PROGRAM
Collegium Vocale
I
I Will Greatly Rejoice!
Knut Nystedt (b. 1915)
Festival Te Deum, Op. 32
Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)
Bernice Hall, soprano
Antiphon (from Five Mystical Songs)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958)
The Greater Atlanta Girls Choir: Apprentice Choir
Eryn Sandhage, Apprentice Choir Director
II
The Poet Sings
Z. Randall Stroope (b. 1953)
I Got Shoes
arr. Benjamin Harlan (b. 1954)
The Greater Atlanta Girls Choir: Tour Choir
Jennifer Rawson, Artistic and Tour Choir Director
III
Tota pulchra es
Maurice Duruflé (1901 – 1986)
Las Amarillas
Stephen Hatfield (b. 1956)
Bumblebee
Anders Edenroth (b. 1963)
Music Down in My Soul
Moses Hogan (1957 – 2003)
Collegium Vocale
PROGRAM NOTES AND TRANSLATIONS
IV
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
David L. Brunner (b. 1953)
Janice Crews, oboe
Loch Lomond
arr. Jonathan Quick (b. 1970)
Michael Diebert and Cory Speakman, tenors
Carrickfergus
arr. Philip E. Silvey (b. 1965)
A Red, Red Rose
James Mulholland (b. 1935)
V
Eldorado
Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)
Horizons
Peter Louis Van Dijk (b. 1953)
By and By
arr. Carol Barnett (b. 1949)
I WILL GREATLY REJOICE!
Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt studied at the Oslo Conservatory with Bjarne Brustad,
and later with Aaron Copland. He has worked as a church organist and has composed
choral, orchestral, and chamber works, including 12-tone compositions in the 1950s. His
choirs have toured Scandinavia, Europe, the United States, and the Far East, and he has
won numerous awards for his compositions.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for my soul shall exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations!
FESTIVAL TE DEUM, OP. 32
The year 2013 marks the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten, regarded as among
the greatest composers of the twentieth century, and Britain's finest since Henry Purcell.
Britten composed the Festival Te Deum in 1944 for the Centenary Festival of St. Mark's,
Swindon, Wiltshire, England, the following year. This followed an earlier Te Deum in C
composed in 1934. In his later setting, Britten employed contemporary compositional
techniques while retaining the liturgical forms and traditions of the Anglican church. The
work begins with unison chant of the text set polymetrically according to the rhythm of
the text. This texture is superimposed over an unyielding accompaniment of chordal
harmony in triple meter, with the beats falling where they may in relation to the sung
music. A contrasting middle section ("Thou art the King of Glory, . . .") is fast and fiery,
with choral declamation alternating with flourishes in the accompaniment. Here, the everchanging meters are shared by all the forces. The mood calms, yielding to a treble solo ("O
Lord save Thy people . . .") with the texture of the opening section before melding to a
hymn-like choral closing section ("Vouchsafe O Lord . . .”). This section with slow harmonic
rhythm begins softly and slowly builds to fortissimo before fading to the final line of text
echoed by the soloist: "Let me never be confounded" (damned).
We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father everlasting.
To Thee all Angels cry aloud, the Heav’ns and all the Pow’rs therein.
To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Sabaoth!
Heav’n and earth are full of the majesty of Thy Glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles, praise Thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets, praise Thee.
The Church with Psalms must shout,
No door can keep them out:
But above all, the heart must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
My God and King.
The noble army of Martyrs, praise Thee.
The Holy Church thro’out all the world doth acknowledge Thee,
The Father of an infinite majesty
Thine honorable, true, and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man, Thou did’st not abhor the Virgin’s womb.
TOTA PULCHRA ES
Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non
est in te. Vestimentum tuum candidum quasi nix,
et facies tua sicut sol. Tota pulchra es, Maria, et
macula originalis non est in te. Tu gloria
Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorificentia
populi nostri. Tota pulchra es, Maria.
Thou art all beauty, O Mary, and the stain of original
sin is not in thee. Your vestments are as white as
snow, and your face is like the sun. Thou art all
beauty, O Mary, and the stain of original sin is not in
thee. You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy
of Israel, you are the honor of all people. Thou art all
beauty, O Mary.
When Thou had’st overcome the sharpness of death,
Thou did’st open the Kingdom of Heav’n to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou shalt come to be our judge.
We therefore pray Thee help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints in glory everlasting.
O Lord save Thy people and bless Thine heritage. Govern them and lift them up forever.
Day by day we magnify Thee and we worship Thy name ever world without end.
Vouchsafe O Lord to keep us this day without sin,
O Lord have mercy upon us, O Lord let Thy mercy lighten upon us,
As our trust is in Thee, O Lord, in Thee have I trusted
Let me never be confounded.
