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1
Ave Maria
Giulio Caccini
(1546-1618)
As music director for the Medici Court in Florence in the early 17th
century, Caccini developed a new, monodic concept of song where
an expressive melody is accompanied by block chords rather than
the traditional, elaborate polyphony. The Ave Maria is a beautiful
example of this technique. I imagine Galileo overhearing this
song one afternoon in the palace as he tutors young Don Cosimo
de' Medici.
To Listen MP3
2
Ave Maria
Franz Schubert
(1797- 1828)
This
most famous Ave Maria was originally written as part of a setting
of songs from Sir Walter Scott's Lady Of The Lake. The
more familiar text was interpolated into the melody at a later
date. This new arrangement acknowledges the original while stepping
respectfully into the present.
To Listen MP3
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3
Annunciation To Mary
Russell Walden (b. 1948)
The
text for this piece is an adaptation of "The Annunciation
To Mary" from Rilke's Das Marienleben. The lure of
the poem was Rilke's ability to compress a moment both ominous
and luminous into a spiritual singularity, and the invitation
to compose a vocalise for the archangel.
When
the angel stepped in, he did not take her by surprise,
It was as though a ray of sunlight or moonlight
had entered her room,
No, she did not even blink!
But
when he bent close his youthful face
she looked into eyes that looked into hers,
their gaze so powerful that the world outside was suddenly empty
and the multitudes' visions, their deeds and their burdens
all were crowded into them: just she and he;
this girl, this angel, this spot.
And they both were astonished.
Then
the angel sang his melody.
—Rainer
Maria Rilke, from Das Marienleben
translated & adapted by Alice Van Buren and Russell Walden
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4
Rejoice, O Virgin
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Opus
37, No. 6 from Rachmaninoff's liturgical masterwork The All-Night
Vigil - music composed to celebrate the eves of holy days
in the Russian Orthodox Church and traditionally sung without
accompaniment. This orchestrated arrangement incorporates both
the original Russian and the English translation of the distinctive
Eastern Ave Maria distinctive for the presence of Theotokos,
literally, the God-Bearer, and for the absence of peccata,
our manifold sins. The piano obbligato was inspired by the 2nd
movement of the Scriabin piano concerto, a favorite of Russell's
and a gesture to a sensibility shared by Rachmaninoff and Scriabin
when they were fellow students at the Moscow Conservatory.
5
Ave Maria
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Elgar
was organist for St. George's Roman Catholic Church in Worcester,
England when he composed his Ave Maria for a cappella choir
in 1887. It was published as Opus 2, No. 2. This arrangement for
solo voice begins quietly and reverently, then transforms into
an energetic celebration of the anthemic writing that characterizes
Elgar's later choral achievements. Elgar chose to repeat the supplicant
"ora pro nobis" (pray for us) rather than close with
the traditional "in hora mortis" (in the hour of our
death), effectively holding us in the living light of salvation.
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6
Aramaic Lord's Prayer
Russell Walden
This
is a setting of the Lord's Prayer as translated from the Aramaic
by Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz. The revelation of this language is
in the duality of the spirit ("Father-Mother of the Cosmos")
as contrasted to the strict patriarchy we are so accustomed to.
Indeed, rather than imploring to be delivered from evil, we are
encouraged to discover and embrace our individual gifts ("free
us from what holds us back"). It is as though we can peer
into the murky palimpsest of scripture and clearly discern the
first words!
O
Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos,
you who creates all that moves in light.
Focus your light within us, make it useful:
Create your reign of beauty now
through our fiery hearts and willing hands,
your one desire then acts as ours,
as in all light, so in all forms.
Grant what we need each day in bread and insight.
Loose the cords of mistakes binding us as we release the strands
we hold of other's guilt.
Don¥t let surface things delude us,
but free us from what holds us back.
From you is born all ruling will,
the power and life to do, the song that beautifies all,
from age to age it renews.
Truly, power to these statements,
may they be the ground from which all my actions grow.
Sealed in trust and faith. Amen
—translation
of the Aramaic Lord's Prayer by
Neil Douglas-Klotz from Prayers Of The Cosmos:
Meditations On The Aramaic Words Of Jesus
7
Ave Verum Corpus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
The
Ave Verum was written in the last year of Mozart's life
and remains one of the most poignant pieces in choral literature.
