Masters of the Lyric and Profound
Benjamin Britten and Maurice Duruflé
Saturday, May 20, 2000 at 8:00 pm.
Church of the Advent, 30 Brimmer Street, Boston
Benjamin Britten
Hymn to St. Cecilia, Cantata Misericordium
Maurice Duruflé
Requiem
Program Notes Performing Artists Review from The Boston Globe
Texts and translations
Hymn to St. Cecilia
Benjamin Britten
Words by W. H. Auden
| I |
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In a garden shady this holy lady
With reverent cadence and subtle psalm,
Like a black swan as death came on
Poured forth her song in perfect calm:
And by ocean's margin this innocent virgin
Constructed an organ to enlarge her prayer,
And notes tremendous from her great engine
Thundered out on the Roman air.
Blonde Aphrodite rose up excited,
Moved to delight by the melody,
White as an orchid she rode quite naked
In an oyster shell on top of the sea;
At sounds so entrancing the angels dancing
Came out of their trance into time again,
And around the wicked in Hell's abysses
The huge flame flickered and eased their pain.
Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire.
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| II |
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I cannot grow;
I have no shadow
To run away from,
I only play.
I cannot err;
There is no creature
Whom I belong to,
Whom I could wrong.
I am defeat
When it knows it
Can now do nothing
By suffering.
All you lived through,
Dancing because you
No longer need it
For any deed.
I shall never be
Different. Love me.
Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire.
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| III |
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O ear whose creatures cannot wish to fall,
O calm of spaces unafraid of weight,
Where Sorrow is herself, forgetting all
The gaucheness of her adolescent state,
Where Hope within the altogether strange
From every outworn image is released,
And Dread born whole and normal like a beast
Into a world of truths that never change:
Restore our fallen day; O re-arrange.
O dear white children casual as birds,
Playing among the ruined languages,
So small beside their large confusing words,
So gay against the greater silences
Of dreadful things you did: O hang the head,
Impetuous child with the tremendous brain,
O weep, child, weep, O weep away the stain,
Lost innocence who wished your lover dead,
Weep for the lives your wishes never led.
O cry created as the bow of sin
Is drawn across our trembling violin.
O weep, child, weep, O weep away the stain.
O law drummed out by hearts against the still
Long winter of our intellectual will.
That what has been may never be again.
O flute that throbs with the thanksgiving breath
Of convalescents on the shores of death.
O bless the freedom that you never chose.
O trumpets that unguarded children blow
About the fortress of their inner foe.
O wear your tribulation like a rose.
Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire.
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Cantata Misericordium
Benjamin Britten
Text by Patrick Wilkinson
CHORUS
Beati misericordes.
Beati qui dolore corporis
afflictis succurrunt.
Audite vocem Romani: |
CHORUS
Blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are those who succour
the afflicted in body.
Hear the voice of a Roman: |
TENOR
'Deus est mortali iuvare mortalem.' |
TENOR
'For man to love man is God.' |
CHORUS
Audite vocem Iudaei: |
CHORUS
Hear the voice of a Jew: |
BARYTONUS
'Proximum tuum, sicut te
ipsum, ama.' |
BARITONE
'Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself.' |
TENOR ET BARYTONUS
At proximus meus quis est? |
TENOR AND BARITONE
But who is my neighbour? |
CHORUS
Iesu parabola iam nobis fiat
fabula. |
CHORUS
Let us enact now a parable of
Jesus. |
| * * * |
* * * |
CHORUS
En viator qui descendit ab
Ierusalem in Iericho. |
CHORUS
Behold a traveller going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho. |
VIATOR (Barytonus)
Ah quam longa est haec via,
quam per deserta loca. Terret
me solitudo, terret omnis
rupes, omne arbustum. Insidias
timeo. Heus, asine, propera,
propera. |
TRAVELLER (Baritone)
Ah how long this way is, how
desolate the country! I am
afraid of the solitude, of every
rock, of every shrub. I fear an
ambush. Hey, donkey, hurry,
hurry. |
CHORUS
Cave, viator, cave! Latent istis
in umbris latrones. Iam
prodeunt, iam circumstant.
Cave, viator, cave! |
CHORUS
Beware, traveller, beware!
Robbers are lurking in those
shadows. Now they are coming
forward, now they are
surrounding you. Beware,
traveller, beware! |
VIATOR
Qui estis homines? Cur me sic
intuemini? Atat! Plaga! Atatae!
Pugnis, fustibus vapulo. Iam
spolior, nudor. Quo fugit
asinus? Eheu relinquor humi
prostratus, semivivus, solus,
inops. |
TRAVELLER
What men are you? Why do
you look at me like that? Oh, a
blow! Oh! Oh! Fists and
cudgels! Robbed and stripped!
