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The Vancouver Cantata Singers The VCS Board Paula Kremer, Artistic Director President: Sarah McNair Vice-President: Jesse Read Rachel Brown Eric Biskupski Treasurer: Christina Cho Emily Cheung Mark Anthony Briand Secretary: Jim Sanyshyn Missy Clarkson Sam Dabrusin Directors: Melody Yiu, Beth Helsley Sarah McGrath Dean Edmundson Wendy McMillan Ray Horst Trevor Mangion, Missy Clarkson Benila Ninan Andrew Lennox Singers’ Rep: Sarah McGrath Hilary Piets Daniel Marshall The VCS Staff Asha Pratt-Johnson Andy Robb General Manager: Michelle Herrewynen Eve Richardson Taka Shimojima Front of House Manager: Genevieve MacKay Nick Sommer www.vancouvercantatasingers.com Melanie Adams Andy Booth Maureen Bennington Derrick Christian Follow us on Ann Chen Doug Colpitts Thank you to this evening’s volunteers: Elspeth Finlay Chris Doughty Alan Woodland Philippa Taylor Mavis Friesen Matthew Fisher Alor Krjukov Katherine Serrano Beth Helsley Gerald Harder Our very special thanks to these people who Nina Horvath J. Evan Kreider recorded pronunciations of the Icelandic, Katie Horst Larry Nickel Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish texts. Sarah McNair Dave Rosborough Haida Irvine Camilla Aase Gisli Magna Sigríðarson Erling Christensen Troy Topnik Kim West Anna-Maija Nibbelink Jonsi (Jon Josep Saebjornsson) Born in Vancouver and educated at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia, Paula Kremer has studied choral conducting in courses and workshops at Eton, Westminster Choir College, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan. Holding an ARCT in both piano and voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Paula has also studied voice with Phyllis Mailing, Bruce Pullan, Marisa Gaetanne and Laura Pudwell, and piano from Margot Ehling. A full-time faculty member of the School of Music at Vancouver Community College, teaching voice, solfege, and choir, she was also the director of two Vancouver Bach Choir ensembles for young adults from 2009-17, the Vancouver Bach Youth Choir and Sarabande Chamber Choir. Paula joined the alto section of our choir in 1994, and has been the Vancouver Cantata Singers’ Artistic Director since 2013. 2 - SCANDINAVIAN TREASURES SCANDINAVIAN TREASURES Songs of the North Saturday, May 25, 2019, 7:30 (Scandinavian Community Centre, Burnaby) Iceland Hvíld Guðmundsson Heyr, himna smiður Sigurbjörnsson Norway Våren Grieg, arr. Doughty* Bruremarsj fra Østerdalen Trad. Norwegian, arr. Indrehus/Doughty* Gjendines bådnlåt Trad. Norwegian/Gjendine Stålien, arr. Eriksson Rêve pour l’hiver Havrøy Denmark Wiigen-Lied Nørgård Yndigt dufter Danmark Schultz Så tag mit hjerte Magna Interval Sweden I denna ljuva sommartid Trad. Swedish, arr. Ollén Som när handen Hansson Aftonen Alfvén Finland Sydämeni laulu Sibelius Läksin minä kesäyönä käymään Trad. Finnish Folksong, arr. Madetoja Metsä and Vuodenajat Matheson Butterfly Makaroff, arr. Makaroff and Kähärä El Hambo Mäntyjärvi Thank You For The Music (Sweden) Andersson and Ulvaeus, arr. Gies Toiset Meistä (Finland) Lehtinen, arr. Matheson *Member of VCS SCANDINAVIAN TREASURES - 3 SCANDINAVIAN TREASURES Songs of the North Programme notes by J. Evan Kreider, Professor Emeritus of Musicology, UBC, Member of VCS Iceland Hvíld Hugi Guðmundsson After studying guitar and composition at Reykjavík College of Music and the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Hugi Guðmundsson (born in 1977 in Reykjavik) completed a second Masters degree in electronic music (Institute of Sonology, The Netherlands). He then played guitar in the heaviest death metal bands he could find before returning to his roots in classical music and composition. He recently received the Icelandic Music Award for his opera Hamlet in Absentia. The librarian Snorri Hjartarson (1906-1986) is known primarily for his poetry in Icelandic, which received the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1981. This evening’s poem comes from his third collection of poems, Lauf og stjörnur (“Leaves and Stars”). Guðmundsson set it to music in 2009 in memory of his voice teacher and mentor, Halldór Vilhelmsson. Lyngt geymir vatnið The still lake masks Leið mína yfir fjallið, My way over the mountain, Felur hana rökkri Hides it in the hush Og ró í nótt. And dusk of night. Vær geymir svefninn Gentle sleep holds Söknuð minn í lautu My heartache in a hollow; Með degi rís hann aftur It rises again at dawn Úr djúpsins ró. From the silence of the deep. Heyr, himna smiður Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson Heyr, himna smiður is based on the text of a 13��-century Icelandic hymn attributed to Kolbeinn Tumason (1173-1208) and is thought to be the oldest Nordic hymn. His influence as an Icelandic chieftain of the Asbirningar family clan during this violent time of turmoil enabled him to appoint clergy to positions of importance. One such appointee, however, the Bishop Guðmundur Arason, insisted upon acting