Sorida

Greetings, my brothers. Greetings, my sisters.
Greet ev’rybody. Love one another.
Wave to your brothers. Wave to your sisters.

Her beacon-hand beckons
text by Caroline Shaw, responding to the 1883 sonnet “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, which was mounted on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903

Her beacon-hand beckons:
give
give to me
those yearning to breathe free
tempest-tossed they cannot see
what lies beyond the olive tree
whose branch was lost amid the pleas
for mercy, mercy
give
give to me
your tired fighters fleeing flying
from the
from the
from
let them
i will be your refuge
i will be your refuge
i will be
i will be
we will be
we will

Ophelia

There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows its hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide,
And mermaid-like a while they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes,
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
(Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
You promised me to wed.)
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.
Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia,
And therefore I forbid my tears.

Still wie die Nacht

Still wie die Nacht
As quiet as the night

und tief wie das Meer,
and deep as the sea,

soll deine Liebe sein!
your love should be!

Wenn du mich liebst,
If you love me

so wie ich dich,
the same as I love you,

will ich dein eigen sein.
I want to be yours.

Heiß wie der Stahl
As hot as steel

und fest wie der Stein
and as firm as a rock,

soll deine Liebe sein!
your love should be!

Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal

Hark, I hear the harps eternal
Ringing on the farther shore,
As I near those swollen waters,
With their deep and solemn roar.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,
Praise the Lamb,
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Glory to the great I AM.

And my soul though stained with sorrow,
Fading as the light of day,
Passes swiftly o’er those waters
To the city far away. Hallelujah…

Souls have crossed before me, saintly,
To that land of perfect rest;
And I hear them singing faintly
In the mansions of the blest. Hallelujah…

Seigneur, je suis roi, c’est un fait.
Lord, I am King, that is the law.

Vous savez comme il est difficile de porter la crinière.
You know that it is difficult to wear a crown.

Certains, dans leur gouvernement,
Some people, in their leadership,

préconisent l’amour.
recommend love.

Quelle naïveté!
How naïve!

Moi je sais à quoi m’en tenir avec la créature,
I know how to rule over the creatures,

elle n’a de respect que pour la force.
they have respect only for strength.

Disons que la crainte est salutaire.
Let us say that fear is good.

Et pour moi faire trembler la savane
And for me to make the plain tremble

d’un rugissement, quel délice!
with my roar, how delightful!

Pourtant loin de moi la bassesse
Yet I would not do anything baseless

et la mesquinerie.
or mean.

Je sais le prix d’un coeur noble.
I know the price of a noble heart.

C’est pourquoi, Seigneur,
That is why, Lord,

j’aime tant Votre grâce pour pouvoir m’y mesurer.
I love Your grace and try to measure up to it.

Quenouille à quatre pattes
A spindle on four legs

qui s’effiloche aux buissons,
which frays on the bushes,

Seigneur, je suis Votre agneau
Lord, I am Your lamb

dans ma douceur de laine.
in the softness of my wool.

Mon bêlement fait sa note grêle
My bleating sends its high pitched sound

dans le coeur des brebis,
into the heart of the ewe.

ma toison sa tache frisée
My fleece throws its curly shadow

sur l’herbe rase.
on the cut grass.

Voyez, Seigneur, ma joie cabriole,
Look, Lord, my joy leaps,

mais veille en moi
but I need

l’inquiet besoin de ma mère.
the care of my mother.

Que je coure vers elle,
Let me run towards her,

hésitant de mon petit pas cassé,
hesitating with my wavering footsteps,

cueillir un peu sa tendresse.
so I might gather some of her tenderness.

Ah! Ne permettez pas, Seigneur,
Ah! Do not allow, Lord,

qu’un triste jour elle me manque!
that one sad day I will miss her!

Qui pourrait me contenir,
What could contain me,

Seigneur, si ce n’est Votre océan?
Lord, if not Your ocean?

Sans doute une plaisanterie divine cette démesure.
Without a doubt a divine joke is my size.

Ne suis-je pas quelque peu ridicule
Am I not a little bit ridiculous

avec mes airs de baudruche?
with my blubbery appearance?

Paisible léviathan, mon jet d’eau sur le nez,
A peaceful leviathan, with a fountain on my nose,

je me nourris de régime.
and a nourishing diet.

