TEXTS AND PROGRAM NOTES
VENI EMMANUEL
Music: composed in 2022 by Ben Owen (b. 1993)
Text: 8th century “O Antiphons” metrical paraphrase, tr. John Mason Neale (1818-1866)
Unpublished: 2022
O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
O come, Desire of nations bind all peoples in one heart and mind.
Bid ev’ry strife and quarrel cease and fill the world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
O come, thou Rod of Jesse’s stem, from ev’ry foe deliver them
that trust Thy mighty power to save, and give them vic’try o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by thy justice here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
The text of the carol O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons, texts sung as Magnificat antiphons during vespers services on the last seven days of Advent. It is most often sung in English-speaking countries to a translation by the 19th century Anglican priest and hymnwriter John Mason Neale. This weekend’s concerts feature an arrangement for mixed chorus and large handbell ensemble recently composed by Cincinnati Camerata’s Artistic Director, Ben Owen.
MAGNIFICAT from GLOUCESTER SERVICE
Music: composed in 1946 by Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Text: Luke 1:46-55 & the Lesser Doxology
Published: Novello & Company Ltd © 1947/2000
My soul doth magnify the Lord: and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded: the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me: and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him: throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm:
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel: as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Program notes by Connor Annable
Herbert Howells (1892-1983) is often regarded as one of the most revered and prolific British composers of choral music in the 20th century. In addition to secular and sacred anthems and large scale choral-orchestral works that are still performed and recorded today, Howells composed nearly 30 mass and canticle settings for use in Anglican choral services. This weekend’s concerts feature the 1946 Magnificat (Song of Mary) which Howells composed for the choir of his hometown cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity in Gloucester.
BOGORODITSE DEVO, RADUYSIA
Music: composed in the late 18th century by Artemy Vedel (1767-1808)
Text: Dismissal Troparion at Vespers; Luke 1:42
Published: orthodoxchoral.org
Sung in Church Slavonic: Богородице Дево, радуйся, благодатная Марие, Господь с тобою. Благословена ты в женах, и благословен плод чрева твоего, яко Спаса родила еси душ наших.
Artemy Vedel (c. 1767-1808) is known by modern scholars of Orthodox church music as one of the Golden Three of Ukrainian classical music in the 18th century. Starting in 1791, Vedel came into the service of Andrei Levanidov, a general in the Imperial Russian Army, to lead the regimental chapel and choir in Kyiv, where he experienced his most furtive and creative period as a composer. However, by 1799, Vedel was sent to St. Petersburg, having fallen under suspicion of taking part in a conspiracy against Tsar Nicolas I and threatening the Russian royal family. As a result, he spent close to a decade imprisoned in an asylum and was forbidden from composing, with the authorities further banning performances of Vedel’s music in sacred settings, an edict which continued into the Soviet era. Vedel’s setting of Bogoroditse Devo, raduysia is one of over 100 compositions by Vedel which survive.
BOGORODITSE DEVO, RADUYSIA
Music: composed and revised in 1914/1918 by Viktor Kalinnikov (1870-1927)
Text: Dismissal Troparion at Vespers; Luke 1:42
Published: orthodoxchoral.org
Sung in Church Slavonic: Богородице Дево, радуйся, благодатная Марие, Господь с тобою. Благословена ты в женах, и благословен плод чрева твоего, яко Спаса родила еси душ наших.
Viktor Kalinnikov (1870-1927) was the younger brother of Vasily Kalinnikov, best known today as a composer of symphonies and other orchestral pieces. The younger Kalinnikov was most active as a teacher, working at the Moscow Synodal School of Church Singing (with its renowned men and boys choir) from 1897 to 1923. As a composer, Kalinnikov’s output was fairly small, consisting primarily of 24 short choral works. His setting of the prayer Bogoroditse Devo, raduysia dates from 1914 and was revised four years later. Listen for figurations in the bass line representing the tolling of bells.
Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, for Thou hast borne the Savior of our souls.
BOGORODITSE DEVO, RADUYSIA
Music: composed between 2007 by Elena Yunek (b. 1985)
Text: Dismissal Troparion at Vespers; Luke 1:42
Published: ikliros.com
Sung in Church Slavonic: Богородице Дево, радуйся, благодатная Марие, Господь с тобою. Благословена ты в женах, и благословен плод чрева твоего, яко Спаса родила еси душ наших. Господи, помилуй. Аминь. Буди имя Господне благословено от ныне и до века.
