PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University music faculty member Julie
Ann Wieck, with accompanying pianist Jackie Wood, is scheduled to sing
from a program of classical music set for Sept. 12 in Bryan Hall Auditorium.
The 8 p.m. program includes pieces from Britten, Schumann, Bellini, Duparc,
Kander and Weill. The concert is open to the public without charge.
The pieces selected for the performance are set during the war period of the
1930s and other war times. “Let the Florid Music Praise” is a collaborative
piece by Britten and poet W.H. Auden in the 1930s. The piece reflects on a
failed love affair.
Bellini’s piece, “Casta Diva,” is from the opera “Norma,” which is set in Gaul
around 50 B.C. Norma, a Druid priestess, is secretly in love with the Roman
Pro-Consul Pollione. The Druids are demanding her to declare war on the
Romans. “Casta Diva” is Norma praying to the goddess of the moon for peace.
Kander’s piece, “A Letter from Sullivan Ballou,” is a 1994 abridged form of a
love letter sent by Sullivan Ballou to his wife, Sarah, during the Civil War.
Ballou died seven days after the letter was written in the first battle of Bull
Run.
The five pieces by Weill reflect the 1930s turmoil in Germany. Weill was born in
Germany and some of his stage works outraged the Nazi party, who forced him
to flee to Paris in 1933. Soon after, he became a U.S. citizen and wrote
propaganda songs such as “Schickelgruber” to educate the public and German
Americans about the importance of stopping Hitler.
“The reason I chose this was I was so moved by the Civil War letter,” Wieck
said. I started to look for pieces that showed people’s reaction to war. These
pieces help give more understanding of war.”
Weick is from Aberdeen, S.D., and received her bachelor’s degree in music
education from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion. She received a
master’s degree in music and a doctor of musical arts degree in vocal
performance at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She came to WSU in the
fall of 1996 and teaches studio voice, diction, opera workshop and vocal
literature.
Jackie Wood is a lecturer in music at Whitman College in Walla Walla, where
she teaches piano. Wood has been active as a chamber musician in her
community and is director for the Columbine Players. She is pursing a master’s
degree in music with faculty member Gerald Berthiaume.
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