Chanticleer my secret heart

Love Songs – Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964)
Augusta Read Thomas held teaching posts at Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University before settling at her current post of Professor of Composition at University of Chicago. Today, she is in high demand as a composer, receiving ample opportunities during her tenure as Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony from 1997-2006. Thomas’s Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned and premiered by that orchestra under the direction of Pierre Boulez in 1998. Her chamber opera Ligeia, commissioned and premiered by Mstislav Rostropovich and the Evian Festival in 1994, won the International Orpheus Prize, and has been presented at the Spoleto Music Festival in Italy and the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.

Love Songs, commissioned by Chanticleer, treats the group as an ensemble of 12 soloists; the five movements sung in this program are from a set of seven famous epigrams about love, each of which provides a springboard for more extended experiments in choral texture. Love Songs appears on Chanticleer’s Colors of Love album, which won a Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance in 1999.
The wonderful sound-world — created by the unique and beautiful color of their 12 sublime voices — allied to their abundance of technical skill makes Chanticleer my favorite ensemble.  Love Songs is a 15-minute score made up of seven songs composed specifically for this sound of their individual, extraordinary voices.  Each of the men has at least one small solo which was precisely imagined and composed for his specific vocal color.  The texts, all classic love poems, are set in a variety of ways ranging from lyrical to humorous to sensuous.  I hope you enjoy the pieces because they were loads of fun for me to compose! — Augusta Read Thomas
II. “Look out upon the stars, my love…”
III. “Love is a beautiful dream.”

V. “Alas, the love of women! It is known to be a lovely and a fearful thing. ”

VI. “For stony limits cannot hold love out.”
VII. “All mankind love a lover.”

I’ll Follow My Secret Heart – Noël Coward (1899 - 1973), arr. Adam Ward
Nobody could turn a phrase like Noël Coward. He is surely considered to be one of the more witty, idiosyncratic and memorable English composers of the twentieth century. At the forefront of his popularity, of course, were the thirty-seven stage plays and nine musicals. The mention of Bitter Sweet, Conversation Piece, Private Lives or Blithe Spirit is bound to conjure a smile from lovers of his timeless romantic comedies. I’ll Follow My Secret Heart is arguably the most popular song from Conversation Piece, which opened at His Majesty’s Theatre in London in February of 1934. The all-star cast included Coward himself and the versatile French actress Yvonne Printemps.
Coward, never shy, talked about the difficulties he encountered in the composition of this, the most well-known song of the show:

I poured myself a large whisky and soda... and sat gloomily envisaging everyone's disappointment and facing the fact that my talent had withered and that I should never write any more music until the day I died. ... I switched off the light at the door and noticed that there was one lamp left on by the piano. I walked automatically to turn it off, sat down, and played "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" straight through in G flat, a key I had never played in before.
Adam Ward, who is in his eleventh year singing countertenor with Chanticleer, adds his own words to Coward’s. “The song is sung by the female protagonist who being set up for marriage, only to secretly fall in love with the man making the arrangements. In this version we hear a truncated recitative which facilitates the swap from the perspective of the original female character to that of the male soloist. Regardless of context or gender, the song is a statement of honesty to one’s self while patiently waiting for true love to transpire.”
No matter what price is paid
What stars may fade above,
I'll follow my secret heart

Till I find love

Don't be afraid I'll betray you
And destroy all the plans you have made.
But even your schemes must
Leave room for my dreams.
So when all I owe you is paid,
I'll still have something of my own,
A little prize that's mine alone

I'll follow my secret heart

My whole life through
I'll keep all my dreams apart
Till one comes true.

No matter what price is paid

What stars may fade above,
I'll follow my secret heart
Till I find love


It was a lover and his lass – John Rutter (b. 1945)
One of the most performed of living composers, John Rutter has made the choral idiom his life’s work and artistic home. From 1975 to 1979 he was Director of Music at Clare College, whose choir he directed in a number of broadcasts and recordings. After resigning from the Clare post to allow more time for composition, he formed the Cambridge Singers as a professional chamber choir primarily dedicated to recording, and now divides his time between composition and conducting. In 2002 his setting of Psalm 150, commissioned for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, was performed at the Service of Thanksgiving in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
It was a lover and his lass (text by one Will Shakespeare!) is a ditty that spins circles around the playful and exhilarating relationship between two lovers. The accompaniment’s lightly swung rhythms provide contrast to the buoyant melody which itself is jolly, crisp and instantly appealing.
It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny,
That o'er the green corn-field did pass,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;

Sweet lovers love the spring.

Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny,
These pretty country folks would lie,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

This carol they began that hour,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny,
How that life was but a flower
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

And, therefore, take the present time

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny,
For love is crown`d with the prime
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

Les Chemins de l’Amour – Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), arr. Evan Price
French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc was a member of Les Six, a group of composers working in Paris in the first part of the twentieth century. Poulenc eschewed the daring harmonic language of many of his contemporaries (he once wrote, “I think there is room for new music which doesn’t mind using other people’s chords”). He found, instead, a musical language that is easily recognizable in his numerous compositions, most notably his songs and choral music. The desire to compose for a cappella chorus came to Poulenc after hearing a performance of Monteverdi madrigals presented by Nadia Boulanger. His a cappella output runs the gamut from light “entertainment” to religiously fervent motets, reflecting the dichotomy of Poulenc’s own profound spirituality and bon vivant proclivities.
Bay Area resident Evan Price has arranged Poulenc’s Les Chemins de l’Amour for Chanticleer, often utilizing voices to portray accompaniment and melodic textures. He states,
I first became acquainted with Les Chemins de l’Amour several years ago when it was added to the repertoire of my long-time band, The Hot Club of San Francisco.  We performed it far and wide as part of our original score for the 1928 silent film, “The Fall of the House of Usher."  Consequently, my dominant association with the piece is somewhat more macabre than was the composer’s intention and, given the task of scoring it for Chanticleer, I had to learn the piece anew.  Traditionally performed as a soprano solo with piano accompaniment, this setting has more of the feel of a piece of chamber music with the melody and accompaniment shared among the voices.  In particular, the bass section has to occupy many roles—from singing the melody to mimicking a pianist’s left hand.
Les chemins qui vont à la mer The paths that lead to the sea

Ont gardé de notre passage, have kept, of our passing-by,

Des fleurs effeuillées flowers with fallen petals

Et l'écho sous leurs arbres and the echo, beneath their trees,

De nos deux rires clairs. of both our bright laughs.

Hélas! des jours de bonheur, Alas! of the days of happiness,

Radieuses joies envolées, radiant joys now flown,

Je vais sans retrouver traces I wander without finding their trace again

Dans mon cœur. in my heart.

Chemins de mon amour, Paths of my love,

Je vous cherche toujours, I still seek you,

Chemins perdus, vous n'êtes plus lost paths, you are no more

Et vos échos sont sourds. and your echoes are hollow.

Chemins du désespoir, Paths of despair,

Chemins du souvenir, paths of memory,

Chemins du premier jour, paths of the first day,

Divins chemins d'amour. divine paths of love.
Si je dois l'oublier un jour, If one day I have to forget him,

La vie effaçant toute chose, life effacing everything,

Je veut, dans mon cœur, qu'un souvenir repose, I wish, in my heart, that one memory should remain,

Plus fort que l'autre amour. stronger than the other love.

Le souvenir du chemin, The memory of the path,

Où tremblante et toute éperdue, where trembling and utterly bewildered

Un jour j'ai senti sur moi one day, upon me, I felt

Brûler tes mains. your hands burning.

La vie en Rose – Édith Piaf (1915 - 1963), arr. Price
The Édith Piaf classic, La Vie en Rose, is perhaps one of the most beloved and charming French “torch songs” of the twentieth century. Piaf commissioned and performed pieces of music that romanticized her rough upbringing and her life in the streets, boasting passionate and empowering lyrics which emphasize her inner fortitude.
La Vie en Rose is inspired by an amorous moment in 1944 when Piaf locked eyes with a young American. This piece is lauded as a true lovers’ anthem, literally translated as “life in pink,” which reminds us all to alter our perspectives and view anew the romance and beauty that color our everyday life.
Des yeux qui font baisser les miens, Eyes that gaze into mine,

Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche, A smile that is lost on his lips,

Voilà le portrait sans retouche That is the untouched portrait

de l'homme auquel j'appartiens. Of the man whom I belong.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras When he takes me into his arms

Il me parle tout bas, He speaks to me softly,

Je vois la vie en rose. And I see life through rose-colored glasses

Il me dit des mots d'amour, He speaks words of love to me,

Des mots de tous les jours, They are everyday words,

Et ça me fait quelque chose. And they do something to me.

Il est entré dans mon cœur He has entered into my heart

Une part de bonheur A bit of happiness

Dont je connais la cause. That I know the cause of.

C'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vie, It’s only him for me, and me for him, for life,

Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie. He told me, he swore to me, for life.

Et dès que je l'aperçois As soon as I notice him

Alors je sens en moi I feel inside me

Mon cœur qui bat. My heart beating.

Des nuits d'amour à ne plus en finir Endless nights of love

Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place Bring great happiness

Des ennuis, des chagrins, s'effacent The pain and bothers fade away

Heureux, heureux à en mourir. Happy, so happy I could die.

