Robert Kyr a Time for Life an Environmental Oratorio
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robert kyr a time for life an environmental oratorio alexander lingas cappella romana third angle new music 1 2 3 Robert Kyr (b. 1952) Cappella Romana A TIME FOR LIFE (2007) Alexander Lingas, artistic director An Environmental Oratorio LeaAnne DenBeste, soprano (S1) Stephanie Kramer, soprano (S2) Commissioned by Cappella Romana and inspired by Tuesday Kingsbury, alto (A1) the initiatives of His All-Holiness +BARTHOLOMEW Kristen Buhler, alto (A2) Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Cahen Taylor, tenor (T1) Ecumenical Patriarch. Mark Powell, tenor (T2) Aaron Cain, bass (B1) David Stutz, bass (B2) Part I: Creation 16 x. Supplication V: We Pollute the Air :50 Third Angle New Music 1 i. Prologue :39 17 xi. Witness V: The Joyless Land 4:12 Ron Blessinger, violin & artistic director 2 ii. Proclaiming :35 18 xii. Supplication VI: The Dying Planet :57 Anna Schaum, viola 3 iii. Arriving 2:46 19 xiii. Witness VI: The Sacred Way 5:21 Hamilton Cheifetz, violoncello 4 iv. Praising 2:42 Part III: Remembering 5 v. Trembling 2:01 20 i. Dance of Life 2:51 6 vi. Rejoicing :57 21 ii. Canticle of Life; First Soliloquy 1:08 Part II: Forgetting 22 iii. First Canons :31 7 i. Prologue 2:23 23 iv. Chorale, First Verse 1:07 8 ii. Supplication I: We Ignore Your Word :33 24 v. Second Soliloquy 1:42 9 iii. Witness I: Look and Behold 1:58 25 vi. Chorale, Second Verse 1:13 10 iv. Supplication II: 26 vii. Second Canons :28 We Devour Your Forest :41 27 viii. Third Soliloquy 1:07 11 v. Witness II: Breathe and Remember 2:00 28 ix. Chorale, Third Verse 1:18 12 vi. Supplication III: 29 x. Third Canons :45 We Defile Your Oceans :41 30 xi. Final Chorale 2:01 13 vii. Witness III: The Survivor 1:57 31 xii. Epilogue 4:49 14 viii. Supplication IV: We Destroy Nature :51 TOTAL TIME: 53:19 15 ix. Witness IV: Howl, You Shepherds! 2:11 4 5 the distinctive features of the Patriarch’s vision need to care for everything, as containing “the calendar, as a day of prayer for environmental are humble simplicity (ascesis) and liturgical trace of God” (Tertullian, 2nd century). Indeed, preservation; numerous Christian communions communion (koinonia). In all that he says or Orthodox Christians perceive the notion of sin have followed suit, encouraged by the World does, the Patriarch is aware that everyone as the stubborn refusal of humanity to regard Council of Churches. After his election in 1991, without exception – irrespective of confessional the created world as a gift of communion – as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew launched or religious conviction – must be included. nothing less than a sacrament. a series of environmental activities, including Likewise, every science and discipline should a Pan-Orthodox conference in Crete, an In the seventh century, two mystics of the contribute; every culture and age should concur. unprecedented meeting of Orthodox Patriarchs, Eastern Christian Church eloquently described Moreover, the Ecumenical Patriarch is also aware inviting them to endorse his ecological vision, this intimate relationship between nature, that environmental issues are intimately related and a series of five ecological summer seminars humanity, and God. St. Maximus the Confessor to numerous social issues: war and peace, on education, ethics, communications, justice, ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW spoke of the world as a “cosmic liturgy,” a social justice and human rights, poverty and and poverty. AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT magnificent altar upon which human beings unemployment. We have become increasingly Introduction worship in thanksgiving and glory. The entire In 1995, the Ecumenical Patriarch established aware of the effects of environmental world comprises an integral part of this sacred the Religious and Scientific Committee, which In the past two decades, the world has witnessed degradation on people, especially the poor. song; God is praised by the sun and moon, to date has organized seven international, alarming ecological degradation, increasing Theology worshipped by the trees and birds. (Psalm interfaith and interdisciplinary symposia in failure to implement environmental policies, and 18.2 LXX) And Abba Isaac the Syrian invited his the Aegean Sea (1995) and the Black Sea an ever-widening gap between rich and poor. Orthodox Christianity retains – in its theology, spiritual disciples to “acquire a merciful heart, (1997), along the Danube River (1999) and During the same period, no other worldwide liturgy and spirituality alike – a profoundly burning with love for all of creation: for humans, in the Adriatic Sea (2002), in the Baltic Sea religious leader has placed the ecological crisis sacred view of the natural environment, birds, and beasts.” If today we are guilty of (2003) and on the Amazon River (2006), as at the forefront of his ministry as has Ecumenical proposing a world richly imbued by God relentless waste in our world, it may be because well as in the Arctic (2007, as shown in this Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the and proclaiming