Virtuoso Music for Chorus, Brass, and Organ
Saturday, January 27, 1996
First Church Congregational, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Paul Hindemith: Morgenmusik (1932); Six Chansons (1939); Apparebit Repentina Dies (1947)
Andrea Gabrieli: Ricercare á 6 (post-1576?); O Sacrum Convivium (ca. 1565 - ed. JWE)
Giovanni Gabrieli: Intonazione Sesti Tono (pub. 1593); Canzoni for Organ and Antiphonal Brass; Deus, Qui Beatum Marcum
Heinrich Schütz: Psalm 150: Alleluia Lobet den Herren, SWV 38
Program notes
Texts and translations
Hindemith: Six Chansons
La Biche
O la biche; quel bel intérieur
d'anciennes forêts dans tes yeux abonde;
combien de confiance ronde
mêlée à combien de peur.
Tout cela, porté par la vive
gracilité de tes bonds.
Mais jamais rien n'arrive
à cette impossessive
ignorance de ton front.
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The Doe
O doe, what lovely ancient forest
depths abound in your eyes;
how much open trust
mixed with how much fear.
All this, borne by the brisk
gracility of your bounds.
But nothing ever disturbs
that unpossessive
unawareness of your brow.
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Un Cygne
Un cygne avance sur l'eau
tout entouré de lui-même
comme un glissant tableau;
ainsi à certains instants
un être que l'on aime
est tout un espace mouvant.
Il se rapproche doublé
comme ce cygne qui nage
sur notre âme troublée . . .
qui à cet être ajoute
la tremblante image
de bonheur et de doute.
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A Swan
A swan advances over the water
all wrapped up in itself
like a gliding tableau.
Thus at certain moments
a being that one loves
seems just like a moving space.
He draws near, doubled
like that swan who swims
across our troubled soul,
who adds to this being
the trembling image
of happiness and of doubt.
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Puisque tout passe
Puisque tout passe, faisons
la mélodie passagère;
celle qui nous désaltère
aura de nous raison.
Chantons ce qui nous quitte
avec amour et art,
soyons plus vite
que le rapide départ.
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Since everything passes
Since everything passes,
let us make fleeting melody;
the one that refreshes us
will get the better of us.
Let us sing that which is leaving us
with love and art;
let us be quicker
than its swift departure.
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Printemps
O mélodie de la sève
qui dans les instruments
de tous ces arbres s'élève,
accompagne le chant
de notre voix trop brève.
C'est pendant quelques mesures
seulement que nous suivons
les multiples figures
de ton long abandon,
ô abondante nature.
Quand il faudra nous taire
d'autres continueront . . .
Mais à présent comment faire
pour te rendre mon
grand coeur complémentaire?
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Spring
O melody of the sap
that rises in the instruments
of all these trees,
accompany the song
of our too-short voices.
It is only for a few measures
that we follow
the manifold figurations
of your long abandon,
O abundant nature.
When it comes time for us to fall silent
others will carry on . . .
But for now what can I do
to make my whole heart
a complement to you?
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En Hiver
En hiver, la mort meurtrière
entre dans les maisons;
elle cherche la soeur, le père
et leur joue du violon.
Mais quand la terre remue,
sous la bêche du printemps,
la mort court dans les rues
et salue les passants.
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In Winter
In Winter, murderous Death
comes into the houses,
seeks out sister and father
and plays to them on the fiddle.
But when the earth turns
under Springtime's spade
Death runs through the streets
and greets the passers-by.
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Verger
Jamais la terre n'est plus réelle
que dans tes branches, ô verger blond,
Ni plus flottante que dans la dentelle
que font les ombres sur le gazon.
Là se rencontre ce qui nous reste,
ce qui pèse et ce qui nourrit,
avec le passage manifeste
de la tendresse infinie.
Mais à ton centre la calme fontaine,
presque dormant en son ancien rond,
de ce contraste parle à peine,
tant en elle il se confond.
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Orchard
Never is the earth more solid than
in your branches, O fair orchard,
Nor more floating than in the lacework
the shadows make upon the grass.
There we meet what remains to us,
what has weight and nourishes us,
along with the manifest passing
of infinite tenderness.
But at your heart the calm fountain,
almost asleep in its ancient circle,
speaks hardly at all of these contrasts,
so much are they mixed up in it.
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-- Rainer Maria Rilke
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-- Translated by Grant E. Hicks
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Hindemith: Apparebit Repentina Dies
I
Apparebit repentina
dies magna Domini,
fur obscura velut nocte
improvisos occupans.
Brevis totus tum parebit
prisci luxus saeculi,
totum simul cum clarebit
praeterisse saeculum.
Clangor tubae per quaternas
terrae plagas concinens,
vivos una mortuosque
Christo ciet obviam.
De caelesti judex arce,
majestate fulgidus,
claris angelorum choris
comitatus aderit.
Erubescet orbis lunae,
sol et obscurabitur,
stellae cadent pallescentes,
mundi tremet ambitus.
Flamma ignis anteibit
justi vultum judicis,
caelos, terras, fluctus maris
et profundi devorans.
Gloriosus rex sedebit
in sublimi solio;
angelorum tremebunda
circumstabunt agmina.
