Presents The Promise of Living

Dr. Dwight Jilek, conductor

Featuring Bemidji State University Faculty Dan Will, collaborative pianist Eric Gustafson, collaborative pianist Dr. Eric Olson, violin

Sunday, February 28, 2021, 7:00pm Beaux Arts Ballroom Hobson Memorial Union PROGRAM NOTES

“The promise of living with hope and thanksgiving is born of our loving our friends and our labor.”

- From, “The Promise of Living” from The Tender Land.

This program focuses on the joy and promise in our lives – this promise of hope and thanksgiving is born when we love our friends and our work!

The singers of The Bemidji Choir have not only survived, but have thrived during the pandemic. They have followed the strict mitigations put forth, and have truly loved their friends and their labor. This program includes works from last spring which were scheduled to be performed on our regional choir tour with The Bemidji Choir and Chamber Singers and our performance in New York City at Lincoln Center. All performances were cancelled due to the pandemic.

We hope our offering today gives you joy and hope as we move forward together in love and labor to make this a better world. This performance is dedicated to those singers who had to end their time with The Bemidji Choir prematurely due to the pandemic, along with those we lost to COVID-19. We think about you every day.

“The promise of ending in right understanding is peace in our own hearts and peace with our neighbor.”

We are longing for peace, love, equality, and justice. There is promise in the work that remains to be done. In the words of Martin Luther King:

“This is our hope. This is the faith…With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day…And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children…will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.”

- Taken from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech

PROGRAM

THE BEMIDJI CHAMBER SINGERS

Ne irascaris Domine (1589) ...... William Bryd (1543 – 1623) 1. First Part: Ne irascaris Domine 2. Second Part: Civitas sanctis Tui

The changes in rule during the Tudor Dynasty had some of the most volatile religious and political ramifications in history. With each change in ruler, new waves of religious and political persecution ensued. William Byrd worked as a composer for Queen Elizabeth I, and lived through years of war, murder, and political upheaval. Byrd published his Liber Sacrarum Cantionum in 1589 when he was setting Latin texts on persecution (including Ne irascaris Domine), with one theme appearing most often: the biblical captivity of the Israelites in Babylon. The words “desolata est” (Jerusalem is desolate) are uttered 54 times in this double motet as Byrd was undoubtedly grieving for the state of his country and longing for peace.

THE BEMIDJI CHOIR

Yoiks from Sami culture (Indigenous people from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia)

“A yoik is not merely a description; it attempts to capture its subject in its entirety: it's like a holographic, multi-dimensional living image, a replica, not just a flat photograph or simple visual memory. It is not about something, it is that something. It does not begin and it does not end. A yoik does not need to have words – its narrative is in its power, it can tell a life story in song. The singer can tell the story through words, melody, rhythm, expressions or gestures.”

- Ursula Länsman of the Sami group Angelit

I-i-i-hi-ho (1968) ...... arr. Erland Von Koch (1910-2009)

Carolyn Smith, soprano

I-i-i-hi-ho is a yoik sung in a dialect from ancient Sweden. A shepherd yoiks a herd of cattle while watching over children at their side. The shepherd calls after the cattle and children throughout, “Kôm at kôm” (Come here, come!).

“The composition preserves the most important features of von Koch’s style – lyrical melodic line, precisely determined rhythm and distinctive accent of folk culture. Despite the strong contrast between the melody and the secondary sound of the harmony, the composer created an atmosphere of mystical contemplation.”

- From the 441 Hz Chamber Choir

Rivers of Light (2014) ...... arr. Ėriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)

McKayla Severson, alto Markus Babris, baritone Aaron Kolb, jaw harp

“Rivers of Light might be seen as a companion piece to Northern Lights and, indeed, it revisits some of the same ideas. It has a similar folk-song opening—this time from the Sámi people of Scandinavia (the piece was commissioned by the Swedbank Choir in Riga, Swedbank being a Swedish bank with a big presence in Latvia). This is eventually combined with another Sámi folk song for a male voice over another of Ešenvalds’ ‘eternal’ chorales, and the words of the explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Charles Francis Hall also appear in a kaleidoscope of texts that facilitates a sustained but varied musical vision of light — specifically the Northern Lights — in its many forms.”

— from notes by Gabriel Jackson © 2015

INTERMISSION (20 MINUTES FOR AIR MITIGATION)

The Promise of Living

Five Hebrew Love Songs (2001) ...... Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) 1. Temuná (A Picture) 2. Kalá Kallá (Light Bride) 3. Larov (Mostly) 4. Éyze Shéleg (What Snow!) 5. Rakút (Tenderness)

Dr. Eric Olson, violin Dan Will, piano Christopher Hart, tambourine Kaitlyn Huhta, soprano

“In the spring of 1996, my great friend and brilliant violinist Friedemann Eichhorn invited me and my girlfriend-at-the-time Hila Plitmann (a soprano) to give a concert with him in his home city of Speyer, Germany. We had all met that year as students at the Juilliard School, and were inseparable.

