“This Shining Night”

Arizona Repertory Singers 25^th Anniversary Gala Concert

Featuring the premiere of “Songs for Braithwaite” commissioned by ARS

Composed by Vijay Singh

Based on poetry of William Stanley Braithwaite

Dedicated to Helen S. Schaefer,

Founding Arizona Repertory Singers board member

7 p.m. Saturday, May 2, 2009

Stevie Eller Dance Theatre

University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Program Notes

By Cathy Wolfson

Song of Praise

Knut Nystedt, born in Oslo in 1915, was still composing into the 1990s.  He studied with Aaron Copland in the 1940s, and has written many choral and solo compositions using a post-Romantic style heavily influenced by Gregorian chant and hymns from the Danish church in which he grew up. Song of Praise, using text from Psalm 148, is a triumphant paean to God's creation and creatures therein, reflected in Nystedt's driving rhythms and bright major key chord structures.

Ave Maris Stella

Trond Kverno, also born in Oslo but 30 years later in 1945, has focused on teaching music theory and composition, and on organ and choral compositions to be performed in church services.  He likes to write pieces which can be sung by average people, but Ave Maris Stella's tricky rhythms demand a musical background from the singers.  Note the sustained F's throughout this work, serving as a cantus firmus.  Interestingly, Kverno sets the cantus firmus in the middle (second soprano) part in the women's trios, and in the baritone part in the men's trios.  The spare harmonies reflect the chill clime of Kverno's native Norway.

Ave maris stella, Dei Mater alma,                            Hail ocean's star, God's mother dear,

Atque semper virgo, felix caeli portas.                     Likewise ever a virgin, blest heavenly gate.

Sumens illud ave Gabrielis ore.                                  Receiving that Ave (greeting) from Gabriel's lips,

Funda nos in pace, mutans Hevae nomen.                                Settle us in peace, reversing Eva's name.

Solve vincla reis, profer lumen caecis:                      Loose their chains for the guilty, bring forth light for the blind:

mala nostro pelle, bona cuncta posce.                      Woes of ours dispel, good in all things ask for us.

Monstra te esse matrem, sumat per te preces,                          Show thyself to be a mother: may He receive through thee our prayers,

Qui pro nobis natus, tulit esse tuus.                           Who for us was born and designed to be thy son.

Virgo singularis, inter omnes mitis,                           Virgin all excelling, among all most meek,

Nos culpis solutos, mites fac et custos.                     Us from sin set free, meek make thou and chaste.

Vitam praesta puram, iter para tutum,                      Life on us bestow that is pure, a way prepare that is safe

Ut videntes Jesum, semper collaetemur.                   In order that seeing Jesus, always we may rejoice.

Sit laus Deo Patri, summo Christo decus,                  Be praise to God the Father, to the most high Christ be praise,

Spiritui Sancto tribus honor unus.                                             To the three be honor equally.

Ave, gratia plena!  Dominus tecum!                         Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with thee!

Amen.  Benedicta tu in mulieribus!                           Amen.  Blessed at thou among women!

If Ye Love Me

Little is known of Thomas Tallis's early life.  He was born early in the 16th century, and died in 1585, after a long career under the rule of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary of Tudor, and Elizabeth I, thus managing to walk a very fine religious line between Catholicism and the Anglicanism begun under Henry VIII.  If ye love me was one of the earliest pieces to be written specifically for Anglican services and is based loosely upon texts from John's Gospel which are read on Pentecost Sunday.

O Clap Your Hands Together

Orlando Gibbons, 1583-1625, served most of his life in the Chapel Royal in London, and directed and composed for the "singing men" at Westminster Cathedral.O clap your hands, based on Psalm 47, is a beautiful example of high English polyphony.  It was supposedly composed as a doctoral exercise for another composer obtaining his doctorate in music at Oxford in 1622.

Christus Factus Est pro Nobis

A quintessential 19th century composer, Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) was born in the fertile Danube river valley.  He was educated at, and later worked in, the monastery of St. Florian.  The church, a stunning jewel of the Mannerist style of architecture, still survives, and when this choir toured in Austria in 1985, we visited and sang in this little church.  Christus factus est pro nobis was written in the Lydian mode (raised 4th note of the scale), using falling harmonies for Jesus's crucifixion and rising harmonies for his rising again.

Richte Mich, Gott

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) was a prolific composer despite his short life.  His family was Jewish but he was raised a Christian by his converted father.  Among other prominent people, he knew the famous poet Goethe, and Schumann, and had a relationship with Jenny Lind, the soprano.  Richte mich, Gott uses verses 1-5 from Psalm 43, and is a gorgeous composition in the Romantic style.

Richte mich, Gott, und führe meine Sache                                                Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight

Wider das unheilige Volk,                                                         Against a faithless people,

Und errette mich von den falschen und bösen Leuten!                              From the deceitful and impious man rescue me!

Denn du bist der Gott meiner Stärke;                                        For Thou, oh God, art my strength;

Warum verstösset du mich?                                                      Why dost Thou keep me so far away?

Warum lässest du mich so traurig gehn,                                    Why must I go about in mourning,

Wenn mein Feind mich drängt?                                                                With the enemy oppressing me?