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I
The great day of the Lord will suddenly
appear
like a thief in the dark of night befalling
the unwary.
All the brief splendor of the ancient
world then shall appear
just as it becomes clear and all the world
will vanish.
The din of the trumpet sounding through
the four quarters of the earth
summons the living and the dead
together to meet with Christ.
From His heavenly citadel the Judge,
resplendent with majesty,
will come along with shining choirs of
angels.
The orb of the moon will redden, the sun
will go dark,
stars will dim and fall, the course of the
earth will tremble.
Flame of fire will go before the Will of
the Just Judge,
devouring the heavens and earth, the
flows of the sea and of the depths.
The glorious King on high will sit on the
throne
surrounded by quaking hosts of
angels.
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II
Hujus omnes ad electi
colligentur dexteram,
pravi pavent a sinistris
hoedi velut fetidi.
'Ite' dicet rex a dextris
'regnum caeli sumite,
pater vobis quod paravit
ante omne saeculum;
'Karitate qui fraterna
me juvistis pauperem,
karitatis nunc mercedem
reportate divites.'
Laeti dicent 'Quando, Christe,
pauperem te vidimus?
te, rex magne, vel egentem
miserati fuimus?'
Magnus illis dicet judex
'Cum juvistis pauperes,
panem, domum, vestem dantes,
me juvistis humilem.'
Nec tardabit a sinistris
loqui justus arbiter
'In Gehennae maledicti
flammas hinc discedite;
'Obsecrantem me audire
despexistis mendicum,
nudo vestem non dedistis,
neglexistis languidum.'
Peccatores dicent 'Christe,
quando te vel pauperem,
te, rex magne, vel infirmum
contemnentes sprevimus?'
Quibus contra judex altus
'Mendicanti quamdiu
opem ferre neglexistis
me sprevistis improbi.'
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II
All the chosen shall gather to His
Right;
the wicked will tremble at his Left like
stinking goats.
"Go," the King will say to the right,
"take up the Kingdom of Heaven
which the Father has prepared for you
before all time.
"Ye who helped me with brotherly love
when I was poor
now, wealthy, take back your reward of
love."
Happy, they will say, "When, O Christ,
did we see you as pauper
or, O Great King, did we pity Thee when
needy?"
The Great Judge will say to them,
"When ye did help the poor
and gave food, clothing and shelter ye
helped me when I was low."
Nor shall the Just Referee delay, He
will say to the left,
"Depart ye accursed into the flames of
Hell,
"Ye did despise hearing me as a beggar
beseeching,
ye clothed me not when naked, and
neglected me when weak."
The sinners shall say, "O Christ, when
did we Thee as pauper,
O Great King, or when sick
contemptuously despise thee?"
The High Judge will reply, "As long as
ye to the beggar
help denied, did ye wicked despise
me."
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III
Retro ruent tunc injusti
ignes in perpetuos,
vermis quorum non moritur,
ignes nec restringuitur,
Satan atro cum ministris
quo tenentur carcere,
fletus ubi mugitusque,
strident omnes dentibus.
Tunc fideles ad caelestem
sustollentur patriam,
choros inter angelorum
regni petent gaudia.
Urbis summae Jerusalem
introibunt gloriam,
vera lucis atque pacis
in qua fulget visio,
Xristum regem jam paterna
claritate splendidum
ubi celsa beatorum
contemplantur agmina.
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III
Then the unjust are swept back into
eternal fires
with immortal worms and limitless
fires
Where Satan with his ministers are held
in the dark prison
where everybody weeps, groans and
gnashes their teeth.
Then the faithful are taken away to the
Heavenly Fatherland
among choirs of angels they seek the joys
of the Kingdom.
They will enter into the glory of the
highest city of Jerusalem
in which shines a true vision of light and
peace.
Where Christ the splendid King in
fatherly glory
is contemplated by the exalted hosts of
the blessed.
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IV
Ydri fraudes ergo cave,
infirmantes subleva,
aurum temne, fuge luxus,
si vis astra petere.
Zona clara castitatis
lumbos nunc praecingere,
in occursum magni regis
fer ardentes lampades.
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IV
Therefore beware the cunning of Ydros,*
support the sick,
reject gold, flee debauchery if you want
to seek the stars.
Gird your loins with the pure girdle of
chastity
Bring burning torches to the meeting
with the Great King.
*Ydros: "a watersnake, and hence, the Devil."
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-- Anon. 5th-7th century
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-- Translated by Bernard S. Greenberg
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A. Gabrieli: O Sacrum Convivium
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O sacrum convivium
in quo Christus sumitur,
recolitur memoria passionis eius,
mens impletur gratia,
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.
Alleluia.
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O sacred banquet
in which Christ is consumed,
the memory of his passion is recalled,
the mind is filled with grace,
and an assurance of future glory is given to us.
Alleluia.
-- Translated by Grant E. Hicks
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G. Gabrieli: Deus, Qui Beatum Marcum
Heinrich Schütz: Psalm 150 -- Alleluia, Lobet den Herren
Translations copyright (c) 1996 by Bernard S. Greenberg (Apparebit) and Grant E. Hicks (others).
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