ARCHIVE OF PAST SEASONS
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
Photo: Eric Antoniou
Singers' Choice Translations
"Duo Seraphim"
Composed by Caterina Assandra
Selected by Francesco Logozzo
Duo Seraphim,
clamabant alter ad alterum:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Plena est omnis terra gloria eius.
Tres sunt qui testimonium dant in coelo:
Pater, Verbum et Spiritus Sanctus
et hi tres unum sunt.
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Plena est omnis terra gloria eius.
Two seraphim
shouted one after another:
“Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God of Hosts
All earth is filled with his glory
“There are three who give witness in heaven:
The Father, The Word, and The Holy Spirit
and these three are one.
“Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God of Hosts
All earth is filled with his glory.”
"Ave Regina Coelorum"
Composed by Isabella Leonarda
Selected by Ashley Mulcahy
Ave Regina coelorum, ave,
Domina Angelorum;
salve, radix, salve, porta,
ex qua mundo lux est orta;
Gaude, Virgo gloriosa,
Super omnes speciosa.
Vale, o valde decora,
et pro nobis Christum exora.
Hail, Queen of Heaven!
Hail Mistress of Angels!
Hail, root, hail portal, from which the
Light for the world has risen.
Rejoice, glorious matchless virgin,
Virgin, beautiful above all others.
Farewell, most lovely one,
and pray for us to Christ.
"Psalm 46:1"
Composed by Suzanne Sheppard
Selected by Lisa Hadley
O God, my refuge, O God my strength, an ever present help in trouble.
"Amics"
Composed by Be Steadwell
Selected by Frankie Campofelice
Amics, s'ie.us trobes avinen
Humil e franc e de bona merce,
Be.us amera, quan era m'en sove. Que.us trob vas mi mal e fellon e tric.
Friend, if you had shown consideration, meekness, candor and humility
I'd have loved you without hesitation.
But you were mean and sly and villainous.
I don’t know why you’re always on my mind, while I still sing your praises far and
wide. And if I die, you’ll be the one to blame while I still go on loving you from my grave.
"Nod"
Composed by Florence Price
Text by Walter de la Mere
Selected by Connor Vigeant
Softly along the road of evening,
In a twilight dim with rose,
Wrinkled with age, and drenched with dew,
Old Nod, the shepherd, goes.
His drowsy flock streams on before him,
Their fleeces charged with gold,
To where the sun’s last beam leans low
On Nod the shepherd’s fold.
The hedge is quick and green with briar, the cronies creep;
and all the birds that fly in heav’n flock singing home to sleep.
His lambs outnumber a noon’s roses,
Yet, when night’s shadows fall,
His blind old sheep dog “Slumber Soon”,
Misses not one of all.
His are the quiet steps of dreamland,
The waters of no more pain,
His ram’s bell rings ‘neath an arch of stars,
“Rest, rest and rest again, rest”.
"Freedom" (World Premiere Performance)
Composed by Augusta Read Thomas
Selected by Nathan Halbur
I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.
– Rosa Parks
Only from the heart can you touch the sky. Love calls – everywhere and always. We’re sky bound.
–Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmi
"Contemplations 8, 9"
Composed by Hilary Tann
Selected by Adriana Repetto
Silent, alone, where none or saw, or heard,
In pathless paths I lead my wand’ring feet,
My humble eyes to lofty skies I reared
To sing some song, my mazed Muse thought meet.
My great Creator I would magnify,
That nature had thus decked liberally;
But Ah, and Ah, again, my imbecility!
Laudate Dominum de caelis
Laudate eum in excelsis
[Praise the Lord of heaven, praise him in the highest]
I heard the merry grasshopper then sing.
The black-clad cricket bear a second part;
They kept one tune and played on the same string,
Seeming to glory in their little art.
Shall creatures abject thus their voices raise
And in their kind resound their Maker’s praise,
Whilst I, as mute, can warble forth no higher lays?
Laudate eum omnes angeli eius: laudate eum omnes virtutes eius.
Praise ye him, all his angels.
"Psalm 55"
Composed by Patricia Van Ness
Selected by Shannon Larkin
My heart quakes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
And I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
Had it been an enemy who was against me, I could have hidden from him.
But it was you, my own companion, my guide. I said,
“Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest."
"Mater Dei"
Composed by Sarah Rimkus
Selected by Janet Stone
Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum;
benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria,
Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and
at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Mother of God
The threefold terror of love;
a fallen flare Through the hollow of an ear;
Wings beating about the room;
The terror of all terrors that I bore
The Heavens in my womb.
Had I not found content among the shows
Every common woman knows,
Chimney corner, garden walk,
Or rocky cistern where we tread the clothes
And gather all the talk?
What is this flesh I purchased with my pains,
This fallen star my milk sustains,
This love that makes my heart's blood stop
Or strikes a sudden chill into my bones
And bids my hair stand up?
-W. B. Yeats
– INTERMISSION –
"Lockung"
Composed by Fanny Hensel
Selected by Thomas Valle-Hoag
Hörst du nicht die Bäume rauschen
Draußen durch die stille Rund?
Lockt‘s dich nicht, hinabzulauschen
Von dem Söller in den Grund,
Wo die vielen Bäche gehen
Wunderbar im Mondenschein
Und die stillen Burgen sehen
In den Fluß vom hohen Stein?