Born in 1985 in the Ukranian city of Stryi, Elena Yunek studied choral conducting at Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Culture and Arts, graduating in 2008. Since 2015, she has served as a professor in the choral conducting program at the Samara State Institute of Culture in Samara, Russia. Yunek’s most significant compositions include settings of the traditional Russian Orthodox Vespers and All Night Vigil services as well as arrangements of Russian and Ukrainian folksongs. She composed the third setting of Bogoroditse Devo, raduysia featured in this weekend’s concerts in 2007.
UNDER THE MID-AUTUMN MOON
Music: composed in 2014 by Kai-Young Chan
Text: Su Dong-po (1037-1101)
Published: chankaiyoung.com
Sung in Cantonese: 明月幾時有? When will the bright moon be there? 把酒問青天。 Raising my wine glass, I ask the blue sky 不知天上宮闕, In the palace of the heaven, 今夕是何年? Which season is it now? 我欲乘風歸去, Much as I want to ride the wind to the moon palace, 又恐瓊樓玉宇, But I fear the pagodas of jade there, 高處不勝寒。 Too high and unbearably cold. 起舞弄清影, There, I could dance with my shadow under the moon, 何似在人間? Yet, it feels better to stay in the human world. 轉朱閣, The moon rounds the vermilion building, 低綺戶, Lowly hanging on the window, 照無眠。 Shining on the sleepless. 不應有恨, The moon should not resent, 何事長向別時圓? Why is it always full in parting moments? 人有悲歡離合, Humans experience dolorous partings and delighted reunions, 月有陰晴圓缺, The moon has dimness, brightness, fullness and incompleteness, 此事古難全。 This phenomenon has pervaded the time since the beginning. 但願人長久, May we be blessed with longevity: 千里共嬋娟 Hope that people can appreciate the full moon despite of distance.
Kai-Young Chan is a Hong Kong-based composer who has written prolifically for orchestral, vocal and chamber forces. Previously a Benjamin Franklin Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his PhD in Music Composition, Chan currently teaches as an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Under the Mid-autumn Moon sets a Cantonese poem by the 11th century calligrapher, essayist, poet and pharmacist Su Dong-Po. In Chinese culture, the traditional Mid-autumn Festival falls on August 15 on the lunar calendar, and full moons represent the dual ideas of reunion and thoughts for family and friends.
FOLD YOUR WINGS
Music: composed in 2019 by Ellen Ruth Harrison (b. 1956)
Text: from Scribe and Track by Norman Finkelstein (b. 1954)
Published: ellenruthharrison.com
The psyche adrift in love’s domain Cries to the Master Standing apart: Where is the heart That once was the center? When will you enter The widening rift? And what refrain Must I sing and sing To lure your word From vacant space That love might record And never erase? Peace, came the answer, Fold your wings. For you must go alone out of starry midnight You must go alone past the morning star Led there by music neither the self’s nor another’s Music from nowhere heard on the wind And what refrain Must I sing and sing? Peace, came the answer, Fold your wings.
Ellen Ruth Harrison serves as Adjunct Professor of Composition at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, chair of music theory and composition in the CCM Preparatory division, and as a member of the alto section in Cincinnati Camerata. Fold Your Wings sets lines from two poems by Norman Finkelstein, recently retired from the English department faculty at Xavier University in Cincinnati. The piece was commissioned by the CCM Harmony Fund, which promotes work in drama and music to fight for social justice and against hate and prejudice.
STARS I SHALL FIND
Music: composed in 2003 by David Dickau (b. 1953)
Text: Sara Teasdale (1874-1933)
Published: Walton Music Corporation © 2003
There will be rest, and sure stars shining Over the roof-tops crowned with snow, A reign of rest, serene forgetting, The music of stillness holy and low. I will make this world of my devising Out of a dream in my lonely mind. I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me Stars I shall find.
David C. Dickau (b. 1953) served for nearly 30 years as director of choral activities at Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN. Now living in Idaho, he is still active as a composer, conductor, clinician and teacher. Dickau’s 2003 choral work Stars I Shall Find sets one of the most well-known poems by Sara Teasdale, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1917 for her poetry collection Love Songs.
