SEATTLE PRO MUSICA
KAREN P. THOMAS, CONDUCTOR
shall not be denied
Streamed concert
March 20, 2022

Land acknowledgement
Seattle Pro Musica acknowledges that our performances take place on Indigenous land: the traditional territory of Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Dkhw’Duw’Absh, or Duwamish, “The People of the Inside.” Learn more about the tribe at duwamishtribe.org.

These performances are supported in part by the following.

PROGRAM ORDER

SEATTLE PRO MUSICA - the full choir

Sorida
Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962)
A joyful greeting song in the Shona language of Zimbabwe.
Composed in 2002. Sung in Shona and English. Length: 3:30.
Soloists: Sarah Bergquist, Amy Peer, Liz Reed Hawk, Elizabeth Sanders, Katie Skovholt
Percussion: Audra Anderson, Mark Yeary

Read more about the composer >

  • 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
Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
The composer’s response to the 1883 sonnet “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, which is on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty.
Composed in 2016. Sung in English. Length: 3:40.

Read more about the composer >

  • 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
Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980)
Based on passages from Hamlet, in which Queen Gertrude brings news of the death of Ophelia.
Composed in 2014. Sung in English. Length: 5:00.

Read more about the composer >

  • 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
Mari Esabel Valverde (b. 1987)
A lushly chromatic setting of the famous 19th-century Romantic love poem.
Composed in 2009. Sung in German. Length: 5:30.

Read more about the composer >

  • 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!

ORPHEON - our select tenor-bass ensemble

Sangeetham
Shruthi Rajasekar (b. 1996)
Sangeetham (“music” in Sanskrit) uses elements from both the Western classical and Carnatic (South Indian classical) traditions. The final line captures the core message of the text: "The shining truth is that the core of my being is music."
Composed in 2019. Sung in Sanskrit. Length: 5:00. Soloist: Kaelee Bolme.

Read more about the composer >

  • 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.

CHROMA - our select soprano-alto ensemble

Lux Lucis
Karen P. Thomas (b. 1957)
Three motets on texts by the 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen that explore themes of light, hope, and purity.
Composed in 2003. Sung in Latin. Length: 12:00.

Read more about the composer >

Read text and translation

  • 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.

Tuttarana
Reena Esmail (b. 1983)
“Tuttarana” combines two words: the Italian word ”tutti” meaning ”all” or ”everyone,” and the term ”tarana”, a specific Hindustani (North Indian) musical form whose closest Western counterpart is the ”scat” in jazz.
Composed in 2014. Length: 3:00.

Read more about the composer >

(The only text for this piece is the word “Tuttarana.”)

SEATTLE PRO MUSICA - the full choir

Sunflower (from The Earthmakers)
Carol (Kia) Sams (b. 1945)
From The Earthmakers, an oratorio about the beginnings of the world that presents the creation myths of different cultures.
Composed in 1987. Sung in English. Length: 2:40.

Read more about the composer >

  • 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
Shruthi Rajasekar (b. 1996)
“She sends out her raw heart. When she stands her full height, the world goes mute. She encompasses everything.”
Composed in 2016. Sung in English. Length: 3:20.

Read more about the composer >

  • 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
Melinda Bargreen (b. 1957)
Sumptous harmonies envelop the listener in this beautiful setting of a 14th-century Spanish pilgrimage text.
Composed in 2009. Sung in Latin. Length: 6:00.

Read more about the composer >

  • 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.

VOX - our select mixed-voice ensemble

Choral de Bêtes
Christina Whitten Thomas (b. 1979)

Four evocative character studies of animals: the fierce lion, the vulnerable lamb, the peaceful whale, the spirited gazelle.
Composed in 2006. Sung in French. Length: 12:00.

Read more about the composer >

Read text and translation

  • 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.

NOTE: The following two pieces are not part of the streamed performance but are available separately on our YouTube channel. Links to watch these videos will be provided by March 20, 2022.

Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal
Alice Parker (b. 1925)
A beloved arrangement of the tune originally found in The Southern Harmony, a shape note compilation of hymns, tunes, psalms, and songs from 1834.
Composed in 1967. Sung in English. Length: 2:20. Soloist: Helen Anderson.

Watch the video on YouTube >

Read more about the composer >

  • 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…

Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord
Undine S. Moore (1904-1989)
A fiery setting of the Biblical story of Daniel surviving the lion’s den unharmed.
Composed in 1952. Sung in English. Length: 2:00. Soloists: Robert Wade, Christopher Rule.

Watch the video on YouTube >

Read more about the composer >

  • 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

SEATTLE PRO MUSICA SINGERS

Members of smaller ensembles noted as follows: * Vox, + Chroma, ^ Orpheon

  • 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 *^

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  • Isabelle Phan, French language coach

  • Arvind Narayanan, Sanskrit language coach

  • Seetha Narayanan, Sanskrit translation

Special Thanks

  • Don Boelter, David Horton, Carl Setzer — Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, Washington

  • Wes Kim

  • 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