Richmond Symphony
Chorus Director
James Erb Choral Chair
Richard W. Robbins is Director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus. His choirs have been praised as “moving” (Houston Chronicle) and “powerful” (Duluth News Tribune), with performances broadcast nationally on American Public Media’s Pipedreams.
He has served as chorus master for the Opera Festival of Chicago, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, and Houston Ballet, and as assistant director of the Houston Symphony Chorus, preparing ensembles for Christoph Eschenbach, Hans Graf, Ermanno Florio, and others.
A former university professor and frequent guest conductor and clinician, Robbins has worked with ensembles throughout the United States and internationally. He also serves as Minister of Music at River Road Church and as a choral editor for OCP. To learn more, visit richmondsymphony.com.
I. Prelude
[wordless]
II. in medio / in the midst
[Zechariah 13:6, as quoted by Buxtehude,
adapted by Caroline Shaw]
quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum
quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum nostrarum
translation:
what are those wounds in the midst of your hands
what are those wounds in the midst of our hands
III. Her beacon-hand beckons
[text by CS, responding to the 1883 sonnet
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus,
which was mounted on the pedestal of
the Statue of Liberty in 1903]
Her beacon-hand beckons:
give
give to me
those yearning to breathe free
tempest-tossed they cannot see
what lies beyond the olive tree
whose branch was lost amid the pleas
for mercy,
give
give to me
your tired fighters fleeing flying
from the
let them
i will be your refuge
i will be
we will be
we will
IV. ever ever ever
[text by CS — the final line is from the
Song of Songs, in foraminibus petrae,
in caverna maceriae,
or “in the clefts of the rock,
in the hollow of the cliff”,
as quoted by Buxtehude]
ever ever ever
in the window sills or
the beveled edges
of the aging wooden frames that hold
old photographs
hands folded
folded
gently in her lap
ever ever
in the crevices
the never-ending efforts of
the grandmother’s tendons tending
to her bread and empty chairs
left for Elijah
where are they now
in caverna
V. Litany of the Displaced
The choir speaks global figures of internal displacement, sourcedfrom the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (http://www.internal-displacement.org/global-figures —accessed in 2016). The numbers spoken are the numbers of internally displaced persons by country, in ascending order. These are people, some of whom may have legal refugee status,who have been displaced within their own country due to armed conflict, situations of generalized violence or violations of human rights.
VI. i will hold you
[ text by CS — The final line is a reprise from the Zechariah text.]
i would hold you
ever ever will i hold you
ever ever will i enfold you
in medio manuum tuarum
Libretto: William Plomer
Concord is here
Our days to bless
And this our land to endue
With plenty, peace and happiness.
Concord and Time,
Each needeth each:
The ripest fruit hangs where
Not one, but only two can reach.
The Promise of Living
Aaron Copland
Libretto: Horace Everett (Erik Johns)
The promise of living with hope and thanksgiving
Ils born of our loving our friends and our labor.
The promise of growing with faith and with knowing
Ils born of our sharing our love with our neighbor.
The promise of living, the promise of growing
Is born of our singing in joy and thanksgiving.
For many a year we’ve known these fields
And known all the work that makes them yield.
Are you ready to lend a hand?
We’re ready to work, we’re ready to lend a hand.
By working together we’ll bring in the harvest.
We plant each row with seeds of grain,
And Providence sends us the sun and the rain,
By lending a hand, by lending and arm,
Bring in from the land, bring out from the farm,
Bring out the blessings of harvest.
Give thanks there was sunshine, give thanks there was rain.
Give thanks we have hands to deliver the grain.,
O let us be joyful, O let us be grateful,
Lord for His blessing.
O let us sing our song, and let our song be heard.
Let’s sing our song with our hearts, and find a promise in that song.
The promise of ending in right understanding
Ils peace in our own hearts and peace with our neighbor.
The promise of living, the promise of growing,
The promise of ending is labor and sharing and loving.