It is paired with the Barber Crucifixion on this CD as
a tableau of Mother and Son on the last day of His mortal life.
The text uses two defining events of Christ's life, His birth
and sacrifice, to assure the presence of the "true body"
in the Eucharist. The arrangement begins with solo voice, then
modulates and repeats as a duet. There is an ineffable perfection
to Mozart's rising melody line that begins with the text, "Esto
nobis..."
Ave
verum Corpus
natum ex Maria Virgine.
Vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine.
Cujus latus perforatum,
unda fluxit et sanguine.
Esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.
Hail
true body,
born of the Virgin Mary,
which truly suffered and was sacrificed
on the cross for mankind.
from whose pierced side
flowed water and blood.
May we have tasted of you when
we come to the hour of death.
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8 The Crucifixion
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
The
text for The Crucifixion derives from an ancient collection
of Irish homilies known as The Speckled Book (Leabhar Breac).
They were written partly in Latin and partly in Irish and constitute
the most remarkable Irish ecclesiastical record of the period.
An unknown Christian scribe wrote the vivid words of this passion
scene sometime in the 12th century. The "cry of the first
bird" is a musical motif throughout the brief composition.
At
the cry of the first bird they began to crucify Thee, O Swan!
Never shall lament cease because of that. It was like the parting
of day from night. Ah, sore was the suffering borne by the body
of Mary's Son, But sorer still to Him was the grief which for
His sake came upon His Mother.
—from the Hermit Songs, Op. 29
9
Suor Angelica
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
The
arrangement knits together two thematic elements of Puccini¥s
exquisite one act opera Suor Angelica, which is traditionally
presented as the second act of the trilogy Il Trittico.
It debuted in New York in 1918.
Set
in the 17th century, the libretto tells the story of a young noblewoman
banished to a convent after the birth of her illegitimate child.
Seven years later her domineering aunt arrives at the convent
to demand that Suor Angelica renounce her inheritance in favor
of her sister, and callously relates that the young child has
died two years previously. Distraught, Suor Angelica determines
to take her own life, using her knowledge as the resident herbalist
to brew a poison. Having drunk the poison she is horrified by
the realization that she is committing a mortal sin and she implores
the Virgin for Her pardon. The chapel fills with light as a host
of angels and the Queen of Heaven appear leading the child to
the dying woman. The miracle shines forth radiantly, as does the
miracle of Puccini¥s melodic gift.
To Listen
MP3
10
Ave Virgo Gloriosa
Russell Walden
The
text is an anonymous medieval poem exalting the Eternal Feminine.
Historically, it may belong to the tradition of marginalia, written
in a fit of self-expression along the edge of an ornate illumination
by a weary monk, perhaps encouraged by a few fingers of locally
fermented grog. The melody came quickly and joyfully - a paean
to The Virgin Mother accompanied by a distant piper and a universal
heartbeat.
To Listen MP3
11
The Way Of Mary
Russell Walden
In
the course of this project Natalie and I were awakened to the
reverence for Mary in Islam and her role as a bridge builder to
other religious traditions. An entire chapter of the Qur'an is
devoted to Her and the ecstatic poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi sings
of her perfection and ultimate humanity. Often inscribed over
the mihrab, a prayer niche in the eastern wall of all mosques
that aligns the faithful with Mecca, is a passage from the Qur'an
that honors Her. A burning lamp may be found within or suspended
alongside the mihrab symbolizing Divine Presence in the heart
of the believer. Mary dwells with that essence as the blue of
the flame. It was particularly gratifying to learn that the poem
on which The Way Of Mary is based was written by a 14th
century Sufi woman a fitting conclusion for this collection.
There
are as many paths to God as the children of God have breaths,
but of all the paths to God the Way of Mary is the sweetest and
gentlest of all.
—Hajja Muhibba
as
translated by Andrew Harvey in Mary's Vineyard
Quest Books,
Wheaton, IL
© 1996, Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut
(Shaik
Hamid quote on Home page also from Mary'sVineyard )
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