Birds of the Psalms by Patricia Van Ness CAPPELLA CLAUSURA: Sopranos: Sarah Moyer, Adriana Repetto, Annie Simon, Janet Stone Altos: Teri Kowiak, Elizabeth Mitchell, Caroline Olsen, Claire Shepro Tenors: Randy McGee, Alexander Nishibun, Peter Schilling, James Williamson Basses: Elijah Blaisdell, Anthony Garza, Ari Nieh, Will Prapestis Director: Amelia LeClair Looking at the Hubbell telescope’s amazing photos of the universe, one cannot help but be struck by the unbelievable beauty of our universe and our relative insignificance in comparison to it: all human beings at some point ask the eternal questions: what is out there, and why are we in it? Mathematicians and musicians have attempted to answer those questions with logic (logos=ratio) and with calculation. On our centuries-spanning journey from Byzantium via England and stopping by woods of Maine, we find similar efforts to express and understand the unknown in the souls of all our composers, male and female be they both. Patricia Van Ness is one in this long line of composers who use the mathematics of music to express the universe: Musica Universalis, or what we call the Music of the Spheres, posited that the sun, moon, and planets revolved around earth in their proportional spheres, which were the same as the ratios of pure musical intervals, creating musical – and universal – harmony. Cicero asked: “What is that great and pleasing sound?” and he answers, “The concord of tones separated by unequal but nevertheless carefully proportional intervals, caused by the rapid motion of the spheres themselves.” Robert R. Reilly, author of Surprised by Beauty, writes: “According to tradition, the harmonic structure of music was discovered by Pythagoras about the fifth century B.C. Pythagoras experimented with a stretched piece of cord. When plucked, the cord sounded a certain note. When halved in length and plucked again, the cord sounded a higher note completely consonant with the first. In fact, it was the same note at a higher pitch. Pythagoras had discovered the ratio, 2:1, of the octave. Further experiments, plucking the string two-thirds of its original length produced a perfect fifth in the ratio of 3:2. When a three-quarters length of cord was plucked, a perfect fourth was sounded in the ratio of 4:3, and so forth…Pythagoras thought that number was the key to the universe. When he found that harmonic music is expressed in exact numerical ratios of whole numbers, he concluded that music was the ordering principle of the world [emphasis mine].” (From “The Music of the Spheres, or the Metaphysics of Music” The Intercollegiate Review —Fall 2001) Aristotle wrote in Metaphysics, that the Pythagoreans “supposed the elements of numbers to be the elements of all things, and the whole heaven to be a musical scale and a number.” Music was number made audible. By making it we participate in the universe. Plato taught that “rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful.” The most perfectly proportioned musical intervals are, in Pythagoras’ order of perfection: the octave, the fifth, and the fourth. When these intervals are sung or played perfectly in tune, the wavelengths are proportional, and thus what we call “in tune” – there are no impeding vibrations, no interferences, the air in the room quiets. Notice, when a violinist tunes her instrument, the arrival of perfection is a quieting of noise, a perfect line of sound. The same is true of voices, even with vibrato. Composers who write for voices and string quartets know that this kind of perfect tuning is available to them because these instruments don’t “temper” the tuning. When music uses a preponderance of perfect intervals in elongated harmonic rhythm, as with accompanied chant, the introduction of notes NOT in proportion, or any harmonic shifts, are that much more arresting. What you’ll hear in most of the music on this recording is spacious, eternally ethereal, gradually shifting perfect intervals that reach deep into our souls and set sympathetic vibrations through our bodies: we respond on a visceral level. The men whose music we’ve added to this program were fortunate in their employment and training: Weelkes at Chichester Cathedral, Purcell at Westminster. Rachmaninoff’s maternal grandmother regularly took him to Russian Orthodox church services when he was a child, where he was first exposed to the liturgical chants and church bells. Tchaikovsky, also familiar with the chant and church bells, wrote for the exercise of it, harmonizing the ancient chant. Over all of this sacred music looms the tremendous figure of the cathedral or the basilica, whose acoustics perforce play a major role in a composer’s aural vision. These great buildings, whose proportional design and immense space were an attempt to explicate and emulate the heavens, insured that anyone standing inside them would feel awed and inspired, humbled, and perhaps even terrified in the true sense of the word. What a space to compose music for! Patricia Van Ness’s Psalms assume the same acoustic, and thrive in it. -Amelia LeClair From the Composer: Patricia Van Ness Several years ago I began a long-term project entitled Music for the Psalms, composing an anthem for each of the 150 passionate prayers in the Book of Psalms. One reason I chose to do this was a desire to come to terms with the often difficult language of the Psalms. I have learned to do so by interpreting the Psalms in both the modern and the historic contexts; for instance using the modern, the “enemy” often mentioned can become internal rather