Ghanaian ceremonial drumming Ethan Harris, drummer
Praise, Praise, Praise the Lord arr. Ralph Johnson
Praise, Praise, Praise the Lord is a processional song from Cameroon in western Africa. It was collected by Elaine Hanson, an American Lutheran missionary who spent eleven years in Cameroon and was a member of Femmes pour Christ (Women for Christ). Traditionally this song is used by the women at communion.
O Sifuni Mungu David Maddux et al., arr. Roger Emerson
Aaron Nigel Smith, Tenor
| Viumbe vyo te vya Mungu wetu na Mfal me wetu, Pazeni sauti ilinasi mwimbe. Watu wote, viumbe vyote, awaye yote sifu Mungu. Imbeni! |
All creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and sing with us. All men, all creatures, everybody praise God. Sing! |
O Sifuni Mungu (All Creatures of Our God and King) is a Swahili version of the text by St Francis of Assisi (1225). It is an exciting blend of east African traditional and popular song. This song is led by a soloist in the "call and response" tradition. Today’s performance is accompanied by a variety of African percussion instruments, including congas, gourds, and shakers.
Ye Ke m Mi arr. Leonard de Paur
Aaron Nigel Smith, Tenor
| Ye ke m mi, m mi Ye ke Oto m mi, m mi oto. Mi ni iya r", Kulumbu yeye, yeye kulumbu, " mi ni iyar" ’ kp"bo mi m g" g"bi irawo ti kp" b’oÕukpa |
Sleep now, my babies, my babies, sleep now. And mother will hold you so close, my babies. Hush now, my babies, my babies, hush now. And father will keep you, so safe, my babies. Sweet dreams, my babies, my babies, sweet dreams. |
Wah Gee Tee Bee arr. Agnes Nebo
Aaron Nigel Smith, Tenor
Dan Franks, flute
Harry Harris, guitar
Steve Stump, marimba
The Liberian dance song
Wah Gee Tee Bee is an example of the new dance-type song in west Africa known as "high life". The instruments (piano, guitar, flute, marimba, and melodica) are common on the west coast. The song tells the story of a popular girl arriving in town, and everyone tries to win her favor. In the song are mentioned the various areas of Liberia from which they come to greet her. Again, the soloist sings a call to which the choir responds ("call and response").ASIA & RUSSIA
Suliram arr. Robert De Cormier
Dan Franks, flute
Harry Harris, guitar
Barbara Miller, finger cymbals
|
Suliram yang manis aduhai indung suhoorang bidjakla sana dipandang manis tingi la tingi, si matahari anakla koorbau mati toortambat. sudala lama saiya menchari baru seklarung saiya mendabat. |
Close your eyes, sleep, my child, High above the silvery stars go by, Oh, sleep my baby, and hush you bye. May all your dreaming be peaceful and bright, And may you sleep till the sky fills with light. The morning sunshine will chase away the night, Till then, my darling, oh, close your eyes, sleep tight. |
Suliram
is a traditional Indonesian lullaby. The English text is by Louise Dobbs.E:"&@F:&4,
<":@,E:"&"
& &ZT>4N #@(J,Slavoslovyie maloye
Sláva v vïshnyih Bógu,
i na zyemlyí myir,
v chelovyétseh blagovolyényiye.
Góspodyi, ustnyé moí
otvyérzyeshï,
i ustá moyá vozvyestyyát
hvalú Tvoyú.
The Lesser Doxology
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
goodwill to men.
O Lord, open thou my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim
thy praise.
This beautiful setting of the Lesser Doxology, the conclusion to the psalmody, is from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s "All-Night Vigil" (op.37), published in 1915. The two verses are the angels’ song from Luke 2.14, and from Psalm 51.15.