Where has my donkey gone?
Alas, I am left prostrate on the
ground, half dead, alone,
helpless. |
CHORUS
Ubi nunc latrones isti? Quam
cito ex oculis elapsi sunt.
Solitudo ubique, solitudo et
silentium. Quis huic succurret
in tanta vastitate? |
CHORUS
Where have those robbers
gone? How quickly they have
vanished. Solitude everywhere,
solitude and silence. Who will
help this man in such a
wilderness? |
| Passage of time: Orchestra |
CHORUS
Bono nunc animo es, viator.
Nam tibi appropinquat iter
faciens qui habitu est sacerdos.
Is certe sublevabit. Compella
eum. |
CHORUS
Be of good cheer, traveller:
there is someone approaching
along the road who by his dress
is a priest. Surely he will rescue
you. Hail him. |
VIATOR
Subveni, ah subveni: ne patere
me mori. |
TRAVELLER
Help, oh help me: do not let
me die. |
CHORUS
Dure sacerdos, quid oculos
avertis? Quid procul praeteris?
Ut praeterit, ut abit ex oculis
homo sacerrimus. |
CHORUS
Hard-hearted priest, why do
you look away, why do you
pass by on the other side? See,
he is passing by, he is vanishing
from sight, the accursed holy
man! |
| Passage of time: Orchestra |
CHORUS
En alter in conspectum venit.
Tolle rursus, abiecte, animos.
Qui accedit est Levita. Is certe
sublevabit. |
CHORUS
Look, another is coming in
sight. Raise your spirits,
outcast, again. The man who is
coming is a Levite. He surely
will rescue you. |
VIATOR
Fer opem, fer opem atrociter
mihi vulnerato. |
TRAVELLER
Give me aid, give me aid: I am
terribly wounded. |
CHORUS
O ferrea hominum corda! Hic
quoque conspexit iacentem,
praeteriit, acceleravit gradum.
Timetne cadaveris ne tactu
polluatur? I nunc, sacrosancte
Levita, cordis tui
praescriptiones inhumanas
observa. |
CHORUS
Oh the hard hearts of men!
This one too saw him lying
there, passed by and hastened
his pace. Is he afraid of being
polluted by touching a corpse?
Go on, sacrosanct Levite,
observe the inhuman
prescriptions of your heart. |
| Passage of time: Orchestra |
CHORUS
Ecce, tertius apparet -- sed
languescit spes auxilii: nam
propior videtur esse
contemptus Samaritanus. Quid
interest Samaritani Iudaei
negotia suscipere molesta? |
CHORUS
See now, a third is appearing --
but hope of relief is fading: for
from near he is seen to be only
a despised Samaritan. What
interest has a Samaritan in
taking up the troublesome
affairs of a Jew? |
VIATOR
Miserere mei, hospes, afflicti. |
TRAVELLER
Pity me, stranger, pity me: I am suffering. |
SAMARITANUS (Tenor)
Ah, di boni! Quid audio? Quid
ante pedes iam video? Iacet hic
nescioquis immania passus.
Age, primum haec vulnera
adligem. Ubi mihi vinum? Ubi
oleum? Sursum, iam sursum
imponam te in tergum iumenti
mei. |
SAMARITAN (Tenor)
Ah, good gods! What do I
hear? What do I see before my
feet? Here lies someone who
has been horribly treated.
Come, first let me bind up
these wounds. Where is my
wine, my oil? Up, now I will lift
you up on to the back of my
beast. |
CHORUS
Vincit, ecce, vincit tandem
misericordia. Hic pedes ipse
comitatur eum in deversorium. |
CHORUS
Triumph! Mercy is triumphing
at last. This man is
accompanying him to an inn
himself on foot. |
SAMARITANUS
Ohe, caupo, siquid audis: aperi
portam. Viatorem adfero a
latronibus spoliatum. Aperi,
quaeso . . . Benigne.
Para nobis cenam, caupo, para
cubiculum, amabo. Mihi cras
abeundum erit. Cura hunc dum
convalescat. Dabo tibi duos
denarios. |
SAMARITAN
Ho, innkeeper, do you hear?
Open the door. I have with me
a traveller who has been
stripped by robbers. Open,
please . . . Thank you.
Prepare us supper, innkeeper,
and a room, please. Tomorrow I
shall have to go on. Look after
this man till he gets better. I
will give you two denarii. |
VIATOR
Iam rursus revivesco. Iam spes
in animum redit. Optime
hospitum, quis es? Unde es
gentium? Salvus quomodo tibi
gratias referam dignas? |
TRAVELLER
I am coming back to life again.
