Words from Elaine Hagenberg: When I compose a new piece of music, the original inspiration always arises from the poetry. Each composition begins by carefully studying the words, speaking the rhythms, and listening for melodies that will help to convey a story. I want singers and audiences alike to see themselves inside the music, guided by the melodies and the text as one.
By Night
Music by Elaine Hagenberg
Poetry by Harriet Prescott Spoford
Words are in the order they come in the song
Deep in the tarn the mountain
A mighty phantom gleamed!
She leaned out into the midnight,
And the summer wind went by,
The scent of the rose on its silken wing
And a song its sigh.
And in depths below, the waters
Answered some mystic height.
As a star stooped out of the depths above
With its lance of light.
And she thought, in the dark and the fragrance,
How vast was the wonder wrought
If the sweet world were but the beauty born
In its Maker’s thought.
This stanza not in song
And up from the tarn and its phantom
Wandered her weary glance
Where that star,as the awful ranks wheeled by.
Held its shining Lance.
Illuminare
Music by Elaine Hagenberg
llluminare is Elaine’s first extended work, consisting of five-movements for SATB chorus and chamber orchestra. Using lesser-known sacred Latin texts, the piece takes us through a season of beauty and goodness that has been disrupted by darkness and confusion. But as Light gradually returns, hope is restored, illuminating our future and guiding us in peace.
For more extensive notes, visit her website:
https://www.elainehagenberg.com/compositions/illuminare
1. SPLENDOR
Splendor paternae gloriae,
de luce lucem proferens,
lux lucis et fons luminis,
diem dies illuminans.
Splendor of God's glory,
brings forth light from light,
light of light, light's living spring,
Day, all days illuminates.
- Saint Ambrose (340-397)
2. CARITAS
Caritas abundat in omnia,
de imis excellentissima
super sidera,
atque amantissima in omnia,
Quia summo regi
osculum pacis dedit.
Love abounds in all,
from the depths most excellent
to beyond the stars,
and loving toward all,
she has given the highest king
the kiss of peace
- Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
3. NOX
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
- traditional Greek
Nox et tenebrae et nubila,
confusa mundi et turbida
Caligo terrae scinditur
percussa solis spiculo
Night and darkness and fog,
confused world and turmoil
dark gloom tears the earth
beats and stabs the sun
- Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348-413
4. MUNERA PACIS
Soloist: Taylor Droste
Ecce jam noctis tenuatur umbra,
Lux et auroae rutilans coruscat:
Supplices rerum Dominum canora
Voce precemur:
Ut reos culpae miseratus, omnem
Pellat angorem, tribuat salutem,
Donet et nobis bona sempiternae
Munera pacis.
Behold, already night and shadows taper off
Light and dawn sparkle and quiver
We humbly beg the Lord through song
Our voices pray:
Though we are guilty, view us with compassion Banish anguish, bestow health
Grant us everlasting goodness
Give us peace.
- Pope Gregory (540-604)
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. - John 14:27
5. Illuminare his
Illuminare his qui in tenebris
et in umbra mortis sedent:
ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis.
Illuminate those in darkness
and in the shadow of death are seated
direct our footpath in the way of peace.
- Canticle of Zechariah (Luke 1:68 -79)
Májko, Májko Zelená
By Zdenĕk Lukáš
Movement V from Jaro se otvira
Spring is Coming
Leží, leží, kláda, na tej kladĕ vrána
až ta vrána vzlítne, píšt’alka se svlíkne;
Májko zelená, přes hory doly nesená.
A log is down, is down; there is a crow on the log.
When the crow takes off, the whistle will blow.
A green maypole is carried over the mountains and valleys.
Švec sedí na cestĕ, šije boty nevĕstĕ,
Nevĕsta se raduje, že si boty obuje;
Májko zelená, přes hory doly nesena;
A cobbler is sitting by the road making shoes for a bride.
The bride is rejoicing that she will wear her new shoes.
Maypole, green maypole carried over the mountains and valleys!
Otloukej se, píšt’aličko,
otloukej se, mízo lízo,
kozí pysku, dám ti hrachu plnou misku.
Wear out, whistle;
wear out, miza liza; wear out, goat’s lip;
I will give you a bowl full of green peas.
Houdy, houdy, já do boudy, ona bouda prazdná,
Já do druhy, já do třeti, ona panna krásná
Padavada bam, bam
Howdy, howdy, I to the house; that house is empty.
I go to the second, then to the third; that one has a beautiful girl!
Jaro se otvirá
nový čas nastává
Májko zelená, přes hory doly nesena!
Spring is coming, a new season is starting.
The maypole, a green maypole is carried over the mountains and valleys!
Sing Out, My Soul
By Marques L.A. Garrett
Poetry by William Henry Davies
Songs of Joy (excerpt)
Sing out, my soul, your songs of joy;
Sing as a happy bird will sing
Beneath a rainbow’s lovely arch
In early spring.
Think not of death…
Strive not for gold…
Train up your mind to feel content,
What matters then how low your store?
What we enjoy, and not possess,
Makes rich or poor.
Abendlied, Op 69, no. 3
Music by Joseph Rheinberger
Bleib bei uns,
denn es will Abend werden,
und der Tag hat sich geneiget.
Bide with us,
for evening shadows darken,
and the day will soon be over.
Sure on this Shining Night
Music by Morten Lauridsen
Words by James Agee
Sure on this shining night
Of star made shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
Wand’ring far alone
Of shadows on the stars.
Lamentations of Jeremiah
Music by Z. Randall Stroope
O vos omnes,
Qui transitis per viam,
Si est dolor,
Sicut dolor meus.
O you people,
Who pass this way,
Look and see
If there exists any sorrow.
Recordare Domine
Intuere et respice
Opprobrium nostrum.
Remember, Lord
Consider and notice
Our humiliation and disgrace!