Shining Night
Madrigalia’s Fall 2011 Recording Release
Notes on the Program
While music about the day-lit hours can be wondrous and expansive, or lively and charming, there is something about the darkness, the moon, and the stars that makes the evening an undeniably enchanting and captivating source of inspiration. In this scintillating program of night music, Madrigalia explores a variety of repertoire including several staples of the 20th Century choral canon, arrangements of African-American spirituals, works by some of the 21st Century’s most prominent composers, a few lesser known gems, and two premiere recordings: Gwyneth Walker’s Every Night When the Sun Goes Down (1996), and Cary Ratcliff’s By Moonlight (2009) with the composer at the piano.
Our recording begins and ends with a quintessential evening poem. James Agee’s ‘Sure on This Shining Night’ never fails to give chills and inspire wonder with its potent alliteration and breathtaking images of vastness. From Agee’s first published collection of poetry, Permit Me Voyage (1934), ‘Sure on This Shining Night,’ evokes both the tenderness and the expansiveness of the universe beheld in the summer night sky by a lone wanderer. Agee’s text bookends our recording in two choral settings, one by Samuel Barber (1910-1981), the other by Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943). Barber’s work is his own choral arrangement of an original solo song. Lauridsen’s is from a set of choral songs entitled Nocturnes, commissioned for the 2005 convention of the American Choral Directors Association.
Gwyneth Walker’s setting of the Appalachian tune, Every Night When the Sun Goes Down was commissioned by the Thetford Chamber Singers in Thetford, VT, in memory of their accompanist, Diana Grimo. It has been performed by many ensembles, but has never been commercially recorded until now. In this song of hope and healing, Dr. Walker uses her trademark ostinato of “la, la, la”s to depict the fluttering of silver angel wings as the spirit of a loved one passes overhead through the night sky.
Madrigalia has enjoyed a long and rewarding relationship with Rochester composer, Cary Ratcliff, having sung and recorded much of his choral music over the last twenty years. Madrigalia premiered Cary Ratcliff’s By Moonlight in 2009, when the composer guest conducted a concert of his own music with the ensemble. Two years later, it is thrilling to revisit this piece and to record it with the composer at the keyboard. May Sarton’s moving text speaks of the ecstasy and the painful conflict of love that can only exist by light of moon. Ratcliff’s intensely passionate harmonies, imaginative exploration of texture, and extraordinary sensitivity to the text have made this a deeply satisfying work to learn and perform. Ratcliff is currently preparing a new commission for Madrigalia to be premiered in May of 2012.
This recording project has been amazing opportunity for us to grow as an ensemble and to more deeply explore this repertoire we love. We hope that you will find it to be an enchanting listen and a recording that you can return to time after time to find a moment of peace.
Track Listing
1. Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Sure on This Shining Night, Op. 13, No. 3
Text: James Agee (1909-1955)
2. Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947): Every Night When the Sun Goes Down (1996)
Text: Traditional Appalachian
Soloist: Jordan Wilson
3. André Thomas, Arr. (b. 1952): Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning
Text: African-American Spiritual
4. Moses Hogan, Arr. (1957-2003): This Little Light of Mine
Text: African-American Spiritual
Soloists: Allyn Van Dusen and Jordan Wilson
5. Tarik O’Regan (b. 1978): Threshold of Night (2006)
Text: Kathleen Raine (1908-2003)
Soloists: Heather Watras, Allyn Van Dusen, Erin Gonzalez, Dan McInerney, and Jeff Tabor
6. John Rutter (b. 1945): Golden Slumbers, from Five Traditional Songs
Text: Thomas Dekker (c. 1572-1632)
7. Peter de Rose, Arr. Andrew Carter and David Blackwell: Deep Purple
Text: Mitchell Parish (1900-1993)
8. Cary Ratcliff (b. 1953): By Moonlight (2009)
Text: May Sarton (1912-1995)
9. Frank Ticheli (b. 1958): There Will Be Rest
Text: Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)
10. Camille Saint-Säens (1835-1921): Calme des Nuits, Op. 68, No. 1
Text: Saint-Säens
11. Samuel Barber: The Coolin, Op. 16, No. 3, from Reincarnations
Text: James Stephens (1882-1950)
12. Eric Whitacre (b. 1970): Sleep (2000)
Text: Charles Anthony Silvestri (b. 1965)
13. Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Serenade, Op. 73, No. 2 (1914)
Text: Nikolai Minsky (1855-1937) trans. and adapt. by Rosa Newmarch (1857-1940)
14. Eric Whitacre: With A Lily in Your Hand
Text: Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) Translated from the original Spanish by Jerome Rothenberg
15. Morten Lauridsen: Sure on This Shining Night
Text: James Agee