Scholarly Program Notes on Graduate Vocal Recital of Paul Hawkins Jr.

The colors of the world apply to more than just the things you can see. Colors also describe what you hear and what you feel. This work gives the background and research of pieces of music performed in my graduate vocal recital entitled Colors. The purpose of the recital was to give a program that explored the musical color spectrum by performing pieces about love, darkness, fear, anger, and much more. The recital included: George Frederick Handel's "The Enemy Said" from Israel and Egypt, the first five pieces in Franz Schubert's Winterreise, three French melodies by Reynaldo Hahn, two pieces by Francesco Paolo Tosti, "I love the beauty of the view at home" from William Bolcom's A View from the Bridge, Gian Carlo Menotti's "I know that you all hate me" from The Saint of Bleeker Street, Kurt Weill's "Lonely House" from Street Scene, and a original African-American spiritual medley arranged by my friend Nyghel Bryd and myself. The overall purpose of the work was to portray the range of color and power of these pieces and give a performance that made listeners see and feel the artistry created by their composers.