ANTIPHON (FROM FIVE MYSTICAL SONGS)
The great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote Five Mystical Songs between
1906 and 1911. Setting four poems by George Herbert (from his 1633 collection The
Temple: Sacred Poems), Vaughan Williams scored the work for baritone solo, chorus, and
orchestra. The first four songs are quite personal meditations in which the soloist takes a
key role. The final Antiphon, sung only by the chorus, is a triumphant hymn of praise,
setting Herbert’s famous text, “Let all the world in every corner sing.”
Let all the world in every corner sing,
My God and King.
The heavens are not too high, His praise may thither fly:
The earth is not too low, His praises there may grow.
LAS AMARILLAS
Volaron las amarillas calandrias de los nopales
Ya no cantaran alegres los pajaros cadernales
A la tirana na na
A la tirana na no
Ya no cantaran alegres los pajaros cadernales
Árboles de la ladera porque no han reverdecido
Por eso calandrias cantan o las apachurra el nido
A la tirana na na
A la tirana na no
Por eso calandrias cantan o las apachurra el nido
Eres chiquita y bonita y así como eres te quiero
Pareces una rosita de las costas de Guerrero
A la tirana na na
A la tirana na no
Pareces una rosita de las costas de Guerrero
En la mediana del mar suspiraba un ballena
Y en los suspiros deciá el que la seca la llena
A la tirana na na
A la tirana na no
Y en los suspiros deciá el que la seca la llena
Mi padre fue gavilán y yo nací pico pico
Soy como el tarantantan donde quiero meto el
pico
A la tirana na na
A la tirana na no
Todos dan su despedida pero como esta ninguna
The yellow larks fly from their cactuses
No longer will the cardinals sing happily
their "tirana-na-na"
and "tirana-na-no"
No longer will the cardinals sing happily
The trees on the hillside, since they haven't revived
For this the larks sing, or the nest hold them down
their "tirana-na-na"
and "tirana-na-no"
For this the larks sing, or the nest hold them down
You are little and beautiful, and the way you are, I
love you
You look like a little rose from the shores of Guerrero
with your "tirana-na-na"
and "tirana-na-no"
Like a little rose from the shores of Guerrero
In the middle of the sea a whale sighed
And in those sighs he who dried up the flood spoke
with his "tirana-na-na"
and "tirana-na-no"
And in those sighs he who dried up the flood spoke
My father was a sparrowhawk and I was born to
peck and peck
Where I place my beak, I'm like a trumpeter
with my "tirana-na-na"
and "tirana-na-no"
A la tirana na na
A la tirana na no
Todos dan su despedida pero como esta ninguna
Cuatro por cinco son veinte
Tres por siete son veinte-uno
Cuatro por cinco son veinte
Tres por siete son veinte-uno
Cuatro por cinco son veinte
Tres por siete son veinte-uno
A la tirana na na
A la tirana na no
Everyone has their farewells, but none is like this
Like a "tirana-na-na"
and a "tirana-na-no"
Everyone has their farewells, but none is like this
Four times five is twenty,
three times seven is twenty-one
Four times five is twenty,
three times seven is twenty-one
Four times five is twenty,
three times seven is twenty-one
With a "tirana-na-na"
and a "tirana-na-no"
THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE
Choral conductor and composer David Brunner is Director of Choral Activities at the
University of Central Florida. In his setting of William Butler Yeats' poem, Brunner relates
the poet's recollections of childhood holidays at Lake Innisfree in County Sligo, and his
desire to return there to live as Thoreau did at Walden Pond.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings.
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sound by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
LOCH LOMOND
Canadian singer, composer, and conductor Jonathan Quick studied at the University of
British Columbia and remains active in the musical scene in Vancouver. There are many
divergent explanations of this text, but the arranger offers this one: "This song is most
likely a tale about two of Bonnie Prince Charlie's men, captured and left behind in Carlisle
after the failed rising of 1745. One is to be executed, while the other is set free. According
to Celtic tradition, the condemned man's spirit would return to his homeland via the 'low
road': His spirit will reach Scotland before his comrade gets home, but he will never meet
his true love again." Quick's unique setting of this most recognizable of British Isles
folksongs begins traditionally, moving from solo to men's to women's to mixed voices
before a spirited closing section with the men chanting a march-like cadence simulating
the long return home.
By yon bonnie banks and yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond, where me and my true love were ever want to gae,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.
Oh, ye’ll take the high road an’ I’ll take the low road an’ I’ll be in Scotland afore ye,
But me and my true love will never meet again on the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.
’Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen, on the steep, steep banks of Ben Lomond,
Where deep in purple hue the Highland hills we view, and the moon coming out in the gloamin’.
The wee birdies sing and the wild flowers spring, and in sunshine the waters lie sleeping,
But the broken heart will ken nae second spring again,
And the world knows not how we are grieving.
Ye’ll take the high road ’n I’ll take the low road ’n I’ll be in Scotland afore ye,
But me and my true love will never meet again on the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.