Sende dein Licht und deine Wahrheit,                                       Send Thy light and Thy truth,

Dass sie mich leiten zu deinem heiligen Berge                           They shall lead me on and bring me to thy holy mountain

Un zu deiner Wohnung,                                                            To thy dwelling place,

Dass ich hineingehe zum Altar Gottes zu dem Gott,                  Then will I go into the altar of God,

Der meine Freude und Wonne ist.                                             The God of my gladness and joy,

Und dir, Gott, auf der Harfe danke, mein Gott.                         Then will I give thee thanks upon the harp, my God.

Was betrübst du dich, meine Seele,                                            Why art thou so troubled, oh my soul,

und bist so unruhig in mir?                                                        And why art thou so disquieted within me?

Harre auf Gott!  denn ich werde ihm noch danken,                   Hope in God, and I will then give Him thanks,

dass er meines Angesichts Hülfe, und mein Gott ist.                  In the presence of my saviour and my God.

There Will Be Rest

Born in Louisiana in 1958, Frank Ticheli currently teaches composition at the University of Southern California.  He has composed many works, and is second only to Sousa in the frequency of performance of his concert band works.  There will be rest is based upon a poem by the eminent American poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), and is a lush setting of her beautiful poem about the stars and their peacefulness.

Salmo 150 (Psalm 150)

Ernani Aguiar was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1950.  He studied extensively in Europe; his specialty is reviving works of the Minas Gerais School of the 18th century.  Salmo 150's driving, urgent rhythms are Aguiar's representation of the joy in this psalm.

La la la, etc.

Laudate eum secundum multitudinem magnitudinis eius,                                            Praise Him according to his excellent greatness,

Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius.  Laudate eum in firmamento virtutis eius.                            Praise the Lord in His sacred places, Praise him in the firmament of his power.

Laudate eum in timpano et choro.  Laudate eum in chordis et organo.                      Praise Him with drum and dance.  Praise him with strings and pipes.

Laudate eum in cymbalis benesonantibus.                                                                                 Praise him with loud-sounding cymbals.

Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum, laudate Dominum! Alleluia!                                   Let all spirits praise the Lord!  Alleluia!

Esti Dal (Evening Song)

The famous Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) was an ethnomusicologist, and together with Bartók, started a movement to increase musical literacy in Hungary. He also created a famous method for teaching songs to children, representing the intervals with hand gestures.  Kodály based much of his work on Hungarian folk songs, of which Esti Dal is a fine example.  The haunting melody and underlying luminous hummed chords evoke a longing for a safe place to rest.

Erdő mellett est vélëdtem, Subám fejem alá tëttem,                                 As I lay down for the night by the edge of the woods,

Összetëttem két kezemet, Úgy kértem jó Istenëmet:                                               I pull my blanket up to my chin; I put my hands together, Thus imploring you, my good Lord.

Én Istenëm, adjál szállást, Már mëguntam a járkálást, a bujdosást,                            My Lord, grant me a place to stay, For I've grown tired of wandering, of hiding,

Az idegën földön lakást.  Adjon Isten jó éjszakát,                                     Of living in a foreign land.  Lord God, grant me a good night,

Küldje hozzám szent angyalát, Bátoritsa szivünk álmát,                                           Send me your blessed angel, to give courage to the dreams in our hearts.

Adjon Isten jó éjszakát, mmm...                                                                               Lord God, grant me a good night, mmm...

Songs for Braithwaite                                                                                                       

Rhapsody

                Heart Free

                A Little Song

Water Night

Eric Whitacre (1970-      ) studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has composed choral, wind band, and electrical music.  He is probably the most widely-performed composer of his generation.  Water night is based upon a poem by Octavio Paz, and Whitacre describes composing it as being more like "cleaning the oils from an ancient canvas to reveal the hidden music than composing.".  The warm harmonies with extensive use of tone clusters, are exceedlingly lovely and loving.

Oh My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose

Crawford Gates, born in 1921, received a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music.  He spent the earlier part of his career at Brigham Young University and the latter part in Beloit College in Wisconsin.  Oh my luve's like a red, red rose (no, luve is not a typo) sets Robert Burns's well-known poem to music.  In this work, Gates conveys a Romantic era feeling through decidedly 20th century dense, almost Hollywoodish harmonies.

Charm Me Asleep

The British composer Henry Leslie (1822-1896) penned symphonies, oratorios, operas, cantatas, and part songs.  In his latter years he specialized in developing materials to train village choirs.  Charm Me Asleep is a "charming" setting of a lovely poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674), arranged by and for the King's Singers.

Shenandoah

James "Jim" Erb, born in 1927, was the choral conductor with the Richmond Symphony for 35 years.  He is well-known among musicologists for making known works by the Renaissance composer Orlando di Lasso.  His setting of the beautiful, haunting American folk song Shenandoah is often performed.  Listen for the cascading river effect achieved by setting three women's parts in canon in the latter part of the song.

Sure on This Shining Night

Morten Lauridsen (born 1943) is a professor of composition at the University of Southern California.  He is currently the most frequently performed composer of classical contemporary choral literature.  Sure on this shining night is a warm but contemplative setting of the poem by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, poet, and playwright James Agee (1909-1955).