Nightsong V: Darkness & Light

Kevin Kriegel, Artistic Director

Om so hum - Traditional chant

Darkness - Paul Smith (b. 1981)

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless,
And the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air
Morn came and went and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light.

-Lord Byron (George Gordon) (1788-1824)

Lux aeterna - Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) arr. John Cameron (b. 1944)
Written in choral adaptation of Nimrod, the ninth of the Enigma Variations (1898)

Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,
quia pius es.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Let perpetual light shine upon them, O Lord,
with your saints for ever,
for you are merciful.

Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.

-Requiem Mass

Daemon Irrepit Callidus - György Orbán (b. 1947)

Daemon irrrepit callidus,
allicit cor honoribus.
Daemon ponit fraudes,
inter laudes, cantus, saltus.
Quid-quid amabile Daemon dat,
cor Jesu minus aestimat.
Caro venatur sensibus;
sen sus adhaeret dapibus;
Ine scatur, impinguatur dilatatur.
Quid-quid amabile caro dat,
cor Jesu minus aestimat.
Adde mundorum milia,
mille millena gaudia;
quid-quid amabile Totum dat,
cor Jesu minus aestimat.
Cordis aestum non explebunt,
non arcebunt, Daemon!

The Demon sneaks expertly,
tempting the honorable heart.
He offers trickery
amid praise, dance, and song.
However amiably the Demon acts,
it is still worth less than the heart of Jesus.
The flesh is tempted by sensuality;
gluttony clings to our senses;
It overgrows, encroaches, stretches.
However appealing the flesh is,
it is still worth less than the heart of Jesus.
Though the universe may confer,
thousands upon thousands of praises;
however appealing the whole universe is,
it is still worth less than the heart of Jesus.
They neither fulfill nor put out
the desire of the heart, Demon!

-anonymous medieval Goliardic text

Prayer - René Clausen (b. 1953)

Help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only you. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen.

-Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

Nada te turbe - Joan Szymko (b.1957)

Cellist - Eric Miller

Nada te turbe,
nada te espante,
todo se pasa;
Dios no se muda.
La paciencia
todo lo alcanza;
Quien a Dios tiene,
nada le falta;
Solo Dios basta.

Let nothing disturb you,
nothing surprise you,
all things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins everything;
whoever holds onto God
lacks nothing;
God alone is enough.

-Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)

Noche oscura del alma - Carlos Surinach (1915-1997)

En una noche obscura,
con ansias en amores imflamada,
¡oh dichosa uentura!
sali sin ser notada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada.

A escuras y segura,
por la secreta escala disfraçada,
¡oh dichosa uentura!
a escuras y ençelada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada.

En la noche dichosa,
en secreto, que nadie me ueya,
ni yo miraua cosa,
sin otra luz ni guia
sino la que en el coraçon ardia.

Aquesta me guiaua
mas cierto que la luz del mediodia,
adonde me esperaua
quien yo bien me sabia,
en parte donde nadie parecia.

¡Oh noche que me guiaste!
¡oh noche amable mas que el aluorada!,
¡oh noche que juntaste
amado con amada,
amada en el amado transformada!

En mi pecho florido,
que entero para el solo se guardaua,
alli quedo dormido,
y yo le regalaua,
y el ventalle de cedros ayre daua.

El ayre de la almena,
cuando ya sus cabellos esparzia,
con su mano serena
en mi cuello heria,
y todos mis sentidos suspendia.

Quedeme y oluideme,
el rostro recline sobre el amado,
ceso todo, y dexeme,
dexando mi cuidado
entre las açucenas olvidado.

Once in the dark of night,
Inflamed with love and yearning, I arose
(O coming of delight!)
And went, as no one knows,
When all my house lay long in deep repose

All in the dark went right,
Down secret steps, disguised in other clothes,
(O coming of delight!)
In dark when no one knows,
When all my house lay long in deep repose.

And in the luck of night
In secret places where no other spied
I went without my sight
Without a light to guide
Except the heart that lit me from inside.

It guided me and shone
Surer than noonday sunlight over me,
And led me to the one
Whom only I could see
Deep in a place where only we could be.

O guiding dark of night!
O dark of night more darling than the dawn!
O night that can unite
A lover and loved one,
Lover and loved one moved in unison.