Because we were appearing as a band of traveling musicians, ‘Friedy’ asked me to write a set of troubadour songs for piano, violin and soprano. I asked Hila (who was born and raised in Jerusalem) to write me a few ‘postcards’ in her native tongue, and a few days later she presented me with these exquisite and delicate Hebrew poems. I set them while we vacationed in a small skiing village in the Swiss Alps, and we performed them for the first time a week later in Speyer.

Each of the songs captures a moment that Hila and I shared together. Kalá Kallá (which means ‘light bride’) was a pun I came up with while she was first teaching me Hebrew. The bells at the beginning of Éyze Shéleg! are the exact pitches that awakened us each morning in Germany as they rang from a nearby cathedral.”

- Eric Whitacre

Earth Song (2007) ...... Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)

“Earth Song is one of only a few works that I have composed without a commission. Instead, it sprung out of a personal need during a time when so many in this country, including myself, were growing disillusioned with the war in Iraq. I felt a strong impulse to create something that would express my own personal longing for peace. It was this longing which engendered the poem’s creation. I knew I had to write the poem myself, partly because it is not just a poem, but a prayer, a plea, a wish—a bid to find inner peace in a world that seems eternally bent on war and hatred. But also, the poem is a steadfast declaration of the power of music to heal. In the end, the speaker in the poem discovers that, through music, he is the embodiment of hope, peace, the song within the Song.”

- Frank Ticheli

The Promise of Living ...... Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Kody Staack, tenor Dan Will, piano Eric Gustafson, piano

“Aaron Copland (1900-1990), creator of so many masterful orchestral works, also wrote beautifully for the voice, particularly in his captivating opera The Tender Land (1954). He originally intended it for television, but NBC Opera Theater rejected it. The New York City Opera premiere was unsuccessful, leading Copland to significantly revise the work over the next year. Since then The Tender Land has been a staple of smaller opera companies throughout America. The music is entirely accessible and makes a direct appeal to the heart, as do the characters’ direct, unfettered emotions.”

– The Lyric Opera of Chicago

Precious Lord ...... arr. Roy Ringwald (1930 - 2017) Carolyn Smith, soprano

“Precious Lord” was Martin Luther King’s favorite hymn, containing an original text in honor of MLK echoing his “dream of a world that is free.” This particular arrangement by Roy Ringwald was also sung as the traditional closing piece by the Bemidji Choir under the direction of Dr. Paul Brandvik, and continues today. ______

TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS Ne irascaris Domine Do not be angry, O Lord Sung in Latin

Ne irascaris Domine satis, Be not angry, O Lord, et ne ultra memineris and no longer remember iniquitatis nostrae. our iniquity. Ecce respice Behold, we beseech you, populus tuus omnes nos. we are all your people.

Civitas sancti tui facta est deserta. Your holy city has become a wilderness. Sion deserta facta est, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem desolata est. Jerusalem has been made desolate. I -i-i-hi-ho I-i-i-hi-ho Locklåt från Äppelbo Shepherd’s Song of Äppelbo Sung in ancient Swedish (Sami)

I – i – o – hi – ho. I – i – o – hi – ho. Konã vårã då. Kôm at kôm. Hey, our little cows. Come here, come. Stackare barne minã då. Hey, our poor little children, come. Kôm at kôm. I – i – o – hi – ho. Come here, come. I – i – o – hi – ho. Kôm at kôm. Come here, come.

I – i – o – hi – ho. I – i – o – hi – ho. Konã vårã då. Kôm at kôm. Hey, our little cows. Come here, come. Granngås, o Krus, o Sala, då. [Names of cows:] Granngås, O Krus, Kôm at kôm. and Sala, too. Come here, come. I – i – o – hi – ho. I – i – o – hi – ho. Kôm at kôm. Come here, come.

Rivers of Light Sung in Sami and English

Kuovsakasa reukarih tåkko teki Northern Lights slide back and forth Sira ria (similar to fa-la-la…) Light shakes over the vault of heaven, Tåkko teki its veil of glittering silver Back and forth changing now to yellow, Sita ria, sita siraa ria now to green, (similar to fa-la-la…) now to red. It spreads in restless change, into waving, Winter night, into many-folded bands of silver. the sky is filled with symphony of light, the sky is flooded It shimmers in tongues of flame, with rivers of light. over the very zenith The doors of heaven it shoots a bright ray up have been opened tonight. until the whole melts away as a sigh of departing soul in the moonlight Guovssat, guovssat radni go leaving a glow in the sky Northern Lights, blanket shivering like the dying embers of a great fire. Libai libai libaida (similar to fa-la-la…) Ruoná gákti Kuovsakasa reukarih tåkko teki… Green coat (gákti is the name for a Guovssat, guovssat radni go… traditional Sami costume) (Sung concurrently) Nu nu nu (similar to fa-la-la…) - Texts by:

From horizon to horizon Charles Francis Hall, Fridtjof Nansen, misty dragons swim through the sky, and various Writings on the Northern green curtains billow and swirl, Lights compiled by the composer fast-moving, sky-filling, the tissues of gossamer. Nothing can be heard.

