Two mixed choirs; 10 minutes
I was
commissioned
by Soundstreams
to write a piece for double
choir that would feature
the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. I
chose to set A
Cradle Song by
Blake because it nicely juxtaposes the soft nature of a lullaby with
obvious, but indirect references to Christ's death. I then decided to
punctuate certain sentences with a few lines from common latin motets.
Throughout much of the piece, one of the choirs creates a "bed" of sound while the other choir becomes the focus. By the fifth verse, "Sleep, sleep...", the two choirs begin to pass the "bed" back and forth while the sound builds toward "Holy image".
(Full text below)
Throughout much of the piece, one of the choirs creates a "bed" of sound while the other choir becomes the focus. By the fifth verse, "Sleep, sleep...", the two choirs begin to pass the "bed" back and forth while the sound builds toward "Holy image".
(Full text below)
Premiered
November 9, 2003 at the Metropolitan United Church, Toronto.
|
|
Elmer
Iseler Singers,
Lydia Adams, director Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Paul Hillier, director |
Recorded excerpt
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| Commissioned by SoundStreams Canada with grants from the Laidlaw Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts | |
 |
 |
A Cradle Song
from
Songs
of Innocence, 1789
William Blake
Sweet dreams, form a shade
O'er my lovely infant’s head;
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
By happy, silent, moony beams.
Sweet sleep, with soft down
Weave thy brows an infant crown.
Sweet sleep, Angel mild,
Hover o'er my happy child.
Sweet smiles, in the night,
Hover over my delight;
Sweet smiles, Mother’s smiles,
All the livelong night beguiles.
Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
Chase not slumber from thy eyes.
Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,
All the dovelike moans beguiles.
| Sleep,
sleep, happy child, All creation slept and smil'd; Sleep, sleep, happy sleep, While o'er thee thy mother weep. |
|
| [Fac
me tecum pie flere] |
"Make
me loveingly weep with you"
-from
Stabat Mater
|
| Sweet
babe,
in thy face Holy image I can trace. Sweet babe, once like thee, Thy maker lay and wept for me. |
|
| Wept
for me,
for thee, for
all, When He was an in-fant small. Thou his image ever see, Heavenly face that smiles on thee. |
|
| Smiles
on
thee, on me, on
all; Who became an infant small. |
|
| [Vere languores nostros, ipse tultit, | "Truly he alone has borne our weaknesses, |
| et dolores nostros, ipse portavit.] | and he himself has carried our sorrows." |
| Infant smiles are his own smiles; | -from Nocturn of Matins for Maundy Thursday |
| Heaven and earth to peace beguiles. | |
| [Pax
Nobis] |
"Peace
be unto you"
|