Boston Choral Ensemble

Katherine Chan, Artistic Director

Leona Cheung, Collaborative Pianist

Special Guests: Milton High School Chorus
Julia Hanna, Chorus Director

Program

Hymn of Ancient Lands by Joe Twist (1982-)

Jenny Wolahan, Soprano

[text and composer’s note]

Songs of Nature by Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Text by Vítězslav Hálek (1835-1874), English Version by Harold Heiberg (1922-2013)

1. Melodies Steal Into My Heart

2. Vesper Bells Ring

3. Golden Sunlight

4. Slender Young Birch

5. This Day

[texts]

I Go Among Trees by Giselle Wyers (1969-)
Text by Wendell Berry (1934-)

[text]

The Blue Bird by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Text by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861-1907)

[text]

Tides of Ocean by Matthew Orlovich (1970-)
Text by Victor Carell (1916-2001)

[text and composer’s note]

A Night Rain in Summer by Alvin Trotman (1989-)
Text by James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

[text and composer’s note]

Across the Empty Square by Ellen Gilson Voth (1972-)
Text by Fr. Richard Hendrick

Leona Cheung, Piano

[text and composer’s note]

I Dream a World by Rosephanye Powell (1962-)
Text by Langston Hughes (1901-1967)

Leona Cheung, Piano

[text]

More Waters Rising by Saro Lynch-Thomason
Arranged by Saunder Choi

Milton High School Chorus

[text]

Requiem by Eliza Gilkyson (1950-)
Arranged by Craig Hella Johnson (1962-)

Leona Cheung, Piano

[text]

We Can Mend the Sky by Jake Runestad (1986-)
Text by Warda Mohamed

Elizabeth Wiley, Soprano
Celia Frank-McKnight, Soloist
Jeremy Lang, Percussion

[text]

Performers

Katherine Chan, Artistic Director

Leona Cheung, Collaborative Pianist

BCE Singers

Featured Guests:

Milton High School Chorus
Julia Hanna, Chorus Director

Join Us for Our Next Concert in June!

Support BCE

Boston Choral Ensemble is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded by its supporters and in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.

We are so grateful to those people and organizations who have supported us financially. Please consider donating to BCE, so we can continue presenting high-quality, accessible choral performances for Boston audiences.

Texts and Translations

Composer’s Note

“Hymn of Ancient Lands” is a setting of a fragment of text recorded by Bede known as “Caedmon’s Hymn.” This poem (or hymn) is thought to be the earliest ever recorded poem written in the language of the Angles, the ‘Old English’ of the Anglo Saxons. Upon this basis Caedmon has been designated the patron saint of poets and poetry. The hymn, in its original Anglo Saxon, as well as Latin and modern English vernacular translations, provided the inspiration for this new musical setting.

The juxtaposition of these three languages expresses my fascination with viewing history and spirituality through a modern lens, fusing the old with the new by paying homage to the ancient poem and reflecting its significance with my own musical ideas. For the commissioners of this work, it is significant that Caedmon, a shy, humble and deeply religious man, through divine inspiration, and with the encouragement of St Hilda of Whitby, was enabled to express God’s love of creation in song.

“Caedmon’s Hymn” is a universal song in which Caedmon, praises God’s creation of Heaven and Earth, which he calls ‘Middengeard’ (Middle-Earth). Extending upon this, “Hymn of Ancient Lands” expresses adoration of land and nature through a ritualistic musical journey which progresses from sparse and plaintive to energetic and joyful. From a modern point of view, “Hymn of Ancient Lands” expresses Australians’ passion for traveling overseas and exploring many different lands, combined with a deep sense of belonging and respect for our own unique and magnificent landscape.

[Return to Program]

Songs of Nature by Antonín Dvořák
Text by Vítězslav Hálek, English Version by Harold Heiberg

1. Melodies Steal Into My Heart

Melodies steal into my heart;
I never know how melodies do it.
You would not ask the grass to know
whence come the diamonds that bedew it?

‘Round me the world grows still and clear
as Nature greets the new day’s sunrise;
now beauty fills my soul with joy,
now tender sadness moistens my eyes.

Dew drops from moonlit sky appear;
and from a heart that’s filled with joy and sorrow
thence come the songs we love to hear,
and thence comes all hope for a brighter new day.
And thence comes all hope for a brighter morrow.