than external, such as a thought within that causes one to fret and lose patience with oneself. War-like “victories” that crush the enemy become the overcoming of these hindrances to happiness aided by the divine; one is then able to thrive and be happy. The theme of Birds of the Psalms is the safety to be found under the divine wings of a bird. In the Psalms and throughout the Bible, birds are generally used in two ways: with the divine depicted as a bird who protects, or with a bird being protected by the divine. Berkeley Professor Robert Alter comments, in his translation of the Psalms, that the references to a sheltering bird in the Bible may have led to the image of a dove as the holy spirit in the Christian tradition, and to the Shekhina by the Jews -- the Semitic root of Shekhina being “to settle, inhabit, or dwell,” often used to refer to birds’ nesting and nests. There are six different Psalms where the sheltering bird appears, and the verses vary only slightly (“Under the shelter of your wings I will trust,” or “In the shadow of your wings I will rejoice”). I used all six of these Psalms in this ten-anthem grouping, setting each in extremely spare, melismatic ways to emphasize them. I wanted the texts to be essentially the same -- that we are protected -- but needed musically to describe that protection in six different ways. This challenged me to explore more complex harmonic structures, inspired by the old church modes and inspired as well by Cappella Clausura’s virtuosic ability. Three more anthems highlight Psalms where birds are sheltered. The final movement, a reprise of the first, uses my text, inspired both by the sheltering texts and my belief that beauty and the divine are one. My deepest appreciation goes to Amelia LeClair and Cappella Clausura for both this commission and live recording. I am delighted with, and marvel at, the beauty of Amelia’s interpretation and the musicians’ virtuosic performance. Thank you! Composer, violinist, and poet Patricia Van Ness draws upon elements of medieval and Renaissance music to create a signature voice that has been hailed by musicians, audiences, and critics. She has been called a modern-day Hildegard von Bingen in Music Web UK with her ability to compose music “ecstatic and ethereal,” “both ancient and new.” As in medieval aesthetics, her music and poetry explore the relationship between beauty and the divine. Patricia Van Ness’s work has had an impact that is both local and global. She is staff composer for First Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Peter Sykes, Music Director) and has been an invited lecturer at Harvard University and Boston University. Her music has been commissioned, premiered, and performed by numerous musicians throughout the world, including The King’s Singers (UK), the Heidelberg New Music Festival Ensemble, Chanticleer, Mannerquartett Schnittpunktvokal (Austria), the Celebrity Series in Boston, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. Her work has been presented in China; in Rome and Assisi in Italy; the Musica Sacra Festival in Maastricht, Holland; Austria, Finland, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Latin America, Canada, Latvia, Russia, and the United States. Ms. Van Ness has received numerous awards and grants, including the 2011 Daniel Pinkham Award from Coro Allegro (David Hodgkins, Artistic Director). Europe’s prestigious 2005 Echo Klassik Prize was awarded to the ensemble Tapestry (Laurie Monahan, Director) for their recording “Sapphire Night,” containing a nine-movement work by Van Ness and music by Hildegard von Bingen; Chamber Music America awarded “Album of the Year” to Tapestry’s The Fourth River, containing two of Van Ness’s works. Ms. Van Ness is currently composing new music for each of the 150 psalms. The texts are in English and Latin using the Hebrew Text, the Psalter and the Liber Usualis. Cappella Clausura was founded by Amelia LeClair in 2004 to research, study and perform the music of women composers. Our twin goals are to bring engaging performances of this music to today’s audiences, and to help bring women composers into the classical canon. Our repertoire extends from the earliest known music by women, written in the middle ages, to the music of our own time. The core of the vocal ensemble is a group of eight-to-twelve singers who perform a cappella, with continuo, and with chamber orchestra, as the repertoire requires. Our singers are accomplished professionals who perform widely as soloists and ensemble musicians in Greater Boston and beyond; likewise, our instrumentalists are drawn from Boston’s superb pool of freelancers. We utilize period or modern instruments when appropriate to the repertoire. BIRDS OF THE PSALMS - texts: Movement 1 Psalm 91 (You are My Refuge and My Stronghold) You are my refuge and my stronghold, it is you in whom I put my trust; You shall cover me with your pinions, and I shall find refuge under your wings. Movement 2 Psalm 55 (My Heart Quakes) women 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.” Movement 3 Psalm 17 (Keep Me as the Apple of Your Eye) Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings. Movement 4 Psalm 104 (Birds of the Air) soli: Repetto, Simon Beside your springs the birds of the air make their nests And sing among the branches. Movement 5 Psalm 57 (In te confidit anima mea / I Have Taken Refuge in You) men; soli: Williamson, Blaisdell, Prapestis In te confidit anima mea, et in umbra alarum tuarum sperabo Donec transeat iniquitas (I have taken refuge in you, in