Exultate Justi In Domino

Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (b. 1564)
ed. Mason Martens

Exult in the Lord, ye just, it is fitting
for the righteous to praise him together.
Give praise to the Lord on the harp,
Play to him on the ten-stringed psaltery.
Sing to him a new song,
Sing well to him with a strong voice.
For the word of the Lord is right
and all his works are faithful.
He esteems mercy and justice.
The earth is full of the Lord's mercy.
(Psalm 33, 1-5; trans. Allen H Simon)

Song to the Soul

Jack Porter (b. 2004)

Twa Tanbou

Sydney Guillaume (b. 1982)

Three drums are having an argument
A great Sunday morning
On their way back from Guinea

A little Kata
A little Tanbouren
A big Boula

Boula declared
That he can hit the loudest
Boula declared
“I can hit the loudest!”

Tanbouren said “I have the most beautiful sound”
He said “when I perform, keep quiet and listen!”

Kata who was hearing all this became angry
He could not comprehend how two fellows
Who are dressed with the same outfit
And are children of the same mother
Are sitting around making a scandal

One fine Mardi-Gras day, Kata started to “zouk”
Every single person there began to dance…
Tanbouren and Boula who were there listening
To make the party more exciting, they started a great throng
That day,
They all sang a song that I’ll never forget:

All drums that are dispersed
Let’s put our shoulders together
To make life more beautiful

(Text - Louis Marie Celestin; trans. Sydney Guillaume)

Lullaby

Daniel Elder (b. 1986)

Katrina McNiven, pianist

Daniel Elder’s Lullaby is a gentle song of reassurance. The text uses nature imagery to comfort either a child or one dealing with loss. Close listeners may hear onomatopoeic representations of lapping ocean waves within the text setting.

L’Ennemi

Reed Criddle (b. 1981)

Ashley Vasquez, pianist

My youth has been nothing but a dark storm,
Intersected here and there by brilliant suns;
Thunder and rain have wrought such devastation,
That very few ripe fruits remain in my garden.

Now I have reached the autumn of the mind,
And I must work with the shovel and the rake
To gather anew the inundated earth,
Where the rain digs holes as large as tombs.

And who knows if the new flowers I dream of
Will find in this soil, washed bare like the shore,
The mystical nourishment that would provide their vigor?

O misery! O misery! Time eats away at our lives,
And the obscure Enemy that gnaws at our hearts
Grows and is fortified from the blood we lose!

Dr. Reed Criddle’s L’Ennemi is a setting of a text by Charles Baudelaire. Baudelaire’s works often explored urban corruption, for which he coined the term “modernity”. This poem does not name the enemy, but the collection in which it was included makes many references to the nefarious allure of “l’Ennui”, or boredom.

Otche Nash

Nikolai Golovanov (1891-1953)

Travis Lunt, conductor

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen!

Nikolai Golovanov’s Otche Nash, a setting of the Lord’s Prayer in church Slavonic, is at times lush, haunting, and dark. When published in 1916, the phrase “give us this day our daily bread” would have been particularly poignant given the food shortages many Russian cities were facing due to depression caused by the expenses of World War I. This setting is unusual for eliminating the original text’s final declaration of praise to God; rather, a climactic cry for deliverance quickly unravels to a bleak ending on the words “deliver us from the Evil One”.

Slava

Lesia Dychko (b. 1939)

Glory to the Father and Son and Holy Spirit!
Praise my soul the Lord!
I will praise the Lord as long as my life allows!
I will sing to my God as long as I live.

Do not trust in princes, not in the sons of men.
Salvation will not come from them.
His spirit will depart and he will again return to his earth.
That very same day all his intents will disappear.

Lesia Dychko’s Slava sets off in an outburst of joy with driving rhythms and abrupt key changes. A contrasting middle section in chant style includes the warning: “Do not trust in princes nor the sons of men”. As a Ukrainian, this phrase would have felt relevant to Lesia when she wrote the piece in 1990 amid the final days of the USSR, and has renewed relevance today. This piece mixes a rhythmic drive and moments of non-traditional harmony with old techniques such as medieval church modes and chant.

Enigma Variations

Edward Elgar (1857-1834)

Dedicated “to my friends pictured within,” this work consists of a theme and variations of the theme that are character sketches of the composer’s friends.

[BRIEF INTERMISSION]

Theresienmesse

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Aura Nielsen, soprano
Demaree Brown, alto
Logan Bradford, tenor
Shea Owens, bass

Franz Joseph Haydn’s Theresienmesse was first performed in 1799 as part of the name day celebrations for the wife of Haydn's employer. She, however, is not the Theresa of the title. The original score was simply labeled Mass. Thereafter, it became associated with Maria Theresa, later Empress of Austria, who sang soprano solo parts in several of Haydn's other works.

The Kyrie begins with a gentle, ascending string melody, interrupted immediately by the choir’s entrance. The soloists then interject in imitation of that initial melody of the violin. At the next statement of “Lord have mercy,” the choir and orchestra combine in fugal texture, with staggering entrances imitating one another.

Jubilant trumpets and choirs of angels declare the glory of God in the second movement, Gloria. Following the angelic fanfare, the four soloists sing a sweet ballad of praise to the Lamb of God. Choir and soloists alternate in describing the divinity of God before concluding with three back-and-forth exclamations of “Amen!”

A resolute statement of faith, the Credo starts off in a stately march. The texture thins for the Et incarnatus est. As is traditional, the soprano soloist sings of the condescension of God with a melody that seems to come down from heaven. After describing Christ’s suffering and burial, Haydn suddenly quickens the tempo as the choir and orchestra tell of the Redeemer’s resurrection. Haydn concludes the Credo with another fugue, this time promising life eternal in a jaunty 6/8 meter.

The glory of God triumphantly fills heaven and earth in the Sanctus. This is introduced first by a slow procession of the faithful declaring “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts.” Following this celebration, the Benedictus provides a contrasting ballad which features each soloist and a final shout of Hosanna from the chorus.

Angular melodies with dramatic leaps are a distinguishing feature of the Agnus Dei. The theme is stated three times, alternating with sweeping supplications for heavenly mercy. The mass concludes in a prayer for peace in the pastoral Dona nobis pacem. Haydn’s musically thrilling call for peace expresses not just eternal rest, but a celebration of everlasting life.

Ave verum corpus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Hail, true body, born of the Virgin Mary,
Who truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for man,
Whose pierced side whence overflowed blood,
Be for us a foretaste in the test of death.