2. Vesper Bells Ring

Vesper bells ring, evening is falling.
The birds of day are hushed and silent.
Only one cuckoo still is calling,
and deep in shadows nightingales sing.

Stirred by the west wind’s gentle caressing,
the trembling leaves with dew drops glimmer,
while through the trees moonlight is pouring
to fill the woods with silver shimmer.

Nodding in slumber, flowers are dreaming,
Song birds are dreaming in the treetops.
Only the timid doe still lingers
to drink of the crystalline dewdrops.

Now she is gone, and her departure
leaves silence reigning in the forest;
ah, let the distant nightingale sing,
for such beauty can trouble no rest.

Now even she has ceased her warbling.
Veiling the woodland, darkness has spread.
Thus slowly all the realm of Nature
in quiet and peace enfolded;
is quietly in peace enfolded.

3. Golden Sunlight

Golden sunlight, golden sunlight
shines upon the rip’ning grain,
warm winds whisper in the cornfields,
harvest time has come again.

Flax and barley, toss’d by breezes,
to and fro, toss’d by breezes
and the kernels of wheat and rye grow
heavy in the sunshine’s ardent glow.

Yellow butterflies are dancing
to the buzz of bumblebees,
whistling quail and chirping cricket
fill the air with melodies.

Golden sunshine, golden harvest,
wondrous world of golden hue,
this our song of harvest sun and
summer joyously we sing to you.

4. Slender Young Birch

Slender young birch, how straight you grow,
green and silver, there on the hill,
banishing thoughts of winter snow,
promising rose and daffodil.

Birch tree, your feath’ry robe of green
shyly bids the breezes to play;
whisp’ring, they tell of things they’ve seen
while wand’ring through this April day.

What could that magic tone have been,
sounding like shawm or violin?
‘Tis the enchanting carol of spring
through all of Nature echoing!

Buds form and swell, leaflets unfold,
till all spring’s glory we behold,
while branches stir and gently wave,
joining in praise of their Maker.

Building their nests in ev’ry tree,
birds sing again their roundelay,
And all of Nature soon will be greeting
the lovely month of May.

5. This Day

This day was made for great rejoicing,
this day is truly God’s creation!
The universe delight is voicing,
all Nature joins the celebration.

To watch the midges gaily dancing
insects are perched on leaf and blossom,
while through the forest brooks are rushing,
filling with longing ev’ry bosom.

See how the heavens turn to crimson:
sunset’s flaming torches are burning.
Hear how the lovely nightingales sing
their rapt’rous songs of love and yearning!

The world resounds with wondrous music
as each fulfills the joyous duty
of giving thanks for countless blessings:
Peace and contentment, truth and beauty.

Radiant in moonlight glitt’ring with starlight,
glowing with rapture and emotion,
now earth and heav’n form a chalice;
drink of the boundless joy Nature holds!

[Return to Program]

I Go Among Trees by Giselle Wyers
Text by Wendell Berry

I go among trees and sit still.
All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep like cattle.
Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight.
What it fears in me leaves me, and the fear of me leaves it.
It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it, and the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor, mute in my consternations,
I hear my song at last, and I sing it.
As we sing, the day turns, the trees move.

[Return to Program]

The Blue Bird by Charles Villiers Stanford
Text by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge

The lake lay blue below the hill,
O'er it, as I looked, there flew
Across the waters, cold and still,
A bird whose wings were palest blue.

The sky above was blue at last,
The sky beneath me blue in blue,
A moment, ere the bird had passed,
It caught his image as he flew.

[Return to Program]

Tides of Ocean by Matthew Orlovich
Text by Victor Carrell

I stand over tides of ocean, an eager grace at my feet,
The rhythm of speed surrounds me and my heart throbs with its beat.
The winds play at my nostrils, and clear stars tremble near,
The taut twang of the bowsprit sings music to my ear.
The rhythm of speed surrounds me.
The tumbling waves dash madly in the cauldron far below,
And creaking booms swing sadly obscuring the moonlit glow.

A moon-path stretches ghostly (fish! flash!) across the sea its hand,
And flying fish flash sparks like jewels, in a mirrored band.
Night birds in a flowing lane raucously fly the ship,
As onward, on winged feet we start our southward dip.

And now behold our course, rising from the dark of space,
A cross of gleaming stars reflects the joy upon my face.
My body thrills with life, my spirit wildly bounds,
My soul absorbs the triumph of all these joyous sounds.

