Lincoln Center + New York Philharmonic
David Geffen Hall Open House Weekend
October 29, 2022 | 11:30am
PROGRAM
Ave Generosa
Ola Gjeilo
lyrics, Hildegard von Bingen
Jaakobin pojat
Pekka Kostiainen
How Can I Keep From Singing / El Azubiyyeh
Robert Lowery & Sabah Fahkri,
arr. Rachel DeVore Fogarty & Faraj Abyad
Its Motion Keeps
Caroline Shaw
lyrics, The Southern Harmony #98
BYC Commission
Biking Through Time
Paola Prestini
lyrics, Maria Popova
BYC Commission
The Ragged and the Beautiful
Julia Adolphe
lyrics, Safiya Sinclair
BYC Commission
Truth is told, not fed
Alev Lenz
BYC Commission, World Premiere
The Road Home
Tune: "Prospect" from Southern Harmony
adapted by Stephen Paulus
The Long and Winding Road
Paul McCartney & John Lennon
arr. Rachel DeVore Rogarty
The Frost
Erin Propp
arr. Absalon Figueroa
PERFORMERS
Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Dianne Berkun Menaker, Founder & Artistic Director
Megan Lemley, Executive Director
Concert Ensemble
Dianne Berkun Menaker, Conductor
Chelsey Hill, Chorus Manager
Bass Ensemble
Scott Semanski, Conductor
Shala Way, Chorus Manager
Instrumentalists
Devin Moore, Viola
Geremy Schulick, Guitar
Caleb van der Swaagh, Cello
Concert Ensemble
Allegra Advincula
Melina Ahmad
Trilliane Bergeron
Leah Brown
Lily Brown
Palmares Bustamante
Maya Chatterjee
Greta Currah
Maggie Dicus
Pia Dorosin
Margot Ehrsam
Matilda Endres
Arianne Fahie
Sofia Galperin
Sadie Gesser
Kendall Hollmon
Stella Kear
Stevie Kim-Rubell
Vivian Kravet
Amelia Levenson
Amaranthe Lirenman
Harmonie Lirenman
Bianca Martinez
Faith Monroe
Lucy Nadoban
Maahika Nair
Nia Nelson
Sylvie Oates
Violet Paris-Hillmer
Jadesola Pedro
Sophie Penenberg
Ellie Powell
Renee Ricevuto
Reaiah Roberts
Kiki Rosenberg
Amelia Sammons
Lydia Schulze
Niko Sembo
Josie Shehadi
Scarlett Staiano
Elise Struthers
Vaikuntha Tamayo
Eve van den Brulle
Bass Ensemble
Aedan Alexander-Mullen
William Brady
Kemal Cater
Carter Hollmon
Naveen Menezes
Thomas Rose
Benjamin Ryan
Kendall Stirrup
Samuel Vega
Emmanuel Gray
Jesus Rosa
PROGRAM NOTES AND LYRICS
Ave Generosa
Ola Gjeilo
lyrics, Hildegard von Bingen
Libretto
Ave, generosa,
gloriosa et intacta puella,
Tu pupilla castitatis,
Tu materia sanctitatis,
Que Deo placuit
Jaakobin pojat
Pekka Kostianen
Libretto
Ruuben, Simeon, Leevi, Juuda,
Daan, Naftal, Gaad, Asser, Isaskar, Sebulon,
Joosef ja Benjamin.
Jaakobin poikka
Jaaobin poikka kaikkiki
How Can I Keep From Singing / El Azubiyyeh
Robert Lowery & Sabah Fahkri,
arr. Rachel DeVore Fogarty & Faraj Abyad
Libretto
El Azubiyyeh talit alayya.
El Azubiyyeh talit alayya.
Umikhatbili ya mama wah hadi sabiy yah.
Umikhatbili ya mama wah hadi sabiy yah.
El azubiyyeh talit alayya.
El Azubiyyeh talit alayya.
Umikhatbili ya mama wah hadi sabiy yah.
Umikhatbili ya mama wah hadi sabiy yah.
My life flows on in endless song
above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the sweet though far off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul
how can I keep from singing?
What tho’ my joys and comforts die?
I hear the truth it liveth
What tho’ the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night it giveth
No storm can shake my in most calm
while to that rock I’m clinging
Since love is Lord of heav’n and earth
how can I keep from singing?
I lift my eyes, the clouds grow thin
I see the blue above it.