THE FIRST NOEL*
Music: Cathy Moklebust (b. 1958)
Published: Jeffers Handbell Supply, Inc. © 2012
Cathy Moklebust (b. 1958) is one of today’s most popular handbell music composers with over 400 compositions and arrangements in print. Based in Brookings, South Dakota, she is in national demand as a handbell clinician, festival conductor, and commission composer. The First Noel (2012) is one of nine commissions she has composed for the Raleigh Ringers, who are among the foremost professional handbell choirs in America. In this weekend’s performances, Queen City Bronze brings the score to life with six octaves of handbells and tone chimes under the direction of Jennifer Cauhorn.
Program note by Ben Owen
SERENÍSIMA UNA NOCHE
Music and text: Gerónimo Gonzáles (fl. ca. 1633-1661)
Composed: 17th Century
Unpublished edition by: Michael Delfín
Sung in Spanish: Serenissima una noche mas que si fuera un infante. En lo crespo de Diciembre, quiso por dicha estrellarse. Ande el baile y al sol que ha nasido por dios verdadero, hoy todos le aclamen.
Very little is known about the life of Geronimo Gonzales, except for being remembered as the composer of Serenísima una noche. Among the most popular Spanish carols to emerge during the 16th-17th centuries, it is also known as a villancico, a song form typically associated with rustic or folk themes. Period copies of Geronimo Gonzales’ manuscripts are commonly found in former Spanish colonies in Central and South America. The earliest Serenísima una noche manuscript was found in a convent in Puebla, Mexico in the 1970’s, and other pieces by Gonzalez have been preserved at the Cathedral in Lima, Peru.
GUUTERPUT QUTSINNERMIU
Music and text: Rasmus Berthelsen (1827-1901)
Arrangement: Ben Owen (b. 1993)
Unpublished
Sung in Kalaallisut (Western Greenlandic): Inngilerpassuit savanik paarsisunut juullimi ima tussiarput: “Guuterput qutsinnermiu naalannarsingaarli!” Nuna eqqissineqarli tipaatsungaarillu, inuk-aa, annaffissaqaleravit. Illernartoq Guutiusoq qilammi Naalagaq pimmat nunarsuatsinnut Nuannaaneqarpoq innuni, annattussannguleramik. A large angel chorus Came to earth on Christmas night And sang sweetly to the shepherds in the field: “To you God, our God, in heaven’s home Be praised forevermore.” Now peace has come down to earth And joy into our hearts. Earth’s children, today a savior is born. Jesus Christ, our Lord, Our wonderful Christmas gift, Left his heavenly home for us And became peace and joy on earth. Earth’s children, salvation brings forth praise and thanks. A most serene night is made greater because of an infant. In the cool of December, made bright by the stars, step to the dance, and to the sun, for the child of the true God is born; today let us all acclaim him.
The melody of the traditional Greenlandic Christmas hymn Guuterput qutsinnermiu was composed in 1852 by Greenland’s first published native Inuit composer, Rasmus Berthelsen (1827-1901). According to Berthelsen, the melody came to him as he fell asleep: “I heard a soft and beautiful song and there was no mistaking it. My body was filled with peace that extended far beyond myself. I wasn’t asleep, but I wasn’t sure I was awake either […] When it dawned on me that it was the song the angels sang to the shepherds when the Savior was born, I stood up. I sat down in my office and immediately started writing the song and the melody.” Guuterput qutsinnermiu is representative of the Inuit and Nordic Protestant influences in Greenlandic hymnody, as it is sung homophonically, a cappella, and at a slow tempo. In Greenland, singing Guuterput qutsinnermiu is a beloved Christmastime tradition and is often compared to the Western church tradition of singing Silent Night by candlelight. This weekend’s concerts feature an arrangement by Cincinnati Camerata’s Artistic Director, Ben Owen, which has been carefully crafted to adhere and respectfully respond to Greenlandic traditional norms.
GLORIA from MASS IN E-FLAT
Music: composed in 1886 by Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Text: Latin Mass Proper, Luke 2:14
Published: Arthur P. Schmidt, 1890 (via imslp.com)
Sung in Latin: Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Amy Beach (1867-1944) is primarily remembered today for being the first female American composer to publish large-scale compositions and the first to publish a symphony (her Gaelic Symphony of 1895). Two additional Beach firsts are heard in the music which closes tonight’s program. Her Mass in E-flat, Op. 5, from which we hear a setting of words from the Gloria, dates from 1886. Premiered by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston in 1892, it is considered among Beach’s first major successes as a composer as well as being the first mass setting published and performed by an American woman.