CARRICKFERGUS
Carrickfergus is a traditional Irish folk song that takes its name from the coastal city of that
name near Belfast on the eastern shore of Northern Ireland. The singer, nearing the end
of his life, longs to return to his childhood home. This sentiment is aptly reflected in the
hauntingly beautiful melody. Though its origin is uncertain, this song is often linked to
earlier Gaelic tunes and texts.
I wish I was in Carrickfergus, only for nights in Ballygrant.
I would swim over the deepest ocean, the deepest ocean for my love to find.
But the sea is wide, I cannot swim over; neither have I wings to fly.
If I could find me a handsome boatsman to ferry me over to my love, and die.
My childhood days bring sad reflections of happy times spent so long ago.
My boyhood friends and my own relations have all passed on now like melting snow.
So I'll spend my days in endless roaming, soft is the grass, my bed is free.
Ah, to be back now in Carrickfergus, on that long road down to the sea.
But I am sick now and my days are numbered; come all ye young men and lay me down.
A RED, RED ROSE
Scotch Bard Robert Burns compiled over 300 songs and ballads, matching Scottish poems
with Scottish folk and composed tunes. American composer James Mulholland's lush
setting does not use the tune originally published with Burns' poem, but captures the
poet's expressive sense of portraying the beauty he found on Scottish soil and in her
people.
O, my luve’s like a red, red, rose,
That’s newly sprung in June.
O, my luve's like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry,
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.
Till the seas gang dry, my dear,
And rocks melt with the sun!
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
I will come again, my luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!
ELDORADO
American composer Emma Lou Diemer studied at Yale, at Eastman, in Brussels, and at the
Berkshire Music Center. Her output ranges from hymns to symphonies. Her awards
include a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award in Orchestral Music and the American Guild of
Organists 1995 Composer of the Year. In addition to serving as a church organist
througout her career, Diemer taught at numerous colleges, retiring from the University of
California at Santa Barbara in 1991. Eldorado is a setting of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe.
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old,
This knight so bold,
And o’er his heart a shadow
Fell, as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow.
“Shadow,” said he,
“Where can it be,
This land of Eldorado?”
“Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,”
The shade replied,
“If you seek for Eldorado!”
HORIZONS
South African composer Peter Louis Van Dijk has had a widely varied career in music as a
composer, performer, teacher, and conductor, active in radio and television. He wrote his
first opera in 1973, and a second, in Afrikaans, was first performed two years later.
Horizons evokes the pre-colonial San culture of South Africa, who saw their eventual
conquerors as gods.
Sleep, my springbok baby, sleep for me, my springbok child,
When morning comes I’ll go out hunting, for you are hungry and thirsty.
Small moon, Hai! Young moon, when the sun rises, you must speak to the Rain,
Charm her with herbs and honeycomb, O speak to her, that I may drink, this little thing,
She will come across the dark sky: mighty Rain-cow, sing your song for me
That I may find you on the far horizon.
Sleep, my springbok baby, sleep for me, my springbok child,
When morning comes I’ll go out hunting, for you are hungry and thirsty.
O Star, Hai! Hunting Star, when the sun rises you must blind with your light
The Eland’s eyes, O blind his eyes, that I may eat, this little thing,
He will come across the red sands: mighty Eland, dance your dance for me
That I may find you on the far horizon.
Sleep, my springbok baby, sleep for me, my springbok child,
When morning comes they’ll come a-hunting, for they are hungry and thirsty,
They will come across the waters: mighty saviors in their sailing ships,
And they will show us new and far horizons.
And they came, across the waters: gods in galleons, bearing bows of steel,
Then they killed us on the far horizon.
BY AND BY
Carol Barnett studied composition with Dominick Argento and Paul Fetler. She was
composer-in-residence with the Dale Warland Singers, and currently teaches at Augsburg
College in Minneapolis. Her music has been called audacious and engaging, and includes
works for solo voice, piano, chorus, chamber ensembles, orchestra, and wind ensemble.
She was awarded the 2003 Nancy Van de Vate International Prize for Opera for her
chamber opera, Snow. She has been commissioned by the American Guild of Organists,
the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Harvard Glee Club,
VocalEssence, the Minnesota Music Teachers Association, and the Children’s Theatre of
Minneapolis, and has received numerous grants.
Oh, by an’ by, by an’ by, I’m gonna lay down this heavy load.
I know my robe’s gonna fit me well, ‘cause I tried it on at the gates of hell.
Oh, hell is a deep and dark despair, so stop, poor sinner, an’ a-don’t go there.
Oh, one of these mornings, bright an’ fair, gonna spread my wings and cleave the air.
Oh, when I get to heaven, gonna sing and shout, for there’s no one there to turn me out.
Oh, by an’ by, by an’ by, I’m gonna lay down this heavy load.
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