Sweet Corn Productions - Steve Bryant's Program Notes

Through the decades of producing musical plays, concerts and related events, Steve Bryant has researched and written the program notes for scores of, well, um, scores. Click on the concert titles below to see the texts read by concert-goers as they listened to the musical works.

Questions and Answers from a Countertenor
male alto singing — history and technique
Baroque Marian Music
         Salve Regina in A minor - Domenico Scarlatti
         Stabat Mater - Antonio Vivaldi
         Stabat Mater - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Poetry in Song
         Three Quartets - Josef Haydn
                  Alles hat seine Zeit
                  Die Beredsamkeit
                  Warnung
         Journey of the Magi (Canticle IV, Op. 86) - Benjamin Britten
         Three Quartets - Johannes Brahms
                  Wechsellied zum Tanze (Op. 31, No. 1)
                  Der Abend (Op. 64, No. 2)
                  Warum (Op. 92, No. 4)
         From Jewish Folk Poetry (Op. 79) - Dmitri Schostakovich
         La Passeggiata - Gioachino Rossini
Love Songs Carnal & Divine
         Occhi, perchè piangete? - Agostino Steffani
         Conservate, raddoppiate - Georg Friedrich Händel
         “Mercè,” grido piangendo Luci serene e chiare - Carlo Gesualdo
         O Jesu mi dulcissime - Girolamo Frescobaldi
         Taci Armelin - Claudio Monteverdi
         Non havea Febo ancora (in three parts)- Claudio Monteverdi
         Perchè t’en fuggi o Fillide - Claudio Monteverdi
         Tanti strale - Georg Friedrich Händel
         Sonetto spirituale: Maddalena alla Croce - Girolamo Frescobaldi
         Sotto il tremulo ciel (from Medea) - Pier Francesco Cavalli
         Venite venite - Claudio Monteverdi
         O bone Jesu - Claudio Monteverdi
         Pur ti miro (from Poppea) - Claudio Monteverdi (attr.)
         O quam tu pulcra es - Alessandro Grandi
         Dolcissimo uscignolo - Claudio Monteverdi
Orfeo ed Euridice - C.W. Gluck
3 CounterTenors Celebrate Purcell
         Sound the Trumpet (Come, Ye Sons of Art, Away) - Henry Purcell
         Ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell - John Blow
         Dialogue Between Coridon and Mopsa (The Fairy Queen) - Purcell
         Cloe Found Amintas - Blow
         Triumph Victorious Love (Dioclesian) - Purcell
         Strike the Viol (Come, Ye Sons of Art, Away) - Purcell
         One Charming Night (The Fairy Queen) - Purcell
         From Rosy Bowers (Don Quixote, Part III) - Purcell
         Ah Heav’n! What is’t I Hear? - Blow
         Hosanna to the Highest - Purcell
         O sole mio - Eduardo di Capua
         Indian Love Call - Rudolf Friml, O. Harback, O. Hammerstein II (encore song)
Courtly Love and The Kingdom of God
         Ave Maris Stella - John Dunstable (1370-1453)
         Quam Pulcra Es - John Dunstable
         Sancta Maria - John Dunstable
         Edi Beo Thu Hevene Quene - Anonymous (14th century)
         Alas Departynge is Ground of Woo - Anonymous (15th century)
         Sweet Kate - Robert Jones
         Ah Robyn, Gentil Robyn - William Cornysh (died c. 1523)
         Doe You Not Know - Thomas Morley (1557-1602)
         Cease Mine Eyes - Thomas Morley
         Come Shepherd Swain - John Wilbye (1574-1628)
         As Fair as Morn - John Wilbye
         Cloe Found Amintas - John Blow (1649-1708)
         With that Sublime Celestial Lay - Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
         Upon a Quiet Conscience - Henry Purcell
         Blessed is He - Henry Purcell
         Hosanna to the Highest - Henry Purcell
         Hear Me, O Lord - Henry Purcell
         Triumph Victorious Love - Henry Purcell

Click to see:
Steve Bryant’s Music Résumé