Dans mon cas tout le problème
In my case the only problem

est de choisir entre l’air et les eaux.
is to choose between the air and the water.

Chassée pour mon onction intérieure,
Chased for my body oil,

je redoute ces baleiniers et leurs harpons de fer
I dread the whalers and their harpoons of iron

qui me poursuivent sans merci.
who pursue me without mercy.

Je n’ai pas demandé d’avoir tant de surface.
I did not ask to have such a large body.

Où me cacher de la convoitise des hommes?
Where can I hide from the desires of these men?

Ah! Seigneur, que quelque heureux plongeon
Oh! Lord, That some fortunate dive

me fasse déboucher dans l’éternelle paix.
would allow me to emerge into eternal peace.

Rapide, légère,
Quick, light,

le coeur enlacé de crainte sauvage,
my heart surrounded by savage fears,

toujours prête à bondir à la suite du vent,
everyday ready to spring up in pursuit of the wind,

au moindre bruit, au moindre cri,
at the smallest noise, at the softest cry,

je Vous bénis, Seigneur, de ne pas m’avoir mesuré l’espace.
I bless You, Lord, for not limiting my space.

Et si je fuis sur mes pattes graciles
So that I may escape on my slender legs

dans un élan de flèche
and bound away like an arrow,

mes petits sabots effleurant à peine le sol,
my little hooves barely touching the ground.

je ne méprise pas la paix de Vos points d’eau.
It is not that I scorn the peace of Your waterhole.

Mais que ma vie, Seigneur,
But my life, Lord,

soit toujours la course en ligne droite
will always race along the pathway

vers le refuge de Votre amour.
towards the refuge of Your love.

Sangeetham
text by Dr. B. M. Sundaram, translated by Nirmala Rajasekar

bAloham mAthru bhakthOham
I am a young man with high regard for my mother

sangeetha kalayAm preethOham
who worships the art of music.

shrOthOham athi balaheenam
Though the path is long and hard,

samastha guru kripa purnOham
I have the blessings of my gurus

nyAthOham parashrama vAnOham
to persevere and succeed

jeethOham kOvida gAnoham
such that my music is known to all.

neythOham lOka prasidhOham
The shining truth is that

mama balasyamUlam sangeetham
the core of my being is music.

O virtus Sapientie,
O energy of Wisdom!

que circuiens circuisti,
You circled, circling,

comprehendendo omnia
encompassing all things

in una via que habet vitam,
in one path possessed of life.

tres alas habens,
Three wings you have:

quarum una in altum volat
one of them soars on high,

et altera de terra sudat
the second exudes from the earth,

et tertia undique volat.
and the third flutters everywhere.

Laus tibi sit, sicut te decet, o Sapientia.
Praise to you, as befits you, O Wisdom!

O lucidissima
O most luminous

apostolorum turba,
band of apostles,

surgens in vera agnitione et aperiens
arising in true knowledge and opening

clausuram magisterii diaboli,
the enclosure of the devil’s teaching,

abluendo captivos
washing his captives

in fonte viventis aque,
in a font of living water:

tu es clarissima lux
you are the most radiant light

in nigerrimis tenebris,
in the blackest darkness.

fortissimumque genus columnarum,
You are a mighty row of pillars

sponsam Agni sustentans
supporting the Lamb’s bride

in omnibus ornamentis ipsius:
in all her beauty.

per cuius gaudium
Through his joy,

ipsa mater et virgo est vexillata.
she is mother and standard-bearing virgin.

Agnus enim immaculatus
For the immaculate Lamb

est sponsus ipsius sponse immaculate.
is the bridegroom of his immaculate bride.

O nobilissima viriditas
O most noble greenness,

que radicas in sole
you are rooted in the sun,

et que in candida serenitate luces in rota
and you shine in bright serenity in a sphere

quam nulla terrena excellentia comprehendit:
no earthly eminence attains.

Tu circumdata es
You are enfolded

amplexibus divinorum ministeriorum.
in the embraces of divine ministries.

Tu rubes ut aurora
You blush like the dawn

et ardes ut solis flamma.
and burn like a flame of the sun.