a God intimately involved we have lost the spirit of worship and the booklet) and on the Mississippi River (2009). Orthodox Church, which numbers over 300 with creation. The conviction is that, by spirituality of compassion. In 2002, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew million adherents worldwide. disconnecting creation from the Creator, we co-signed the “Venice Declaration” with Pope have in fact desacralized both. For the way we History For the Ecumenical Patriarch, the environment John Paul II, the first joint statement by the relate to the world around us directly reflects is not only a political or a technological issue; While its ecological initiatives date back to two world leaders. The recipient of several the way we pray to “our Father in heaven.” it is, as we have come to appreciate, primarily the mid-1980s, since 1989, the Ecumenical environmental awards (including the Sophie So we respond to the natural world with the a religious and spiritual issue. Religion has a Patriarchate – located in the ancient Christian Prize, the Binding Foundation Award, the United same sensitivity that we address God. All of key role to play; and a spirituality that remains See of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul, Nations Environmental Protection Award) us understand that we must care for other uninvolved with outward creation is ultimately Turkey) – has invited Orthodox Christians and the US Gold Medal of Congress, His All- human beings, as created “in the image of uninvolved with the inward mystery too. So throughout the world to reserve September Holiness has been labeled “Green Patriarch” by God.” (Gen. 1.26); it is time to appreciate the 1st, the official opening of the church Al Gore and the media, and honored by Time 6 7 Magazine (USA) and The Guardian (UK) as one Conclusion which is our obligation in turn to transmit to of the world’s most influential environmental future generations. So before we can effectively The sacramental image of the world is authorities. deal with problems of our environment, represented in color through the well-known we must change the way we perceive the Yet the hallmark of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s icon depicting the hospitality of Abraham world. Otherwise, we are simply dealing with initiatives is not success, but in fact humility. In and Sarah as they welcome three strangers symptoms, not with their causes. We require beholding the larger picture, the Ecumenical in the desert of Palestine. It is an icon of the a new worldview if we desire “a new heaven Patriarch recognizes that he stands before communion between the three persons of the and a new earth.” (Rev. 21:1) This is our calling; something greater than himself, indeed Trinity as they relate to creation: and this is God’s command. As His All-Holiness something greater than his (or any) Church. The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew declared For Patriarch Bartholomew, healing a broken Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in jointly with the late Pope John Paul II: environment is a matter of truthfulness to Select publications by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis: the heat of the day. (Gen. 18:1) God, humanity and the created order. He It is not too late. God’s world has incredible With B. Foltz, Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration: was the first to dare broaden the traditional If we pay close attention, not only do “the oaks healing powers. Within a single generation, Orthodox Christian Perspectives on Environment, concept of sin – beyond individual and social of Mamre” provide refreshing shade for the we could steer the earth toward our children’s Nature, and Creation, Fordham University Press, New implications – to include environmental Patriarch of Israel, but they are the occasion for future. Let that generation start now. (Venice, York, 2013. damage! Thus, while the Ecumenical Patriarch divine revelation. By analogy, then, not only 2002) On Earth as in Heaven: Ecological Vision and Initiatives has been widely recognized for his pioneering do the trees of the world provide sustenance of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Fordham work in confronting the theological and ethical for humankind in diverse ways, but they reflect University Press, New York, 2012. imperative of environmental protection, he has the very presence of God. Cutting them down —The Very Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis Speaking the Truth in Love: Theological and Spiritual courageously declared the abuse of the natural implies eliminating the divine presence from our Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne Exhortations of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, environment as sinful. lives. Indeed, the Hebrew interpretation of this and Theological Advisor to the Ecumenical Fordham University Press, New York, 2010. text implies that the oak trees themselves – just Patriarch on Environmental Issues To commit a crime against the natural world In the World, Yet Not of the World: Social and Global as the visitors who appeared at the same time – is a sin.