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Friday 23 june 8 PM lorelei ensemble Beth Willer, Artistic Director Sarah Brailey, soprano Molly Netter, soprano Sonja Tengblad, soprano Sophie Michaux, mezzo-soprano Christina English, mezzo-soprano Megan Roth, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Kacoyanis, alto Emily Marvosh, alto Pre-concert talk with Gillian Hurst, 7 PM GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY GARTH AND LINDSAY GREIMANN PORTUM IN ULTIMO Idem Ato Codex Calixtinus (ca. 1160-1173, Spain) RITE MAJOREM JACOBUM CANAMUS ARTIBUS Guillaume Du Fay (1397-1474) QUI PATRIS ATRIS HONORIS/PARACLITE SPIRITUS Torino Manuscript (Cyprus, 15 c.) Torino: Biblioteca Nazionale s.J.11.9 POUR CE QU POINT FU DE LA AMERE ESPINE / A TOI VIERGE ME REPRESENTE Torino Manuscript O PROLES HISPANIAE / O SIDUS HISPANIAE Guillaume Du Fay APOSTOLO GLORIOSO Guillaume Du Fay LOVE FAIL EXCERPTS David Lang (b. 1957) I live in pain head, heart break #3 TSUKIMI* Peter Gilbert (b. 1975) :: intermission :: Festival Corporate Partner The program continues on the next page 36TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 49 WEEK 4 the program AFRICA William Billings (1746-1800) VERMONT Dana Maiben (b. 1954) SARO* Joshua Shank (b. 1980) RECONSTRUCTED* Joshua Bornfield (b.1980) Wrath (Battle Hymn of the Republic) Brother, Sister, Mourner (Amazing Grace) INMAN Adam Jacob Simon (b. 1987) RECONSTRUCTED* Joshua Bornfield Salvation (Song to the Lamb) *Commissioned by Lorelei Ensemble, 2014 Please hold applause until the indicated breaks in the program. Excerpted from an essay by Beth Willer, Lorelei Ensemble Founder and Artistic Director Notes on the program by Beth Willer PORTUM IN ULTIMO Idem Ato Codex Calixtinus (ca. 1160-1173, Spain) Among the longest standing pilgrimage routes in the Western world is the “Camino de Compostela” or “Way of Saint James.” The Codex Calixtinus (or Liber Sancti Jacobi/Book of St. James) was compiled circa 1160-1175 as a guide for pilgrims travelling the route across northern Spain to the Cathedral at Compostela. The fifth and final volume of the collection, “The Guide of the Medieval Pilgrim” includes ethnographic accounts of the communities along the Way, as well as some of the earliest examples of notated polyphony, such as “Portum in ultimo.” This collection, utilizing early rhythmic notation, points the way to the thirteenth-century polyphony of Leonin and Perotin at the Notre Dame Cathedral, less than a century later. IMPERMANENCE The first half of Lorelei’s concert program combines ancient and contemporary repertoires, and Eastern and Western philosophy and tradition. Each work connects to concepts of pilgrimage and (im)migration—the movement of peoples—and the Buddhist concept of impermanence. –Beth Willer, Lorelei Ensemble Founder and Artistic Director April 2017 50 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM RITE MAJOREM JACOBUM CANAMUS ARTIBUS Guillaume Du Fay (1397-1474) In the fifteenth century, Guillaume Du Fay composed his grand isorhythmic motet “Rite Majorem Jacobum canamus artibus” for the “cult of St. James” travelers to the Cathedral at Compostela. The dualtexted motet, intended as a “send off” for pilgrims departing on that great journey, was stylistically old-fashioned for its time. QUI PATRIS ATRIS HONORIS/PARACLITE SPIRITUS POUR CE QU POINT FU DE LA AMERE ESPINE / A TOI VIERGE ME REPRESENTE Torino Manuscript (Cyprus, 15 c.); Biblioteca Nazionale s.J.11.9 These two anonymous motets from the Torino Manuscript demonstrate the subtle variation of a genre that develops simultaneously across geographical barriers. “Qui patris atris honoris” and “Pour ce que point fu de la amere espine” were composed between 1413-1422 at the French court on Cyprus during the reign of King Janus. They are related in style to the slightly later works of Du Fay. The works from the Torino Manuscript possess a unique brilliance and an occasional peculiarity—for example, a number of full triads, particularly at internal cadences. This was a sonority becoming more popular in English polyphony of the same period. The un-texted lower parts were most likely