I stand over tides of ocean, an eager grace at my feet,
The rhythm of speed surrounds me and my heart throbs with its beat.
I stand over tides of ocean.

Composer’s Note

This a cappella choral score, entitled “Tides of Ocean,” was commissioned in 1998 for performance by The Australian Voices, directed by Stephen Leek. A number of my earlier works for The Australian Voices have been inspired by the work of the poet / writer Victor Carell. When asked, then, to compose a new score for The Australian Voices to perform during their upcoming overseas tour, I eagerly returned to Carell’s poetry and chose to set his poem entitled “Tides of Ocean”.

Carell noted, in writing about the poem, that he came to Australia in 1947 to appear in the musical “Annie Get Your Gun”. He travelled in an ex-Liberty ship named the Marine Phoenix which was one of the first passenger ships after the war: “It was my return home to Australia following ten years absence”, Carell wrote. “I eagerly sought the first sight of the Southern Cross as we dipped south.”

The musical setting of the poem falls broadly into four (continuous) sections. The opening section comprises a rhythmic and lively music as the choir sings of standing over “tides of ocean.” There follows a calmer music as the poem carries us into the night with images of moon-paths and flying fish flashes, culminating in a “southward dip” which involves all the tenors and basses descending to their striking lowest registers. The slowly emerging Southern Cross and the excitement of its presence is reflected in the third section of the work by the gradual accretion of voices forming a natural crescendo. Like a frame for the work, the choir returns to the opening music before concluding.

[Return to Program]

A Night Rain In Summer by Alvin Trotman
Text by James Henry Leigh Hunt,

Open the window, and let the air
Freshly blow upon face and hair,
And with the breath of the rain's sweet might.
Hark! the burthen, swift and prone!
And how the odorous limes are blown!
Stormy Love's abroad, and keeps
Hopeful coil for gentle sleeps.

Not a blink shall burn to-night
In my chamber, of sordid light;
Nought will I have, not a window-pane,
'Twixt me and the air and the great good rain,
Which ever shall sing me sharp lullabies;
And God's own darkness shall close my eyes;
And I will sleep, with all things blest,
In the pure earth-shadow of natural rest.

Composer’s Note

Rain has always had an uncanny way of bringing a sense of calm to the human soul. We see it as an act of purification: nature’s way of cleansing the old as new life springs forth. The air after rain carries almost a unique freshness to it—almost as if a new breath of life has been given. This poem conveys the exquisite imagery of rain’s soothing power.

[Return to Program]

Across the Empty Square by Ellen Gilson Voth
Text by Fr. Richard Hendrick

They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
Across the empty squares,
Keeping their windows open
So that those who are alone, are not alone.

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again…
The sky is no longer thick,
But blue and grey and clear.

Yes, there is fear,
But there need not be hate.
In our isolation
We need not pass on loneliness.
In our sickness, we can halt disease of the soul.

Listen, the birds are singing again,
The sky is clearing,
And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul.
And though you may not be able
To touch across the empty square,

Sing.

Composer’s Note

When I first discovered the poetry of Fr. Richard Hendrick, I was struck deeply by how his words speak not only to a global pandemic, but to so much that separates us from others, and how our singing can cross those boundaries, if we are willing to “open the windows” within us. My thanks again to him for responding so quickly to my inquiry, and granting permission for me to set excerpts of his poem, to create this piece.

In both text and music, this piece suggests a palindrome. The first and fifth sections refer to scenes of Italians singing “across the empty squares” and the soundscape implied by their singing - moments of echo and delay, for example. Fragments of Italy’s national anthem are juxtaposed with a recitative-like vocal line; at the end of the piece, singers repeat motives independently to create a “wash” of sound. The second and fourth sections refer to the birds of Wuhan, first against a backdrop of dissonance mingled with a phrase from a Chinese folk song, and later in the harmonic openness and hopefulness suggested by a clearing sky.

The middle section functions as a turning point, balanced by two forces that stand in contrast. Musically this section follows a descending bass line and, in a more obscured manner, a circle of fifths altered by dissonance. These harmonic progressions, so natural and common in our musical vocabulary, are juxtaposed with a text that speaks to our power to work against, to rise above, progressions of human behavior. Hate does not need to be the product of fear; loneliness does not need to grow out of isolation. Even in our sickness, we can halt “disease of the soul.”