EUROPE
Ungheresca Lajos Bardos & David Liani
Ken Park, tambourine
|
Tam-bun, con tamburi tam; tam-bun-tam con bamburi buri Cara, dolce, bella vieni a ballare coi tamburi; Canta, suona, balla; vieni a ballare coi tamburi. Balli, balli così leggera, Vieni, balla con me stasera. Come è bella la vita. Bun-tam-bun, il basso batti. Gioia, festa e gioia, batti con cimbali e tamburi. Balli, balli, festosamente, giri, giri velocemente Balli senza finire. Piena di colori, graziosamente come un fiore. Balli sì leggera, sei come un angelo del cielo. Quanta grazia che fai vedere, Voce dolce tu fai sentire. Balli senza finire! Sì, felice di ballare sono stasera, Tam-bun-tara-bun. Il mio cuore batte, prendi la mano dolcemente. Non importa se giri intorno. Se ritorni da me vicino, come è bella la vita. Con te! Tam-bun, con tamburi tam; tam-bun-tam con bamburi buri |
Dear, sweet, beautiful: you come to dance with the drums. Sing, play, dance; you come to dance with the drums. Dance, dance, you dance so lightly; Come, dance with me this evening. How beautiful life is! Bun-tam-bun, the bass beats. Joy, festival and joy, beat the cymbals and the drums; Dance, dance testively, spin, so quickly you spin. Dance without end. Full of color, gracefully as a flower, You dance so lightly; you are like an angel from heaven. How beautiful you are, How beautiful your voice, You dance without end! Yes, how happy I am to dance this evening; Tam-bun-tara-bun. My heart beats; take my hand sweetly. It does not matter if you spin around if you return to my side. How beautiful life is. With you! |
This is a popular Hungarian dance song published in Budapest, translated into Italian. The voices imitate the sound of the
tamburo, or drum.Songs of Parting arr. Robert Page
|
Das Zerbrochene Ringlein In einem kühlen Grunde, da geht ein Mühlenrad; Ich möcht’ am liebsten sterben, da wärs auf einmal still. |
The Broken Ring Deep in a cool green valley, the mill-wheel turns
all day: |
|
Treue Liebe Ach wie ist’s möglich dann, Daß ich dich lassen kann! Wär ich ein Vögelein Wollt ich bald bei dir sein, |
True Love How can I part from thee? One life, one soul are
we, If a wee bird were I, Soon to thy side I’d fiy, |
|
Muß i denn Muß i denn, muß i denn zum Städtele ’naus, Kann i gleich nit allweil bei dir sein, Übers Jahr, übers Jahr, wenn me Träubele schneid’t, Übers Jahr, da ist mein Zeit vorbei, da gehör ich mein und dein. |
Must I Go Must I go, must I go from my dear village home, Though afar I wander free, All my heart, my joy
is with thee, I’ll return again to thee; And our fond hearts shall be one, |
A la claire fontaine (The Fountain) arr. Norman Luboff
Dan Franks, flute
|
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle que je m’y suis baigné. Sous les feuilles d’un chêne, je me suis fait sécher; Sur la plus haute branche, un rossignol chantait. Chante, rossignol, chante, toi qui as le cœur gai: Tu as le cœur à rire, moi, je l’ai-t-à pleurer. |
For so long have I loved you!
At the clear fountain I like to take a walk,
|
A rich arrangement by American composer Norman Luboff of a traditional French folk song.
El Vito arr. Mack Wilberg
Barbara Miller & David Simmons, piano duet
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Con el vito, vito, vito; No me mires tu chiquilla Anda vete que no quiero |
Do not look at me, little sweetheart, Leave me, for I do not want |
Durme arr. Yekekel Braun; adapted by Joshua Jacobson
|
Durme, durme mi alma donzella,
Siente, siente al son de mi guitarra,
Que tu ’sclavo que tanto dezea,
|
Sleep, sleep, my soul, my princess,
Listen, listen to the sounds of my guitar,
We are slaves to all our desires,
|
This arrangement of Durme was adapted from the fourth section of Yehezekel Braun’s "Seven Sephardic Romances", a song cycle for solo voice and piano. These love songs stem from the traditions of the Sephardic Jews, and are sung in Ladino.
Ladino (also known as Sefardí) is the language of the Sephardic Jews. During the Middle Ages, Spain was divided between Christians and Moslems. Many Jews settled in the Moslem part, which became a great cultural and intellectual center. The Christians gradually reconquered the country, taking Toledo in 1085, and most of the rest of the country by the middle of the 13th Century. It was then that Alfonso X the wise was King of Castile and Leon, and gathered a group of scholars and intellectuals who translated many works of antiquity from Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew into Spanish. (Many works were also translated into Latin, for the benefit of scholars from France, Italy, and the rest of Western Europe.) One of the kings (it may have been Alfonso X) called himself "King of the three faiths". After the 13th Century, intolerance of "infidels" grew in both parts of the country. In 1480 Ferdinand and Isabella established the Inquisition in Spain. By 1492 they completed the reconquest, and all Jews and Muslims were forced to convert to Christianity or emigrate.
At first, many Jews went to Portugal, but in 1580, the King of Spain also became King of Portugal, and Jews were expelled from that country. Many joined their coreligionists who had migrated earlier to various parts of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine and Salonika.
The Jews maintained their own communities, using the Spanish they had brought with them. In most ways it is archaic, by Spanish standards, but it also was subject to some innovations not completed in Spain (the seseo and the reduction of ll to y) It also includes many words from Hebrew. For the most part it was written with Hebrew characters.