performed on instruments, but tonight we deliver these works in a purely vocal texture. Detail of a fifteenth-century depiction of the Renaissance Flemish composer Guillaume Du Fay (1397-1474) O PROLES HISPANIAE / O SIDUS HISPANIAE APOSTOLO GLORIOSO Guillaume Du Fay Du Fay continued to compose in his “archaic” style, as exemplified in “Apostolo Glorioso,” alongside the composition of his more modern “cantilena” motets, such as “O proles Hispaniae/O sidus Hispaniae.” These latter were known for their rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic flexibility and freedom, unencumbered by a pre-existing cantus firmus, and obligated to no recurring pattern of pitch or rhythm. The resulting music is highly expressive. LOVE FAIL EXCERPTS David Lang (b. 1957) I live in pain head, heart break #3 David Lang’s Love Fail is a concert-length work, recounting the story of Tristan and Isolde. He has described his motivation to intertwine multiple tellings of that great love story: I thought I might learn something about love if I could explore this in a piece, putting details abstracted from many different retellings of Tristan and Isolde next to texts that are more modern, more recognizable to us, more real. The texts of these three excerpts from Love Fail derive from a variety of sources: “I live in pain” from a twelfth-century female troubadour, Comtessa de Dia; “head, heart” from the contemporary American poet Lydia Davis; and “break #3” an excerpt from the Yom Kippur liturgy after Thomas of Britain. These three movements serve as the emotional and musical core of the extended work, expressing simple yet deep emotions of hurt, loss, and strength. Each grapples with the limitations of human understanding. The composer’s minimalist language leaves these striking texts bare and exposed, honest and vulnerable—punctuated by poignant silences that invite emotional participation and personal meditation. 36TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 51 TSUKIMI Peter Gilbert (b. 1975) Notes on the program by Beth Willer (Commissioned by Lorelei Ensemble, 2014) Peter Gilbert’s Tsukimi (“Moon Viewing”), weaves together Japanese waka poetry and unrecognizable melodies drawn from the Torino Manuscript. Gilbert vividly paints each miniature text with distinct texture. Sinuous melodies, pointillist gestures, bent pitches (quarter-tones and glissandi), improvisatory rhythm, and dynamic pitch collections work together to create an ever-evolving texture. Each of the eight movements features a different soloist in the ensemble, dependent upon their individual artistry to shape the text. AFRICA William Billings (1746-1800) William Billings and his colonial contemporaries sought a new American style that was distinct from Western classical models. Contention is heard in the raw harmonic language and reckless voice-leading of his hymns and anthems. Billings’s extensive output primarily utilizes texts of his contemporaries—local poets (particularly the fiery words of evangelist Isaac Watts, credited with 750 hymns), alterations of biblical verse in the vernacular, and even his own poetry. Through the publication of six collections in this new “American” style, Billings showed his commitment to the cultivation of a vibrant culture of group singing in America. Händel-ian figures and imitative textures in his “fuguing tunes” subtly bow to European tradition, while the texts, notation, and performance practices RECONSTRUCTED (voluntary octave doubling, free folk-like ornamentation, and strident vocal production) were wholly contemporary. Living in Boston, and working The second half of Lorelei’s program includes excerpts from its recent alongside figures such Samuel Adams and Paul Revere (Revere engraved album, Reconstructed: A New Americana. Billings’s New England Psalm Singer in 1770), Billings was driven by both To define an “American” aesthetic, or philosophy and place. Qualities of optimism and resilience in American any national aesthetic for that matter, music certainly found their roots here, among revolutionaries. is to bind our artistry to a place and its people. Seeking personal identity within a specific reality