Simone Easthope Soprano
Jonathan Ware Piano
Oliver Brod Audio Installation
Lydia Mahnkopf Concept and Curator

In the Morning
Alle Vögel sind schon da! (M: 18th century / T: Hoffmann von Fallersleben)
Rhyme: Alle meine Fingerlein
Aufträge (Robert Schumann, Op. 77 No. 5)

The Cuckoo’s Game
Lob des hohen Verstandes (Gustav Mahler, Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
Le Coucou au fond des bois (Camille Saint-Saëns, The Carnival of the Animals)
Die Vögel (Franz Schubert, D 691)
Kuckuck, Kuckuck, ruft’s aus dem Wald (M: trad. / T: Hoffmann von Fallersleben)
The Cuckoo, She’s a Pretty Bird (anonymous / Southern Appalachians)

The Nightingale Dreams
Die verschwiegene Nachtigall (Edvard Grieg, Op. 48 No. 4)
Vogel als Prophet (Robert Schumann, Waldszenen Op. 82)
Nuvoletta (Samuel Barber, Op. 25)

The Nest at Night
Lerchengesang (Johannes Brahms, Op. 70 No. 2)
Vöglein fliegt dem Nestchen zu (Peter Cornelius, Op. 1 No. 3) 
Kommt gezogen, kleine Vögel (Wilhelm Taubert, Op. 68 No. 7)


In Cooperation with Lullula Music

In the Morning

It is daybreak in the forest: the Lark calls out from his nest. He listens for a response. Do you hear it? Higher up, another bird calls out—and another, and another, and another! Their calls grow and overlap, and crescendo into a great Dawn Chorus. All the birds are here!

The Cuckoo and the Nightingale are arguing: who is the better singer? The clever Cuckoo chooses the Donkey—with his big, long ears—to judge who has the best song. Eeja! Eeja!

The Cuckoo’s Game

The clever Cuckoo wins! But she hurries away. With a flap of her wings, she hides deep in the heart of the woods. Can we find her? Kuckuck! Kuckuck! she calls to us. We call back: Kuckuck! Kuckuck!

The Nightingale Dreams

Now dusk is falling. The Nightingale begins his evening song: Tandaradei! Tandaradei! We sing together with him as dark clouds gather overhead.

Rain, wind, and thunder stop our singing! We take cover under swaying treetops. As the rain falls, we fall into a dream: we meet a prophetic bird, the small Waldvögelein. She tells us the story of Nuvoletta, who flies among the birds and clouds, like light and rain.

The Nest at Night

Oh! How it was dusk. But now night is here. All the birds return to their nests—only the owls are left singing. We learn their lullabies. And in the hushed night forest, the Lark returns to sing us to sleep, Lullula! Lullula!