Hope is reviving in me. Best of
strangers, who are you? From
what people do you come? I
am saved, and how can I thank
you worthily? |
SAMARITANUS
Quis sim, unde sim gentium,
parce quaerere.
Dormi nunc, amice, dormi:
iniuriarum obliviscere. |
SAMARITAN
Who I am, and what my
people, ask no more.
Sleep now, my friend, sleep:
forget your injuries. |
| * * * |
* * * |
CHORUS
Mitis huius adiutoris qui
servavit saucium
Proximumque sibi duxit
hospitem incognitum,
O si similes existant ubicumque
gentium!
Morbus gliscit, Mars incedit,
fames late superat;
Sed mortales, alter quando
alterum sic sublevat,
E dolore procreata caritas
consociat. |
CHORUS
O that men like this gentle
helper, who saved a wounded
man and treated as his
neighbour an unknown
stranger, may be found all over
the world. Disease is spreading,
war is stalking, famine reigns
far and wide.
But when one mortal relieves
another like this, charity
springing from pain unites
them. |
TENOR ET BARYTONUS
Quis sit proximus tuus iam scis. |
TENOR AND BARITONE
Who your neighbour is, now you know. |
CHORUS
Vade et tu fac similiter. |
CHORUS
Go and do likewise. |
Requiem
Maurice Duruflé
| I. Introït |
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis. |
Rest eternal grant them, Lord,
and may perpetual light shine on them. |
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;
ad te omnis caro veniet. |
To you praise is meet, God, in Zion,
and to you vows are made in Jerusalem.
Listen to my prayer;
unto you all flesh shall come. |
| II. Kyrie |
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison. |
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. |
| III. Domine Jesu Christe |
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
libera animas omnium fidelium
defunctorum de poenis inferni,
et de profundo lacu. |
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
Free the souls of all the faithful
dead from punishment in the inferno,
and from the deep lake. |
Libera eas de ore leonis,
ne absorbeat eas tartarus,
ne cadant in obscurum. |
Deliver them from the lion's mouth,
lest the abyss swallow them up,
lest they fall into darkness. |
Sed signifer sanctus Michael
repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam,
quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus. |
But may the standardbearer St. Michael
present them in holy light,
as once you promised to Abraham
and his seed. |
Hostias et preces tibi,
Domine, laudis offerimus.
Tu suscipe pro animabus illis,
quarum hodie memoriam facimus. |
Sacrifices and prayers to you,
Lord, we offer with praise.
Receive them for the souls of those
whom today we commemorate. |
Fac eas, Domine,
de morte transire ad vitam,
quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus. |
Make them, Lord,
to pass from death to life,
as once you promised to Abraham
and his seed. |
| IV. Sanctus |
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra
gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis. |
Holy, holy, holy
Lord God of Sabaoth.
Filled are heavens and earth
with your glory.
Hosanna in the highest. |
Benedictus qui venit
in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis. |
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. |
| V. Pie Jesu |
Pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem,
requiem sempiternam. |
Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest,
rest everlasting. |
| VI. Agnus Dei |
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem,
requiem sempiternam. |
Lamb of God,
who removes the sins of the world,
grant them rest,
rest everlasting. |
| VII. Lux æterna |
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,
quia pius es. |
May eternal light shine on them, Lord,
with thy saints everlasting,
because you are merciful. |
Requiem aeternam
dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis. |
Rest eternal
grant them, Lord,
and may perpetual light shine on them. |
| VIII. Libera me |
Libera me, Domine,
de morte aeterna,
in die illa tremenda,
quando coeli movendi sunt et terra,
dum veneris judicare
saeculum per ignem. |
Deliver me, Lord,
from eternal death
on that dreadful day,
when heavens and earth shall move,
when you come to judge
the world through fire. |
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo,
dum discussio venerit,
atque venture ira.
quando coeli movendi sunt et terra. |
I am made to tremble, and to fear,
at the destruction that shall come,
and also at your coming wrath.
when heavens and earth shall move. |
Dies illa, dies irae,
calamitatis et miseriae,
dies magna et amara valde,
dum veneris judicare
saeculum per ignem. |
That day, day of wrath,
calamity and misery,
great and exceedingly bitter day,
when you come to judge
the world through fire. |
Requiem aeternam
dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis. |
Rest eternal
grant them, Lord,
and may perpetual light shine on them. |
| IX. In Paradisum |
In Paradisum deducant te Angeli;
in tuo adventu
suscipiant te martyres,
et perducant te
in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. |
May the Angels lead you into Paradise;
at your coming
may the martyrs receive you,
and conduct you
into the holy city, Jerusalem. |
Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere
aeternam habeas requiem. |
May the chorus of Angels receive you,
and with Lazarus, once a pauper,
eternally may you have rest. |
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