Kennst du noch die irren Lieder
Aus der alten, schönen Zeit?
Sie erwachen alle wieder
Nachts in Waldeseinsamkeit,
Wenn die Bäume träumend lauschen
Und der Flieder duftet schwül
Und im Fluß die Nixen rauschen
Komm herab, hier ist's so kühl.
Dost thou hear the trees that rustle
Through the soft and quiet air?
Wouldst thou forth, with joy to wander,
Now that night is still and fair?
Where the many streamlets round thee
Wondrous in the moonlight flow,
While the silent hills look downward
O'er the gleaming plain below.
Canst thou hear the songs entrancing,
Known when bye-gone days were bright?
Songs that wake once more to music,
In the lonely woods at night,
When the trees in slumber hearken,
And the lilac's scent is full;
When the water-fairies whisper,
Come to us, where waves are cool.
"Philomela"
Composed by Rebecca Clarke
From Sir Philip Sidney
Selected by Tony Garza
The Nightingale, as soon as April bringeth
Unto her rested sense a perfect waking,
While late-bare Earth, proud of new clothing, springeth,
Sings out her woes, a thorn her song-book making;
And mournfully bewailing, Her throat in tunes expresseth
What grief her breast oppresseth, For Tereus’ force on her chaste will prevailing.
O Philomela fair, O take some gladness That here is juster cause of plaintful sadness!
Thine earth now springs, mine fadeth; Thy thorn without, my thorn my heart invadeth.
Alas! she hath no other cause of anguish.
But Tereus’ love, on her by strong hand wroken;
Wherein she suffering, all her spirits languish,
Full womanlike complains her will was broken But I, who, daily craving,
Cannot have to content me, Have more cause to lament me,
Since wanting is more woe than too much having.
O Philomela fair, O take some gladness
That here is juster cause of plaintful sadness! Thine earth now springs, mine fadeth;
Thy thorn without, my thorn my heart invadeth.
"Wellspring"
Composed by Hilary Tann
Text by Menna Elfyn
Selected by Lisa Bloom
Dwr, dwr, dw, dw,
We seek the well that is open
Clear crystal, full and flowing,
Dale and down will taste the essence of water –
Dwr, dwr, water, water.
Spring, spring the bright well, round drops from roots.
Hazelrod in hand we call out Dwr, dwr,
Dwr, dwr, water water.
I am earth, says the solid ground, seasons dance through me,
Rise up, show us your secret.
Dwr, dwr, water, water.
Dance through me.
Today the well has open’d,
(Heddiw’r ffynnon a agorwyd,)
Clear crystal, full and flowing.
The veins of the earth wash away all sorrow –
dwr, dwr, water, water.
"Yemaya"
Arranged by Daian V. Sáez
Selected by Carolina Flores
Yemayá Asesu, Asesu Yemayá, Yemayá Olodo, Olodo Yemayá
"Begi Urdin"
Composed by Eva Ugalde
Selected by Carolina Flores
Begi-urdin, bilo-ori , zoragarria;
gorputz ttiki, gerri polit, paregabea;
elhurra bezain xuri da zure larrua,
arrosa bezain gorri begi bitartea:
zoraturik deraukazu mundu guzia
¿Ez ote zait zilhegi zuri erraitea?
–¿Jinen niza, bai ala ez, zure ikustera?
–Bai jiten alzira hunat, ene maitea.
–Zurekin nahi nuke eraman bizia,
nere izerdiz egin zuretzat ogia.
–Zatoz fite, leia zite, zu zaitut nere;
ni hola ere ni ez nauke zu ikusi gabe.
Blue eyes, blond hair, charming,
Small body, pretty waist, incomparable.
Your skin is as white as snow,
Face as red as a rose:
You've got the whole world crazy
Isn’t it right for me to tell you?
–Will I come, yes or no, to see you?
–Yes, you can come here, my love.
–I would like to spend my life with you,
Knead bread for you with my sweat.
Come quickly, hurry, you are mine;
I cannot do without seeing you.
"Ccollanan María"
Composed by Gabriela Lena Frank
Selected by Amelia LeClair
Ccollanan Maria
Akuchinaya tushuknaya
Santa Maria (Ay!)
Chayamushkana.
(O!) Vamos a bailar,
(O!) La virgen Maria
(O!) Ya llegó.
(O!) Chayamushkana.
Aparispana ishpinquta
Manchu tantalla (Ay!)
Aparmurqanchi.
(O!) Cargando pájaros
que hemos traído
(O!) juntos.
(O!) Aparmurqanchi.
Watuchaspana butillata
Uqyananchikpa (Ay!)
Tragullatana.
Con nuestra botella
Anudada en los hombros,
Para tomar nuestro traguito.
Ccollanan Maria! (Ay!)
Holy Mary
Let’s go and dance
Saint Mary (Ay!)
Has already arrived
(O!) Let’s go and dance,
(O!) The Virgin Mary
(O!) has already arrived.
(O!) She has already arrived.
Carrying birds
That we have brought (Ay!)
Together.
(O!) Carrying birds
that we have brought
(O!) together
(O!) together
With our bottle
Tied to our shoulders (Ay!)
To bring a bit of drink.
With our bottle
Tied to our shoulders
To bring a bit of drink.
Holy Mary! (Ay!)