ISRAEL
Matai Yavo arr. Maurice Goldman
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Matai yavo ha-masheeach Matai nee-ye nee-ye le-am. Be-ad ar tzeynoo, be-ad ameynoo ve-yo-shee-ey-noo Ma-shee-ach ben Daveed. |
When will come the Messiah? When will the nation arise to be free? Redeem the people, Redeem the nation. Redeem and save us, Messiah, Son of David. |
Aaron Nigel Smith, Tenor
Ken Park, tambourine
Matai Yavo
is an Israeli folk tune which asks the question, "When will Messiah come?"BRITISH ISLES
A Welsh Lullaby arr. K. Lee Scott
Lisa Gans Rosenthal, mezzo-soprano
With its rugged and beautiful mountains and its strong tradition of singing, Wales presents a highly distinctive legacy of folk song. Song has a special meaning in Welsh culture: before the Romans reached Britain, the Welsh poets spread news and information through the land by the singing of ballads.
This Welsh Lullaby is sung to the tune suo gan, one of the purest and loveliest lullabies in the world of folk song. It first began to turn up in folk song collections around 1800. The tune was used in the motion picture "Empire of the Sun".
Loch Lomond arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams
Aaron Nigel Smith, Tenor
The Scots possess a treasury of wonderful national song with indigenous rhythms and melodic features that clearly distinguish them from the other cultures of the British Isles. Many of the the traditional Highland songs can be traced back to forms sung in Scots as well as Gaelic, the Celtic language of the Highlands, part of one of the oldest language groups in Europe. Loch Lomond draws on that influence, but is also a typical, sentimental 19th-century parlor song.
The lyrics of Loch Lomond refer to an incident in the attempt of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) in 1745 to regain the Scottish and English thrones. Two of his men were left behind in Carlisle after his retreat from England. One was to be executed, the other released. The Spirit of the dead soldier traveling by the "low road" would reach Scotland before his comrade, struggling over miles of high rugged country.
Spirits Seeking Light and Beauty arr. Gary Daigle
Barbara Miller, contralto & guitar
Steve Stump, alto recorder
This song is a setting of the Irish tune dohmnach trionoide, in the style of the new age vocalist Enya. The text is by Rory Cooney, based upon a song of the same title by Janet Erskine Stuart (d. 1914). Gary Daigle arranged this haunting tune. He writes of the text as having stuck with him through the years, nourishing his heart through doubt and darkness, and of how he wanted to share it with others.
Good Shepherd arr. Godfrey Tomanek
Dan Franks, flute
The text of The King of Love My Shepherd Is, a paraphrase of Psalm 23, was written by Henry Williams Baker for the appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern (1868). Sir Henry Williams Baker was an English baronet and clergyman, and is best known as chairman of the editorial committee of Hymns Ancient and Modern. He was born in London, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and ordained in 1844.
Mairi’s Wedding arr. Bob Chilcott
Steve Stump, soprano recorder
Harry Harris, guitar
Mairi’s Wedding
, also known as "Louise’s Bridal Song", is a traditional Scottish reel. This version was arranged for The King’s Singers, a very successful six-man vocal ensemble from England, all of whom were choral scholars at King’s College, Cambridge.+ + Intermission + +
SOUTH AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
Estrella é Lua Nova arr. Heitor Villa Lobos
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Ê! Makumbá bêbê! Ê! Makumbê! Estrella do céu e lua nova cravejada do ouro Makumbêbê! O’la Makumbêbê! O’la Makumbari bá. (Niá). |
Eh, magical baby! |
This is a popular Brazilian song, sung in Portugese.
Kasar Mie La Gaji Alberto Grau
Kasar Mie La Gaji
was written by contemporary Venezuelan composer Alberto Grau (b. 1937) as part of an international mobilization to save the earth and a conscientious effort regarding the problems of the environment. The words: "Kasar mie la gahi" are from the African Sahel and are translated: "The earth is tired."Jamaican Market Place Larry Farrow
Dedicated to the National Children’s Choir of Jamaica, this original composition by Mr. Farrow has the sound and spirit of a Jamaican folk song. Mr. Farrow has studied at USC, and tours with the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers. He is now a professor at Florida State University School of Music.