Sunflower
poem by Jackie Leven

What sower walked over earth?
Which hands sowed our inward seeds of fire?
They went out from his fists like rainbow curves to
frozen earth, young loam, hot sand.
They will sleep there greedily and drink up our lives
and explode them into pieces,
for the sake of a sunflower that you haven’t seen,
or a thistlehead or a chrysanthemum.
Let the long rain of tears fall.
Let the calm hands of grief come,
it’s not all as evil as you think.

Raw Heart

The sun is warm, the horizon soft and vague. The air is cool. She sends out her raw heart.
Circling rings expand with light.
She feels open and sore as she stands before the light, the Great Spirit, the essence, the mystery.
Legs and feet tingle as she stretches tall. Pine-filled air, rhythm of prayer, slightly swaying.
As she stretches, heat rises. When she stands her full height, the world goes mute. She encompasses everything.

— Excerpts from The Long-Shining Waters © Danielle Sosin, 2011

Stella splendens

Stella splendens in monte
A star shining on the mountain,

et solis radium miraculis serrato.
miracles like the rays of the sun.

Exaudi populum concurrunt universi
Hear the people coming together,

gaudentes populi
everyone rejoicing,

divites et egeni
rich and poor,

grandes et parvuli
young and old,

ipsum ingrediuntur
they gather

et cernunt occuli
to see with their own eyes

et inde revertuntur
and return from there

graciis repleti
full of grace

hic: Ave Maria.
here: Hail Mary.

Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord

Oh, the king cried,
Oh, Daniel, Daniel, oh!
That Hebrew Daniel,
Servant of the Lord.

Among the Hebrew nation,
One Hebrew Daniel was found
They put him in the lion's den
He stayed there all night long.

Now the King in his sleep was troubled
And early in the morning he rose
To find God sent His angels down
To lock the Lion's jaws.

Oh, the king cried,
Oh, Daniel, Daniel, oh!
That Hebrew Daniel,
Servant of the Lord

Helen Anderson
Jordan Berg *+
Lauren Carr
Marisa Dahlman *+
Katie Skovholt *+
Jenny Spence *+

Jonna Farley
Elly Hale +
Carole Jones
Meaghan Leferink +
Tami McTaggart +
Emi Nakamura +
Teresa Nemeth
Jenn Newland
Ada Ng *
Amy Peer *+
Kristin Percy Calaff
Christa Phillipson
Joy Portella
Jan Strand +
Catherine Wolff

Audra Anderson
Sarah Bergquist
Jordan Brattain
Fiona Hatfield
Teena Littleton *+
Rose Morrison +
Corina Rahmig +
Marit Trelstad
Janelle Walhout
Hannah Won *+

Liz Adams
Deb Arnold
Shirley Beresford
Gail Broder
Cathy Federici *
Mara Forster-Smith *
Nancy Haver
Helen Lafferty
Liz Langeland
Karen Maneman
Liz Reed Hawk *+
Elizabeth Sanders *+

Jacob Bernado *^
Kaelee Bolme *^
Jacob Buys *^
David Dodman *^
Matthew Li

Peter Budny *^
David Carpman
Geoff Cunard
Luke Raffanti
Danny Szydlo *^
Vésteinn Þórsson ^
Robert Wade

Jim Bartscher *^
Ryan Gao *^
Peter Hemmen
Lee Maneman *^
Robin Wyatt-Stone *^
Mark Yeary ^

Matthew Bosley *^
Daniel Froehlich
Tom Lin
James Mayclin
Ernie Omondi *^
Jon Repp *^
Chris Rule *^

Karen P. Thomas, Artistic Director & Conductor

Katie Skovholt, Executive Director

Dwight Beckmeyer, Accompanist

Jenn Newland, Stage Manager

Wes Kim, President
Anne Clamoungou, Vice President
Rick Johnson, Treasurer
Jan Strand, Corporate Secretary
Beth Alley
Paul Henderson
Shadia Kawa
Meaghan Leferink
Briana Schwartz
Kenn Sebastian
Kacey Stevens
Robert Wade

Dean Arnold
Keith Axelsen
Mona Dworkin
Samuel F. Dworkin
Mike Evans
Phil Haas
Noreen King
Teena Littleton
Terri Lords
Katie Oman
Joy Portella
John Schilling
Dale Whitehead