Caritas Abundat
Text by Hildegard von Bingen, translated by composer Michael John Trotta
Caritas Abundat (Grace Abounds for Everyone) is an energetic reimagining of a timeless text and tune from the twelfth-century poet, composer and philosopher Hildegard von Bingen. This piece marries the chant Caritas Abundat with a text taken from Liber Divinorum Operum (”The Book of Divine Works”), creating an entirely new work that expresses themes of empowerment.
An adapted quotation of the tune is introduced in the violin, then taken up by the choir, treated to a five part canon in the more reflective middle section and finally changes meter for an energetic finish.
Text:
I am the great and fiery force, that breathes life into all things:
I am what awakens and supports life and enkindles all living things
I am the great and fiery force, that breathes life into all things:
Everything in the cosmos is encircled with my wisdom.
I am the beauty in the fields, the force, that moves like a graceful wind
I shine in the waters and burn in the sun, glimmering in the stars.
Caritas abundat in omnia (Grace abounds for everyone)
[Liber Divinorum Operum (The Book of Divine Works), I.I.2]
- Adapted from liner notes by John Michael Trotta, composer
Spes
Text by Nils Aslak Valkeapää; Ecclesiastes 8:1, 8
Spes and doaivu both translate to “hope,” yet they come from vastly different worlds. Spes is Latin - the voice of centuries-old Catholic liturgy - while doaivu springs from Sámi, the language of Lapland’s Indigenous people. For generations these cultures collided as the Christian church sought to silence Sámi animist and shamanic traditions. Violence and erasure followed. Still, both traditions yearned for the same thing: peace. In 2012, the Bishop of Oulu, Finland, publicly asked the Sámi for forgiveness, a humble step toward shared understanding. Hope is born whenever people are humble enough to seek understanding.
- Adapted from liner notes by Mia Makaroff, composer
Text:
Quis talis, ut sapiens est?
Et quis cognovit solutionem rerum?
Biekka oapmi lean
muhto liikká ealán
ja dat lea vissa eallima dárkkuhus
Ealán odne dál ja dás
ja just dat lea madoheapme de in eali sat ihttin
nu ja máid dasto
Non est in hominis potestate
dominari super spiritum
nec cohibere spiritum
nec habet potestatem supra diem mortis
sapientia hominis illuminat vultum eius
et durities faciei illius commutatur
Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
I belong to the wind,
but I live,
maybe that is the meaning of life.
I live here and now...
I won’t be alive tomorrow.
That is the way –
and so what.
As no one has power
over the wind to contain it,
so no one has power
over the time of their death.
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.
Theater of Night
Text by Katy Miller
“At night, silence, stars as deep as memory.”
A mother walks outside and looks at the brilliant night sky, feeling the wind, hearing the crickets and thinking about her son who has deployed. Looking at the stars, she wonders if he looks at those same stars and thinks of her. "Theater of Night" is the second movement of a larger work Theater of Hope that The Saint Louis Women’s Chorale commissioned in honor of service men and women, and the family left behind who love and support them from afar.
Lineage
Text by Margaret Walker
Margaret Walker reflects on the hardships that her ancestors encountered as slaves, and describes their strength and resilience despite the unimaginable trauma they faced every day. Despite the suffering of physical labor, they were able to make “grain grow,” “smelling of soap and onion and wet clay.” The last line of the poem poses the question: “why am I not as strong as they?” The speaker is questioning why she doesn’t have the strength that her ancestors had, most likely because she has not experienced the same trauma they endured.
Text:
My grandmothers were strong.
They followed plows and bent to toil.
They moved through fields sewing seed.
They touched the earth and grain grew.
They were full of sturdiness and singing.
My grandmothers were strong.
My grandmothers are full of memories
Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay
With veins rolling roughly over quick hands
They have many words to say.
My grandmother’s were strong.
Why am I not as they?
Fire
“Fire” is from a set of choral works called Elements that abstractly depict the four classical elements and explore the wide range of capabilities of the human voice. Fire features no 'text” (at least not in the traditional sense), rather a series of syllables generated through improvisation. Singers use body percussion, nasal singing and bold, raw vocal textures to create a sonic experience that’s as fierce as flame itself.
- Adapted from notes by composer Katerina Gimon
By Night
Text adapted from a poem by Harriet Prescott Spofford
“I imagined a dark and mysterious night beckoning a young woman to experience a thrilling adventure. A galloping accompaniment leads the young woman beyond her familiar walls, while the soaring vocal lines depict her breathless discovery of a bold and beautiful new world. Because nature fills me with joy and peace equally, the contrasting middle section invites listeners into a moment of meditation through the ‘beauty born in its Maker’s thought.’ The young woman’s excitement cannot be contained, however, and the music rushes forth once more, painting a cinematic scene of wonder, awe and possibility.”
- Elaine Hagenberg, composer
Text:
Deep in the tarn the mountain
A mighty phantom gleamed!
She leaned out into the midnight,
And the summer wind went by,
The scent of the rose on its silken wing
And a song its sigh.
And in depths below,
the waters answered some mystic height,
As a star stooped out of the depths above
With its lance of light.
And she thought, in the dark and the fragrance,
How vast was the wonder wrought
If the sweet world were but the beauty born
In its Maker’s thought.
A mighty phantom gleamed!
Leadership
Leanne Magnuson Latuda: Executive and Artistic Director
Ruth Stith: Accompanist
Lily Hofer: Administrative Director
Kendra Rains: Rising Administrative Director
Benedetta Orsi: Artistic and Development Manager
Membership
Soprano I
* Marissa R. Dickman
Adrienne Dillon
* Elizabeth Ducey-Moss
Claudia Fallert
Addie Harrelson
Jill Henderson
Lauren Johns
* Meredith Kessler
Bernadette Omri
Judy Rosen
Christy Schmalfeld
Dana Smith
Soprano II
Rachel Anthonis
Rebekah Anthonis
* Samantha Arten
Kara Klette
Amy Maddin
Madison Musgraves
* Tina Sayers
Rita Schien
Mary Wittry
Anne Wieland
Ellen Ziegler
Alto I
Deb Busch
* Journee Carter
Rachel Draskovich
Kaytlin Houghtaling
Christine Lampe
* Benedetta Orsi
Caetlyn Van Buren
Alto II
Leslie Brackett
Lily Hofer
Heidi Hoffman Brown
Suzie Horn
Peggy Pittenger
Kendra Rains
* Principal Artist & Section Leader
STLWC Instrumental Ensemble
Jo Nardolillo, Violin; Max Ludwig, Cello;
Paul Brumleve, Percussion; Anne Stevenson, Percussion