or community is particularly hard to pin down with any certainty in a nation of increasing diversity. What remains constant in American musical language is a certain melodic optimism caught amidst harmonic and/or rhythmic contention. There is inherently a struggle, most often dressed in sentiments of revolution, defiance, or victory. The thread of migration and impermanence remains, as early-American and contemporary works alike tell and re-tell the story of a rebellious and fearless nation of immigrants, founded on principle of liberty and justice for all. –Beth Willer, Lorelei Ensemble Founder and Artistic Director April 2017 52 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM VERMONT Dana Maiben (b. 1954) Contemporary “shape-note” tunes on this program by Adam Jacob Simon (“Inman”) and Dana Maiben (“Vermont”), are rooted in this early musical tradition as preserved by Northern Harmony—a contemporary ensemble based in Vermont. Maiben’s optimistic tune adopts the progressive spiritual voice of Emily Dickinson, and is arranged here for Lorelei from its original SATB version. SARO Joshua Shank (b. 1980) (Commissioned by Lorelei Ensemble, 2014) “Saro” is Joshua Shank’s setting of the English folk tune “Pretty Saro,” thought to have originated in the 1700s and “rediscovered” in the Appalachian Mountains in the early 20th century. Its lyrics have been altered, but the subject remains: love lost through separation. The composer has written: Singers would often tailor their renditions to local customs or their own life experiences and, in the various interpretations of the story, there are many different descriptions of who Saro is. Sometimes she is a sister, sometimes she is lover. [The singer]—be it man or woman—has lost a love which sustained them in an incredibly profound way…[The tune suggests to me] the experience of a person immigrating to the United States and what it must have been like for them to leave someone they loved thousands of miles away…from immigrants processing through Ellis Island in 1905 to a Hispanic boy in 2014 wearing a t-shirt that says “Don’t Deport My Mom,” it’s clear that sometimes things still don't go the way we want them to. In this moment, our lives are defined by one heartbreaking event: saying goodbye. Cover of sheet music for the 1882 publication of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” RECONSTRUCTED Joshua Bornfield (b.1980) Wrath (Battle Hymn of the Republic) Brother, Sister, Mourner (Amazing Grace) (Commissioned by Lorelei Ensemble, 2014) Joshua Bornfield’s Reconstructed is a stirring and progressive contemporary statement, based on five explicitly sacred tunes: three from the 19th century Sacred Harp songbook (“Mercy Seat,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Song to the Lamb”), and two popularized during the Tent Revival movement in the Reconstruction era. Bornfield preserves the historical context of these tunes and texts, while opening them up to modern perspective. “Wrath,” drawn from Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” intentionally lacks the chorus (“Glory, glory, hallelujah!”). We are left with simple philosophy and the glorification of war. “Brother, Sister, Mourner” comes from a version of “Amazing Grace” written by R.F.M. Mann. INMAN Adam Jacob Simon (b. 1987) Like “Vermont,” “Inman” is a contemporary shape-note tune, set by Adam Jacob Simon to a poem by Isaac Watts. His contemporary, simple harmonies are subtly stirring. RECONSTRUCTED Joshua Bornfield Salvation (Song to the Lamb) “Salvation,” is the movement that owes the most to its source material (“Song to the Lamb,” author unknown). Though its text has connections with the Agnus Dei [Lamb of God], the closing line of the last verse is passive, opting for personal evangelical fulfillment rather than asking heaven to provide a communal blessing. “Salvation” makes no attempt to undermine the listener’s expectation for what ought to happen, except that the tension generated at the end of the piece is not released within its own confines. The listeners must resolve that tension by themselves. 36TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 53