Five Hebrew Love Songs Sung in Hebrew

I. Temuná I. A Picture Temuná belibí charuntá; A picture is engraved in my heart; Nodédet beyn ór uveyn ófel: Moving between light and darkness: Min dmamá shekazó et guféch kach A sort of silence envelopes your body, otá, And your hair falls upon your face just Usaréch al pańa’ich kach nófel. so.

II. Kalá Kallá II. Light Bride Kalá kallá Light bride Kulá shelí, She is all mine, U’ve kalút And lightly Tishákhílí! She will kiss me!

III. Laróv III. Mostly “Laróv,” amár gag la’shama’im, “Mostly,” said the roof to the sky, “Hamerchák shebeynéynu hu ad; “the distance between you and I is endlessness; Ach lifnéy zman alu lechán shna’im, But a while ago two came up here, Uveynéynu nishár sentiméter And only one centimeter was left echad”. between us.”

IV. Éyze Shéleg! IV. What snow! Ézye shéleg! What snow! Kmo chalomót ktaníim Like little dreams Noflím mehashamá im. Falling from the sky.

V. Rakút V. Tenderness Hu hayá malé rakút; He was full of tenderness; Hi haytá kasha She was very hard. Vechól káma And as much as she tried to stay thus, shenistá lehishaér kach, Simply, and with no good reason, Pashút, uvlí sibá tová, He took her into himself, Lakách otá el toch atzmó, And set her down Veheníach Bamakóm hachí rach. In the softest, softest place.

- Hila Plitmann (b.1973) - Trans. By Hila Plitmann

Earth Song

Sing, Be, Live, See… But music and singing This dark stormy hour, Have been my refuge, The wind, it stirs. And music and singing The scorched earth Shall be my light. cries out in vain: O war and power, A light of song shining strong: You blind and blur. Alleluia! Through darkness, pain and The torn heart cries out in pain. strife, I’ll Sing, Be, Live, See…

The Promise of Living

The promise of living with hope and thanksgiving bring out from the farm, is born of our loving bring out the blessings of harvest. our friends and our labor. Give thanks there was sunshine, The promise of growing give thanks there was rain. with faith and with knowing Give thanks we have hands is born of our sharing our love to deliver the grain. with our neighbor. Come join us in thanking the Lord for his blessing. For many a year we've known O let us be joyful. these fields and known all the O let us be grateful work that makes them yield. to the Lord for His blessing.

Are you ready to lend a hand? The promise of ending We’re ready to work, in right understanding We’re ready to lend a hand, is peace in our own hearts By working together and peace with our neighbor. we’ll bring in the harvest, the blessings of harvest. O let us sing our song, and let our song be heard. We plant each row Let’s sing our song with our hearts, with seeds of grain, and find a promise in that song. and Providence sends us the sun and the rain. The promise of living. The promise of growing. By lending a hand, The promise of ending is labor and by lending an arm, sharing and loving.

Precious Lord

Precious Lord, take my hand, bring me home through the night, through the dark, through the storm, to thy light. I have been to the mount, I have seen the Promised Land: Precious Lord, precious Lord, take my hand.

Precious Lord, take my hand bring thy child home at last, where the strife and the pain all are past. I have dreamed a great dream that thy love shall rule our land: Precious Lord, precious Lord, take my hand.

Precious Lord, take my hand, take thy child unto Thee, with my dream of a world that is free. For that day when all flesh joins the glory thou hast planned: Precious Lord, precious Lord, take my hand.

- Joyce Merman ______

PERSONNEL

THE BEMIDJI CHAMBER SINGERS

Soprano Alto Tenor Bass Erin Muenter Emily Bergeron Evan Byler Markus Babris Carolyn Smith Mckayla Severson Aaron Kolb Noah Bostic Anna Wetrosky Kody Staack Blake Staines THE BEMIDJI CHOIR

Soprano Alto Tenor Bass Rebekah Asp *Emily Bergeron # Noah Bostic Christopher Afram Kallie Decker @ Elizabeth Brown Evan Byler + *Markus Babris Bria Halvorson & Nikki Courtemanche ! Jason Gorski Christopher Hart Hailie Kniefel Maddy Hodgkins % *Aaron Kolb Michael Johann Dezerae Medina Bella Koch Kody Staack Blake Staines

Hannah Nelson Emily Max Alex Stewart Erin Muenter McKayla Severson $ Christian Sutlief Carolyn Smith Meghan Trimble *Anna Wetrosky

*Section Leader % Secretary and Treasurer # President ! Librarian @ Vice President & Social Media Manager $ Manager + Board member at large

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Lighting, audio, video, and other tech support provided by Ben Stowe and NLFX Professional in Bemidji, MN. Thank you!

Special thanks to Kathy O’Brien, Victoria Nelson, and the entire HMU staff for their work with The Bemidji Choir and Chamber Singers for this production and the entire year during the pandemic.

Thank you to Dean MaryTheresa Seig for her tremendous support, and the support of the BSU administration and music faculty. UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

Please follow the Bemidji State University Department of Music at https://livestream.com/accounts/1819302 to see our future performances!