And on my flowering breast
Which I had kept for him and him alone
He slept as I caressed
And loved him for my own,
Breathing an air from redolent cedars blown.

And from the castle wall
The wind came down to winnow through his hair
Bidding his fingers fall,
Searing my throat with air
And all my senses were suspended there.

I stayed there to forget.
There on my lover, face to face, I lay.
All ended, and I let
My cares all fall away
Forgotten in the lilies on that day.

-St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Nada te turbe - Jake Runestad (b. 1986)

John Bohman and Benjamin Lebovitz, soloists

-Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)

Unicornis Captivatur - Ola Gjeillo (b.1978)

Unicornis captivatur,
Aule regum presentatur
Venatorum laqueo,
Palo serpens est levatus,
Medicatur sauciatus
Veneno vipereo.

Alleluia canite,
Agno morienti,
Alleluia pangite,
Alleluia promite
Leoni vincenti.

Pellicano vulnerato
Vita redit pro peccato
Nece stratis misera,
Phos fenicis est exusta,
Concremanturque vetusta
Macrocosmi scelera.

Alleluia canite…

Idrus intrat crocodillum,
Extis privat, necat illum,
Vivus inde rediens;
Tris diebus dormitavit
Leo, quem resuscitavit
Basileus rugiens.

Alleluia canite…

The Unicorn is captured,
It’s presented to the royal court
In the hunters’ snare;
Creeping, it freed itself from the pole;
Because it’s wounded, it heals itself
With the viper’s venom.

Sing Alleluia
To the dying lamb;
Sing Alleluia,
Cry Alleluia
To the victorious Lion.

Life returns to the wounded Pelican
After miserable death
In its nest for the sins of the world.
The Phoenix’ light is burnt out,
The ancient sins of the world
Are utterly consumed by flame.

Sing Alleluia…

The Hydra enters the crocodile,
Deprives it of its entrails, kills it,
And comes back alive.
Three days long
the Lion slept till the King
Awakened it with a roar.

Sing Alleluia…

-Anonymous

Alleluia - Ralph Manuel (b. 1951)

Alleluia

Prayer of the Children - Kurt Bestor (b. 1958) arr. Andrea S. Klouse

Can you hear the prayer of the children
on bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room?
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
turning heavenward toward the light.
Cryin' who will help me
to see the mornin' light of one more day,
but if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take.

Can you feel the hearts of the children
aching for home, for something of their very own.
Reaching hands with nothing to hold onto
but hope for a better day, a better day.
Cryin' who will help me
to feel the love again in my own land,
but if unknown roads lead away from home,
give me loving arms, 'way from harm.

Can you hear the voice of the children
softly pleading for silence in their shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
blood of the innocent on their hands.
Cryin' who will, help me
to feel the sun again upon my face?
For when darkness clears, I know you're near,
bringing peace again.

Da li čǔjete sve dječje molitve?

Can you hear the prayer of the children?

-Kurt Bestor

Only In Sleep - Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)

Angela Burisek, soloist

Only in sleep I see their faces,
Children I played with when I was a child,
Louise comes back with her brown hair braided,
Annie with ringlets warm and wild.

Only in sleep Time is forgotten —
What may have come to them, who can know?
Yet we played last night as long ago,
And the doll-house stood at the turn of the stair.

The years had not sharpened their smooth round faces,
I met their eyes and found them mild —
Do they, too, dream of me, I wonder,
And for them am I too a child?

-Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

With a Lily in Your Hand - Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)

With a lily in your hand
I leave you, o my night love!
Little widow of my single star
I find you.
Tamer of dark
butterflies!
I keep along my way.
After a thousand years are gone
you’ll see me,
o my night love!
By the blue footpath,
tamer of dark
stars,
I’ll make my way.
Until the universe
can fit inside
my heart.

-Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936)

Light of a Clear Blue Morning - Dolly Parton (b. 1946) arr. Craig Hella Johnson

Nikki Krenke, soloist
Katie Bultman, Bryn Olson, and Kasey Berger, trio

It's been a long dark night
And I've been a-waiting for the morning
It's been a long hard fight
But I see a brand new day dawning
I've been looking for the sunshine
You know I ain't seen it in so long
But everything's gonna work out just fine
And everything's gonna be all right
That's been all wrong

'Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning
I can see the light of a brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
Oh and everything's gonna be all right
It's gonna be okay

-Dolly Parton