Concert Program
Amazing Grace
from Ower the Hills
Traditional Melody
arr. Stephen Hatfield
Nicole Wright, violin
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fear relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
Faith is the bird that feels the light
Elizabeth Alexander
Rabindranath Tagore, from Fireflies
Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta in 1861, where he was exposed from an early age to both Indian and Western culture and thought. A prolific writer of poems, stories and novels, he is best known for Gitanjali, a book of poems about divine and human love. Tagore was also a musician and songwriter; two of his songs are now the national anthems of Bangladesh and India. The quote on which this song is based is taken from Fireflies, a collection of 256 epigrams and short verses from Southeast Asia.
Faith is the bird that feels the light
and sings when the dawn is still dark.
Cloths of Heaven
Eleanor Daley
Text: W.B. Yeats - 1865-1939
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
Sing, Wearing the Sky
Jake Runestad
Nicole Wright, violin
Joe Tange, percussion
Lalla, a 14th century Sufi-mystic poet from the Kashmir region of India, believed strongly in the development of the self while reaching enlightenment. The metaphor of dancing while feeling free or naked exemplifies the beauty of empowerment and self-worth. This work uses influences of Classical Indian music and other vocal effects to allow Lalla's message to come to life.
Excerpts of poetry by Lalla
Meditate within eternity.
Don't stay in the mind.
The soul, like the moon,
is new, and always new again.
Since I scoured my mind
and my body, I too, Lalla,
am new, each moment new.
My teacher told me,
live in the soul.
When that was so,
I began to go naked,
and dance.
Dance, Lalla, with nothing on
but air. Sing, Lalla,
wearing the sky.
Look at this glowing day!
What clothes could be more
beautiful, or more sacred?
English translation by Coleman Barks
No Time
Traditional Camp Meeting Song
arranged by Susan Brumfield
Rise, oh fathers rise,
let's go meet 'em in the skies,
we will hear the angels singing
in that morning .
Oh I really do believe
that just before the end of time,
we will hear the angels singing
in that morning.
No time to tarry here,
no time to wait for you,
no time to tarry here,
for I'm on my journey home.
Brothers, oh fare ye well,
brothers, oh fare ye well,
brothers, oh fare ye well,
for I'm on my journey home.
Sisters, oh fare ye well,
sisters, oh fare ye well,
sisters, oh fare ye well,
for I'm on my journey home.
Kafal Sviri
Tanya Parvanova, text
Petar Liondev, music
Kafal sviri, mamo,
gore dole, mamo,
pod seloto.
Ya shte ida, mamo,
da go vida, mamo,
da go chuya.
Ako mi e nashencheto,
shte go lyuba den do pladne,
ako mi e yabandjiche,
shte go lyuba dor do jivot.
A kaval plays, mother,
up there, down there, mother
below the village.
I am going to see it, mother,
to see it
and hear it.
If he is one of ours,
I will love him from dawn till dusk,
If he is a stranger,
I will love him all my life.
Truth
Andrea Ramsey, composer
Gardenia Bruce, text
Joe Tange, percussion
My roots are earth, Muddy river and honeysuckle
Sturdy and rigid, like farmhouse planks.
I shared a sisterhood with the amber grasses
My dreams climbed endlessly like the kudzu in July.
I shared a sisterhood with the amber grasses
My dreams climbed endlessly, no fear in sight.
In nature, in naive youth,
All the forest was possible
All the pasture was my own,
My mother told me I was beautiful
And I believed her then. Why shouldn't I?
There is no doubt in a pond,
Insecurity does not grow in a meadow,
It will not sprout beneath the Southern pines.
It is planted by the boys on the school bus
Tended by the words of small minds,
And words may wound you, But are they true?
You are beautiful, You are enough,
You must believe in that, believe the truth.
My roots are earth, Muddy river and honeysuckle
My roots are beautiful, my roots are strong.
Japanese Folk Song
arr. Ro Ogura
ほ ほ ほたる こい
あっちの みずは にがいぞ
こっちの みずは あまいぞ
ほ ほ ほたる こい
ほ ほ やまみち こい
ほたるの おとさん かねもちだ
どうりで おしりが ぴかぴかだ
ほ ほ ほたる こい
やまみち こい
ひるまは くさばの つゆの かげ
よるは ぽんぽん たかじょうちん
天じく あがり したれば
つんばくろに さらわれべ
ほ( ほ ほたる こい
あっちの みずは にがいぞ
ほ ほ ほたる こい
こっちの みずは あまいぞ
ほ ほ ほたる こい
ほ ほ やまみち こい
あんどの ひかりを ちょとみて こい
ほ ほ ほたる こい
ほ ほ やまみち こい
ほ ほ ほ ほ ほ ほ ほ
Ho, ho, fireflies come!
Over there the water is bitter
Over here the water is sweet
Ho, ho, fireflies come!
Ho, ho, come by the mountain road!
The fathers of the fireflies are rich
It's natural, their glittering backs,
Ho, ho, fireflies come!
Ho, ho, come by the mountain road.
At daytime, behind leaves with dew,
At night, high up like a lantern,
If it goes up to heaven
It will be kidnapped by swallows.
Ho, ho, fireflies come!
Over there the water is bitter,
Ho, ho, fireflies come!
Over here the water is sweet.
Ho, ho, fireflies come!
Ho, ho, come by the mountain road,
Take a glance at the light of the lantern,
Ho, ho, fireflies come!
Ho, ho, come by the mountain road,
Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!
Bandyrowe
Traditional Irish Folk Song
arr. Susan Brumfield
Jean Ritchie sung this song as a lullaby to her children
As I was goin’ to Bandyrowe
Kitty alone and I,
Saw a crow a flyin’ low,
and a cat a-spinnin’ tow:
Kitty alone and I, rock-a-ma-rye-rie.
Way up yonder above the moon,
Kitty alone and I,
Way up yonder above the moon,
a bluebird sits in a silver spoon.
Kitty alone and I, rock-a-ma-rye-rie.
As I was goin’ to Bandyrowe
Kitty alone and I,
Next come in was a little bee,
Drawin’ a fiddle across his knee.
Kitty alone and I, rock-a-ma-rye-rie.
Love Me or Leave Me
Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson
Arranged by Rosana Eckert
John Sims, bass
Joe Tange, percussion
Love me or leave me, and let me be lonely;
You won't believe me, but I love you only
I'd rather be lonely than happy with somebody else.
You might find the night time the right time for kissing,
but night time is my time for just reminiscing,
regretting instead of forgetting with somebody else.
There'll be no one unless that someone is you
I intend to be independently blue
I want your love, but I don't want to borrow
To have it today and give back tomorrow:
For my love is your love and no love for nobody else.