Sull'aria...

che soave zeffiretto (from Le Nozze di Figaro)

W.A. Mozart

Le Nozze di Figaro" was composed by Mozart by command of Emperor

Joseph II., of Austria. After congratulating the composer at the end of the first
performance, the Emperor said to him: "You must admit, however, my dear
Mozart, that there are a great many notes in your score." "Not one too many,
Sire," was Mozarts reply.
No opera composed before "Le Nozze di Figaro" can be compared with it for
development of ensemble, charm and novelty of melody, richness and variety
of orchestration. Yet Mozart composed this score in a month.
"Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto" (On the breeze...What a gentle little Zephyr) is
duet, from the third act of the opera. In this song, Countess Almaviva dictates
to Susanna the invitation to a tryst addressed to the countess' husband in a
plot to expose his infidelity. The concoction of the letter is the basis of the
most beautiful vocal number in the opera; an exquisite melody, in which the
lady dictates, the maid writes down, and the voices blend in comment.

Die junge nonne

Franz Schubert

Schubert effectively established the German lied as a new art form in the 19th
century. He was helped by the late 18th-century outburst of lyric poetry and
the new possibilities for picturesque accompaniment offered by the piano, but
his own genius is by far the most important factor. Reasons for their abiding
popularity rest not only in the direct appeal of Schubert's melody and the
general attractiveness of his idiom but also in his unfailing ability to capture
musically both the spirit of a poem and much of its external detail.
In 1825 - three years before Schubert's death at the tragically early age of 31 the song was published as one half of the composer's Opus 43. The text is by
Jakob Nikolaus (1797-1855), whose poetry the composer set on just a few
other occasions.
The first of four stanzas begins with the young nun of the title describing the
wind howling loudly in the trees, and a house shaking and rattling. There's

thunder, lightning, and a grave-like darkness. She compares that scene to the
turmoil her own heart had experienced not so long ago. Clearly the throes of
love had made her own life a storm in itself; her body trembled as the house
does, and her heart was indeed as dark as the grave. She exhorts the storm
to continue to rage in all its wildness and power, but she is now at peace
herself. As a loving bride, she awaits her celestial groom - her Savior - and
longs for Him to claim her soul. Hearing the sweet, peaceful ring of a bell that
is inviting her spirit to soar, she ends by twice intoning a quiet "Alleluia."
The song is written in F minor, which eminently suits its emotional content.