NATIVE AMERICAN & CANADIAN
Heleluyan Moscogee Chant; tr. by Charles Webb
Aaron Nigel Smith, Tenor
Heleluyan
is the Moscogee pronunciation of hallelujah. This traditional chant is performed as a three-part canon.Innoria arr. Donald Patriquin
Innoria
is a Huron dance song, one of seven collected in 1911 in the village of Lorette, near Québec City, by Marius Barbeau. After a ceremonial feast, these nonsense syllables would ring in the air, inciting the revelers to a long night of dancing. The music of Native Americans tends to be quite functional, and is the very breath of life. Rhythm is even more important than melody.Ah! si mon moine voulait danser! arr. Donald Patriquin
Ken Park, wood block
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O danse mon moine danse, tu n'entends pas la danse. Ah! si mon moine voulait danser! un capuchon je lui donnerais. un ceinturon je lui donnerais. un chapelet je lui donnerais. un froc de bure je lui donnerais. S'il n'avait fait vœu de pauvreté, bien d'autres choses je lui donnerais! |
O dance, my monk, dance! You don't hear the dance! Ah, if my monk would like to dance! I would give him a cap. I would give him a sash. I would give him a rosary. I would give him a homespun coat. If he had not made a vow of poverty, I would give him some other things as well! |
This French Canadian folk song from Québec deals humorously with a once topical subject—the clergy. A young lady dreams of what inducements she might offer her monk (her confessor) to get him to dance. The text takes on an amusing double meaning as
moine means both monk and (spinning) top.Arranger Daniel Patriquin was born in 1938 in Sherbrooke, Québec, and lectures in music at McGill University in Montréal.
AMERICAN FOLK SONGS
Poor Wayfarin’ Stranger arr. Salli Terri
Cynthia Rothschild, contralto
Vicki Curry & Judith Polak, descant
This song, which perhaps would best be described as a "white spiritual", dates from 1807, or even as early as the time of American Independence, from the Southern Appalachians. Here lived freedom-loving mountaineers, whose ancestors came from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, or England, who endured enormous hardships in building their homes and protecting their loved ones. They struggled with the wilderness, poor equipment, soil, and weather, Indians, wild animals, rugged terrain, and, most of all, loneliness deep inside, longing for some reward for their hard labors, in this world or the next.
These hearty pioneers, leaning on their faith to sustain them through adversity, occasionally met together for religious revival meetings, and this was one of their favorite spirituals. After American independence, some of these people began leaving their mountain homes, and by the War of 1812, this song was already well known. Since World War II, this song has been performed and recorded by some of our finest folk singers.
Sweet Rivers of Redeeming Love arr. Sid Davis
Dan Franks & Ruth Fleming, flutes
Sweet Rivers of Redeeming Love
is a hymn text by John A. Granade, c. 1770-1807. The tune sweet rivers was composed by William Moore in the early 19th century.The Gift to Be Simple arr. Bob Chilcott
The Gift to Be Simple
is a setting of the tune simple gifts, a shaker tune which originated in an English revival in 1747. The term shaker refers to the shaking of the worshipers in their ecstatic meetings. Shakers lived in their own communities, separate from the rest of society, and celibate. They relied entirely on converts for their continuity. They had all property in common, rose at the same hour, had meals in community. Those of the "senior order" managed the property.AFRO-AMERICAN SPIRITUALS
In Dat Great Gittin’ Up Mornin’ arr. Jester Hairston
Grinnell Almy, Tenor
The Afro-American Spiritual is perhaps America’s greatest true folk song. For generations, American slaves had sung and produced these simple, moving scripturally-based songs, carrying them from one plantation to another, and giving birth to new and increasingly lovely versions of them. In Africa black people used rhythm, melody, and lyrics to hold on to reality, hope, and the acceptance of life. Later, in America, their music helped them endure the cruelties of slavery. Spirituals and gospel music provided a medium for both communion and communication.
Deep River arr. Roy Ringwald
Many spirituals are about rivers. The river had several meanings to the slaves. In one sense it was a symbol of the barriers of slavery: to cross the river meant to gain freedom. In another sense the river was the border between life and death: when you die you cross the river. Both of these senses draw from the biblical symbolism of crossing the Jordan River into the promised land. The river sometimes referred to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1822 a group of wealthy Americans bought land in west Africa as a home for freed American slaves, which in 1847 was constituted as the republic of Liberia. Crossing the river meant crossing the ocean to Liberia. In the moving spiritual Deep River, the river has yet another meaning: it was the name of a Quaker meeting house in North Carolina, to which freed slaves were brought while awaiting passage in ships to Liberia.
I’m Gonna Sing ’Til the Spirit Moves in My Heart Moses Hogan
Aaron Nigel Smith, Tenor
Moses Hogan is a contemporary American composer, so this is not a "spiritual" in the sense of folk song. Nevertheless, it is certainly in the style of an Afro-American spiritual.
Instrumentalists:
Ethan Harris, Ken Park, Steve Stump, & Stacey Weitsman-Young,
percussion
Dan Franks & Ruth Fleming, flute
Barbara Miller & Harry Harris, guitar
Steve Stump, soprano & alto recorder
Special thanks to Yamaha Corp. of America for the use of the grand piano.
L
Special thanks to Covenant Presbyterian Church for the use of their facilities.L Program notes compiled by Colleen Cronin and Tony McQuilkin.