the shadow of your wings will I hope Until this time of trouble has gone by.) Movement 6 Psalm 63 (I Seek You) I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, as in a barren and dry land, For your loving kindness is better than life itself. You have been my helper, and under the shelter of your wing I will rejoice. Movement 7 Psalm 148 (Creeping Things and Winged Birds) Halleluia! Halleluia! Sun and moon, all you shining stars And heav’n of heav’ns praise you. Halleluia! Fire and hail and snow and fog and wind praise you. Wild, wild beasts, cows and sheep and little lambs, Creeping things, and all winged birds praise you. Halleluia. Amen. Movement 8 Psalm 61 (I Will Dwell in Your House Forever) I will dwell in your house forever, Protegar in velamento alarum tuarum (I will be protected under the cover of your wings.) Amen. Movement 9 Psalm 36 (How Priceless is Your Love) How priceless is your love, I take refuge under the shadow of your wings. Movement 10 Beauty Flew to Me - Text by Patricia Van Ness In the green-clad, quiet twilight, beauty flew to me, and I awakened thrice: to it, to love, to hope. Deep, deep below, a slow chant sings as I breathe sweet air, under the shelter of your wing. Svete Tihiy–Kievan Chant (Gentle Light) Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) English: Vladimir Morosan Alliluya, alliluya, alliluya, slava Tebe, Bozhe. Svete tihiy sviatiya sIav Bessmertnago, Ottsa Nebesnago, Sviatago, Blazhennago, Iisuse Hiriste. Prishedshe na zapad solntsa, videvshe svet vecherniy, poyem Ottsa, Sina i Sviatago Duha, Boga. Dostoin yesi vo fsia vremena pet biti glasi prepodobnimi, Sine Bozhiy, zhivot dayay, temzhe mir Tia slavit. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Glory to Thee, O God! O gladsome light, Of the holy glory Of the Immortal One, The Heavenly Father, Holy and blessed, O Jesus Christ! Now that we have come to the setting of the sun And behold the light of evening, We praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: God. Thou art worthy at every moment To be praised in hymns by reverent voices. O Son of God, Thou art the Giver of Life; Therefore all the world glorifies Thee. Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda (Bless the Lord, O My Soul) Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) English: Leonard Ellinwood and Wayne Shirley; solo: Caroline Olsen Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda, blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi. Ghospodi Bozhe moy, vozvelichilsia yesi zelo. Blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi. Vo ispovedaniye i v velelepotu obleklsia yesi. Blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi. Na gorah stanut vodi. Divna dela Tvoya, Ghospodi. Posrede gor proydut vodi. Divna dela Tvoya, Ghospodi. Fsia premudrostiyu sotvoril yesi. Slava Ti, Ghospodi, sotvorishemu fsia. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Blessed art thou, O Lord my God. O Lord my God, thou art become exceedingly glorious. Blessed art thou, O Lord my God. Thou art clothed with majesty and honor. Blessed art thou, O Lord my God. The waters stood above the mountains; Marvelous are thy works, O Lord. Among the hills flow the waters; Marvelous are thy works, O Lord. In wisdom hast thou made them all. Glory to thee, O Lord, who has made them all. Blazhen muzh (Blessed is the Man) - Sergei Rachmaninoff English: Vladimir Morosan Blazhen muzh, izhe ne ide na sovet nechestivih. Alliluya, alliluya, alliluya. Yako vest Ghospod put pravednih, i put nechestivih pogibnet. Alliluya... Rabotayte Ghospodevi so strahom, i raduytesia Yemu s trepetom. Alliluya... Blazheni fsi nadeyushchiisia nan. Alliluya... Voskresni, Ghospodi, spasi mia, Bozhe moy. Alliluya... Ghospodne yest spaseniye, i na liudeh Tvoih blagosloveniye Tvoye. Alliluya... Slava Ottsu, i Sinu, i Sviatomu Duhu, i nine i prisno i vo veki vekov. Amin. Blessed is the man, who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. Alleluia... Serve the Lord with fear And rejoice in Him with trembling. Alleluia... Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! Alleluia... Salvation is of the Lord And Thy blessing is upon Thy people. Alleluia... Glory to the Father and to the Son And to the Holy Spirit, Both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Hear My Prayer - Henry Purcell (1659–1695) (Psalm 102, The Book of Common Prayer) Hear my prayer, O Lord, And let my crying come unto thee. When David Heard - Thomas Weelkes (1576–1623) 2 Samuel 18:33 When David heard that Absalom was slain He went up into his chamber over the gate and wept, And thus he said: “My son, my son, O Absalom, my son, would God I had died for thee!” Leaving the Wealth of Her Family - Kassia (c. 810 - 867) English Translation: Antonia Tripolitis Leaving the wealth of her family And longing sincerely for Christ, The martyr found heavenly glory and riches, And totally shielded with the armor of faith And the weapons of the cross, trampled the oppressor. Therefore angels, amazed at her struggles, said: “The enemy has fallen, defeated by a woman; The martyr, crowned, was lifted upward, And Christ reigns as God to all eternity, Who gives to the world His great mercy.” Recorded live in concerts May 2016 at Lindsey Chapel of Emmanuel Church, Boston, and at Eliot Church in Newton. Recorded and mixed by Hiroaki Honshuku, A-NO-NE Music, Cambridge, MA, USA, with Metric Halo ULN-8. Mastered by John Weston, Futura Productions, Roslindale, MA. Produced by Cappella Clausura and Amelia LeClair. © Cappella Clausura, Inc. 2016