No tricks here! Here are some Halloween treats hand-selected by our founder & principal author, Bard Suverkrop. Enjoy this selection of Halloween-themed art songs and opera texts, which include fach (voice type), listening links and links to the score.
Art Songs
And’res Maienlied: Hexenlied (perfect for soprano)
as set by Felix Mendelssohn
Listen to Barbara Bonney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5RLvekBqMs
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/and-res-maienlied-hexenlied.html
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/12_Ges%C3%A4nge,_Op.8_(Mendelssohn,_Felix)
Junghexenlied (perfect for soprano)
as set by Richard Strauss
Listen to Edita Gruberová: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj0nXK0_ITA
IPA https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/11717/category/1234/
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/5_Lieder%2C_Op.39_(Strauss%2C_Richard)
Walpurgisnacht: Die Hexe (perfect for soprano)
as set by Karl Loewe
Listen to Gabriele Rossmanith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=045mcWwiOlE
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/walpurgisnacht-die-hexe.html
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/3_Balladen,_Op.2_(Loewe,_Carl)
For more ghostly ballads by Karl Loewe, check out the collection Geisterballaden und Geschichten, Todes- und Kirchhofs-Bilder.
http://ks.petruccimusiclibrary.org/files/imglnks/usimg/2/29/IMSLP63615-PMLP129687-Loewe_8.pdf
Opera
Hurr, hopp, hopp, hopp – The witch’s aria from Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (perfect for mezzo)
Listen to Jamie Barton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2QEdEHKYiM
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/1284/category/1464/
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/H%C3%A4nsel_und_Gretel_(Humperdinck%2C_Engelbert)
Schweig! Damit dich niemand warnt (perfect for bass)
Kaspar’s aria from Der Freischütz
Listen to Ludwig Weber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ALFdAYlZ6w
IPA: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/1248/category/27/
Score: http://imslp.org/wiki/Der_Freisch%C3%BCtz%2C_Op.77_(Weber%2C_Carl_Maria_von)
Bonus from Bard
I’d forgotten about this great Finnish bass, Kim Borg. Here he is singing the ‘The Song of the Flea‘ (sung in Russian) by Modest Mussorgsky. Unfortunately, we don’t have the IPA for this text, but it’s a great Halloween-themed piece and a marvelous look back on a great performer.