Woven throughout the accompaniment are phrases from the hymn tune, “How can I keep from singing?”, which are often hidden by surrounding musical material, then set free more clearly at the end.

[Return to Program]

I Dream a World by Rosephanye Powell
Text by Langston Hughes

I dream a world where man
No other will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.

A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, our world!

[Return to Program]

More Waters Rising by Saro Lynch-Thomason
Arranged by Saunder Choi

There are more waters rising,
    This I know, this I know.
There are more waters rising,
    This I know.
There are more waters rising,
    They will find their way to me.
There are more waters rising,
    This I know, this I know.
There are more waters rising,
    This I know.

There are more fires burning,
    This I know ...

There are more mountains falling,
    This I know ...

I will wade through the waters,
    This I know, this I know.
I will wade through the waters,
    This I know.
I will wade through the waters,
    When they find their way to me.
We will wade through the waters,
    This I know, this I know.
We will wade through the waters,
    This I know.

I will walk through the fires
    This I know ...

I will rebuild the mountains
    This I know ...

There are more waters rising,
    This I know, this I know.
There are more waters rising,
    This I know.
There are more waters rising,
    They will find their way to me.
There are more waters rising,
    This I know, this I know.
There are more waters rising,
    This I know.

[Return to Program]

Requiem by Eliza Gilkyson

Mother Mary, full of grace, awaken
All our homes are gone, our loved ones taken
Taken by the sea
Mother Mary, calm our fears, have mercy
Drowning in a sea of tears, have mercy
Hear our mournful plea
Our world has been shaken
We wander our homelands forsaken

In the dark night of the soul
Bring some comfort to us all
Oh mother Mary come and carry us in your embrace
That our sorrows may be faced

Mary, fill the glass to overflowing
Illuminate the path where we are going
Have mercy on us all
In funeral fires burning
Each flame to your mystery returning

In the dark night of the soul
Your shattered dreamers, make them whole
Oh mother Mary find us where we've fallen out of grace
Lead us to a higher place

In the dark night of the soul
Our broken hearts you can make whole
Oh mother Mary come and carry us in your embrace
Let us see your gentle face, Mary.

Note on the Music

Singer/songwriter Eliza Gilkyson wrote Requiem as a song of grief following the Asian tsunami in December, 2004 and the song found a renewed audience after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region.

In a 2005 interview with NPR, Gikyson shared that “I was inspired to write something that would connect us in a more visceral way, to create a vehicle for grieving for the tsunami… I was grateful that that I had a piece of music that could offer prayer and consolation of some sort and some sort of image of compassion.” [Listen to the interview]

[Return to Program]

We Can Mend the Sky by Jake Runestad
Text by Warda Mohamed with two Somali proverbs

Let My Dream Come True by Warda Mohamed (14-year-old student and immigrant from Somalia)

In my dream I saw
a world free of
violence
hunger
suffering

a world
filled with
love

Now awake in this world
I beg, let my dream come true.

Somali Texts:

Soo baxa (Let’s go)
Naftu orod bay kugu aamintaa. (To save your life, run with all your might.)
Naftu (Life, soul)
Orod (Run)

If we come together, we can mend a crack in the sky. - Somali proverb

Composer’s Note

My sister was an English teacher at the Minnesota International Middle School in Minneapolis which provides a safe and inclusive environment for East African immigrant students to learn (many of whom are Somali). Most of these students came to the USA to escape the violent civil war that has plagued Somalia since 1991. Seeking a better life for their children, these students’ parents risked their lives to come to the USA—a valiant act of love.

I wanted to tell their story through music and so I asked my sister to have her students write poems about their experiences leaving their home and coming to the USA. I received over 100 poems that contain passion, pride, emotion, and vivid stories of the sights and sounds that these young people have experienced. I sifted through these texts and found the powerful words of 14-year-old Warda Mohamed that became the backbone of the composition.

Using Warda’s poem and two Somali proverbs, “We Can Mend the Sky” is a musical depiction of one’s journey as an immigrant and an affirmation of hope as we all embrace the diversity around us.

A portion of the proceeds from this work will be donated to Ka Joog, a Minnesota-based nonprofit that enriches the lives of Somali-American youth through education, mentoring, employment, and the arts.

[Return to Program]