independently of all Iceland’s chieftains. In the ensuing battle of their respective followers, Kolbeinn’s head was bashed in with a rock. It is said that he composed this moving hymn shortly before going into that fateful battle (though one tradition suggests that he wrote it on his deathbed). [Benila Ninan, Melanie Adams, Andy Robb, Derrick Christian, quartet] 4 - SCANDINAVIAN TREASURES Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson (1938-2013), the son of a Theology Professor and the Protestant Bishop of Iceland, studied and later taught music at the Conservatory of Reykjavik and elsewhere. He was known internationally as a pianist and composer, and locally as a broadcaster, critic, educator and champion of Iceland’s expanding community of young composers. He wrote Heyr, himna smiður (1996) in the style of a modern prayerful hymn. Heyr, himna smiður, Hear, heaven’s maker Hvers skáldið biður, What the poet asks, Komi mjúk til mín Bring gently to me Miskunnin þín. Your mercy, því heit eg á þig, I beg of you, þú hefur skaptan mig. For you created me, Eg er þrællinn þinn, I am your servant, þú ert Drottinn minn. You are my Lord. Guð, heit eg á þig, God, I beg of you, Að græðir mig. Heal me, Minnst, mildingur, mín, Remember how great Mest þurfum þín. Our need of thee is. Ryð þú, röðla gramur, Almighty God, Ríklyndur og framur, Heaven’s king, Hölds hverri sorg Clear away human sorrow, Úr hjartaborg. Take it from our hearts. Gæt, mildingur, mín, Let your grace protect me Mest þurfum þín, In my sore need Helzt hverja stund Every moment Á hölda grund. On this earth. Set, meyjar mögur, Sweet Jesus, Mary’s son, Máls efni fögur, Put in my heart Öll er hjálp af þér, Beautiful thoughts, Í hjarta mér For all help comes from thee. Kolbeinn Tumason (c. 1173-1208; 1208) SCANDINAVIAN TREASURES - 5 Norway Våren (Last Spring) Edvard Grieg (arr. Chris Doughty¹) Våren (literally “the Spring”) was first published in 1881 as part of a collection of 12 songs (Op. 33) which Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) built on poetry by Aasmund Olavsson Vinje (1818-1870). After centuries of rule by the Danish and subsequent union with Sweden, a true Norwegian national identity finally began to emerge in the 1800s. The arts were at the forefront of this, with the development of a kind of romantic nationalism championed by cultural figures such as Grieg and Henrik Ibsen. Vinje was a contemporary writer who first published the poem Våren in his periodical Dølen. At the time, written Norwegian language took the form of Rijksmål, a derivative of Danish which was significantly different from the various dialects that were spoken throughout Norway. Growing up in a rural area, Vinje was a pioneer of the use of Landsmål, a written language developed to more closely resemble the way that people actually spoke. Våren is written in a dialect that is much closer to Landsmål than to Rijksmål. At the time the 12 songs were published, Grieg received some criticism over the use of such “ugly” language, and perhaps this is what persuaded him to arrange the melody of Våren for string orchestra as part of Two Elegiac Melodies (Op. 34). It has long been a desire of mine to take the gorgeous harmonies from the version for strings and re-attach the lyrics of the poem in a setting for choir. Våren describes the joy of watching winter “flee” into spring, and observing all the changes that it brings both for the senses and for the spirit. The Nordic philosophy of friluftsliv or “open-air living” was popularized by Ibsen and reflects the cultural emphasis on nature as the source of health and wellbeing, a theme reflected in several other pieces in this program. The English version of the title, “Last Spring”, derives from the poignant middle verse of the poem which is not included in this arrangement but makes clear that the narrator is at the end of life, realizing that this may be the final time he will witness the springtime re-emergence of life and sound from the stillness of winter. --notes by Chris Doughty Enno ein Gong fekk eg Vetren å sjå Once again did I see Winter for Våren å røma Flee into Spring, Heggen med Tre som der blomar var på, Hedges with trees where there were once eg atter såg bløma. flowers, Enno ein Gong fekk eg Isen å sjå I saw bloom again. frå Landet å fljota, Once again did I see ice Snjoen å bråna og Fossen i Å Float away from the land, å fyssa og brjota. Snow melting and the waterfall into the stream, Graset det grøne eg enno ein Gong Flowing and breaking. fekk skoda med Blomar; The green grass once again enno eg høyrde at Vårfuglen song I saw blooming; mot Sol og mot Sumar. I heard the spring bird’s song Towards the sun and Summer. ¹Member of VCS. This arrangement was made for VCS. 6 - SCANDINAVIAN TREASURES Eingong eg sjølv i den vårlege Eim, Someday in the spring-like atmosphere som mettar mit Auga, That fills my senses/eyes, eingong eg der vil meg finna ein Heim Sometime I will find myself a home og symjande lauga.