Love Walked In – George Gershwin (1898 - 1937), arr. Puerling
The first half of the twentieth century saw American popular music flourish and take the world by storm. Access to records and record-players allowed worldwide listeners to hear the latest hits, ushering in an era dominated by the great songwriters and lyricists from the 1920s in Tin Pan Alley through the Broadway and Hollywood musicals of the 1950s. The brightest stars of this era (George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin, among several others) are credited with creating and contributing to the Great American Songbook – a generally agreed-upon collection of the most popular and memorable songs of the era. Today, jazz and popular musicians simply call these songs “standards.” George and his older brother, Ira, were known as a dynamic and highly intelligent duo that worked symbiotically. Ira was known as an expressive lyricist and George was known for his musical offerings.
In Loved Walked In, Puerling’s harmonic language can be described as elegant and smooth, but undeniably complex. The jazz harmonies often employ major sevenths, ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths as the voices become more distant and spread. The homophonic nature of the piece allows for the chords in close harmony to settle and shimmer as suspensions and dissonances stress certain words or ideas.
Love walked right in and drove the shadows away
Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day
One magic moment and my heart seemed to know that my heart said hello
Though not a word was spoken

One look, and I forgot the gloom of the past

One look and I had found my future at last
One look and I had found a world completely new
When love walked in with you

Frankie and Johnny – Trad. American Song, arr. Robert De Cormier
In 1899, a murder in St. Louis became the subject for one of America’s top folksongs, also referred to as a murder ballad. Frankie and Johnny depicts Frankie Baker’s indignation when she found out her lover, Albert Britt, was being unfaithful to her. This infidelity led Frankie to find a gun and shoot Albert at a boardinghouse for retribution. The factual details surrounding the murder case are quite cloudy: some people were convinced that Frankie was a victim of ongoing domestic violence, others thought that she was just tired of “working the streets” for her lover. Some just thought they had had a particularly nasty argument.
Rumor has it that Albert Britt’s parents had kindly requested one of the early songwriters to use an alias for Albert to protect the family from future social hardship. Frankie and Johnny has been recorded by a myriad of notable artists such as Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Guy Lombardo, and Johnny Cash. It continues to be a popular story, and one easily adapted to various musical genres.
Frankie and Johnny were lovers
Lordy, how they could love.

Swore to be true to each other

Just as true as the stars above.

He was her man,

But he was doing her wrong.
Frankie went down to the corner.

Just for a bucket of beer

And when she got there,

She asked that bartender,

“Has my ever loving Johnny been here?
He was my man, but he’s been doing me wrong.”
Bartender: “I don’t want to cause you no trouble,

I don’t want to tell you no lie,

But I saw your man ‘bout an hour ago,

a lovin’ Nellie Bly.

If he’s your man, he’s been doing you wrong.”
Frankie went down to the hotel

Walked right up to the door

And underneath her fancy dress

She had Johnny’s forty-four.

He was her man

But he was doing her wrong.

When Johnny first saw Frankie

For the back door he did scoot

Frankie pulled that forty-four gun,

Went root-ta-toot, toot-ta-toot, toot.

She shot her man

‘Cause he was doing her wrong

Johnny: “Turn me over easy,

Roll me over slow,

Turn me on my left side,

So my heart won’t overflow.

I was her man,

But I was doing her wrong.”

This story has no moral

This story has no end

This story only goes to prove

That there ain’t no good in men.

Frankie: “They’ll do you wrong,

Just as sure as you born.”

Somebody to Love – Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), arr. Vince Peterson
Somebody to Love was first heard on Queen’s 1976 album, A Day at the Races; it was the hit single of the album, eventually hitting the number 2 spot on the UK single charts. It is also one of the most ubiquitously played and most popular songs that Queen is known for. Freddie Mercury admitted that he drew much of his musical inspiration from Aretha Franklin, which allowed him to inject multiple gospel flavors into some of his pieces. The band multi-tracked several voice parts in the recording studio to emulate a 100-voiced gospel choir, an effect that accentuates the imploring quality for love that Mercury desired for the song. Vince Peterson arranged an intricate and dense vocal chart for Chanticleer in 2011 and, since its debut, it has been loved and requested by audiences worldwide.
Can anybody find me somebody to love?
Each morning I get up I die a little
Can barely stand on my feet
Take a look in the mirror and cry
Lord what you're doing to me
I have spent all my years in believing you
But I just can't get no relief, Lord!
Somebody, somebody
Can anybody find me somebody to love?

I work hard every day of my life

I work 'til I ache my bones
At the end I take home my hard earned pay all on my own
I get down on my knees and I start to pray
'Til the tears run down from my eyes, Oh!

Somebody, somebody

Anybody find me somebody to love?

Everyday!

I try and I try and I try
But everybody wants to put me down
They say I'm goin' crazy
They say I got a lot of water in my brain
I got no common sense
I got nobody left to believe
Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Got no feel, I got no rhythm

I just keep losing my beat
I'm OK, I'm alright
Ain't gonna face no defeat
I just gotta get out of this prison cell
One day I'm gonna be free, Lord!

Find me somebody to love

Can anybody find me somebody to love?