or blue) note used for each "who" makes the refrain repeatedly "leap out" at the listener (Mast, p. 74).
(Source: http://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/s/somebody_loves_me.html)

Lyrics:

(Verse)
When this world began
It was Heaven's plan,
There should be a girl for ev'ry single man;
To my great regret
Someone has upset,
Heaven's pretty progamme
For we've never met;
I'm clutching at straws,
Just because
I may meet him/her yet.

(Chorus)
Somebody loves me
I wonder who,
I wonder who he/she can be;

Somebody loves me
I wish I knew,
Who can he/she be worries me,

For ev'ry boy/girl who passes me I shout, "Hey, maybe
You were meant to be my loving baby."

Somebody loves me, I wonder who
Maybe it's you.

This arrangement of Fascinating Rhythm is from the Gershwin Transcriptions for Piano, a collection of eighteen solo hits composed and arranged by George Gershwin and edited by Maurice Hinson. It is also thought that he transcribed these selections as part of the project he created with recording his own work on piano rolls in the early 1900's.

What'll I Do is is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1923. It is one of the few songs by Berlin that is clearly biographical. His fiancée, a society beauty named Ellin MacKay, had been sent to Europe by her disapproving father, a very wealthy Long Island magnate, in the hopes that MacKay would forget Berlin. (She did not and eventually they married.) The song was written during McKay's "tour" of Europe. In the lyrics, the singer longs disconsolately for his love, imagining how he can go on without her. (Source - Wikipedia)

By creating a medley of this song in conjunction with The Man I Love the performers offer an optimistic response of finding that true love that appears to be denied in What'll I Do. This arrangement, similarly to Fascinating Rhythm described above, is again taken from the Gershwin piano roll transcriptions created by Gershwin himself.

Lyrics:

What'll I do
When you are far away
And I am blue
What'll I do?

What'll I do?
When I am wondering who
Is kissing you
What'll I do?

What'll I do
With just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?

When I'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll I do?

What'll I do
With just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?

When I'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll I do?

It Had to Be You is a popular song written by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was first published in 1924. The performers are delighted to premiere a new arrangement by Mr. Craig Terry for this concert.

Lyrics:

It had to be you,
It had to be you,
I wandered around, and I finally found
The somebody who,
Could make me be true,
And make me be blue
And even be glad
Just to be sad - thinking of you.

Some others I've seen
Might never be mean,
Might never be cross, or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do.

For nobody else gave me a thrill,
With all your faults, I love you still,
It had to be you,
Wonderful you,
It had to be you.

For nobody else gave me a thrill,
With all your faults, I love you still,
It had to be you,
Wonderful you,
It had to be you.