And day by day this pathway smooths
Since first I learned to love it
The love I’ve found makes fresh my heart
a fountain ever springing.
When friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?
No storm can shake my in most calm
while to that rock I’m clinging
When friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep, how can I keep, how can I keep
El Azubiyyeh talit alayya.
El Azubiyyeh talit alayya.
Umikhatbili ya mama wah hadi sabiy yah.
Umikhatbili ya mama wah hadi sabiy yah.
From singing, singing, singing, singing, singing, singing, singing
El azubiyyeh singing, singing, singing, singing, singing
Its Motion Keeps
Caroline Shaw
BYC Commission
Composer Note
Britten's attraction to his native English folk songs and hymns comes through in so much of his music, from his choral and opera works to his chamber music and vocal arrangements. Taking a step in that direction, and then sideways and back and around, Its Motion Keeps is based on the words from the first verse of the American shape note hymn Kingwood, found in The Southern Harmony (1835) and other early 19th century hymn books. (Very likely it is a text that immigrated from England.) It begins with a palindromic viola pizzicato line that gestures to the continuo lines of Henry Purcell, to whom Britten wrote several homages. The choir echoes this contour at first and soon splits into swift canonic figures like those found in "This Little Babe" from Britten's Ceremony of Carols, eventually expanding into the "swirling spheres" above string arpeggiations in a texture that recalls the vivace movement of his second string quartet (one of his homages to Purcell). The ecstatic double choir section evokes the antiphonal sound of the early English choral tradition, with harmonies overlapping overhead in the reverberant stone cathedrals, creating brief dissonances while one sound decays as the next begins. The last line, "Time, like the tide, its motion keeps; Still I must launch through endless deeps," is just one of those perfect, beautiful lyrics — resilient and bittersweet.
Libretto
My days
My weeks
My months
My years
My days
Your weeks
Their months
Our years
Fly rapid as the whirling spheres
Fly rapid as the whirling spheres
Time, like the tide, its motion keeps.
Still I must launch through endless deeps.
Time, like the tide, its motion keeps.
Still I must launch through endless deeps.
Biking Through Time
Paola Prestini
BYC Commission
When Dianne came to me with an idea for a new piece, she gave me a set of questions. I settled on the prompt-Who can a girl be - and what can a girl do? and the idea of gender messaging. I quickly fell into Maria Popova's The Marginalian, and the Don'ts for how to ride a bicycle, through time. Between that list, and other blogs Maria compiled, which included the map of a woman's heart illustrated in Victorian Times, I created a dramaturgy of the do's and don'ts for women through time, with the idea of biking through time, and our rights.
Libretto
Victorian Times
a map of my heart
we love sentimentality, we love display.
in us a land of selfishness and one of admiration.
we love to dress. we love display.
we’re cracked by a sea of wealth
our hearts are so simple
you can read us like a map
the open country of our hearts
in Victorian times, eighteen ninety five.
don’t be a fright!
faint on the road
wear a man’s cap
don’t wear tight garters, don’t forget your toolbag
don’t attempt century, don’t coast
boast of your long rides, wear loud le-
wear clothes that don’t fit!
don’t neglect a light’s out cry, don’t race
don’t wear laced boots, chew gum
let your blond hair flow down your back
don’t allow dear Fido to accompany you
don’t scratch, don’t ignore, don’t discuss, don’t scream
don’t try to ride in your brother’s clothes to see how it feels.
don’t scream if you meet a cow.
if she sees you first she will scream
don’t over do, don’t allow, don’t discuss, don’t scream
1960’s: Spain
nineteen sixties in Spain.
women shall not appear on the streets of this village
with dresses that are too tight in those places
which provoke the evil passions of men
they must never wear dresses that are too short
it is shameful for women to walk
every woman who appear in the streets
must wear stockings
at the age of twelve
girls must begin to wear dresses
that reach to the knee
and stockings all the time
and no short sleeves
little boys must not appear in the
streets with their upper legs bare
girls must never walk in out of way places
to do so is both immoral and dangerous
no decent woman wears trousers
what they call modern dancing is
strictly forbidden
no decent woman or girl is ever seen on a bike.
1970: USA
nineteen seventies USA!
no credit cards, fired for being pregnant
no front lines, no jury
no ivy league education
you may not fight
sexual harassment in the work place
you may not take birth control
you must comply with your husband
you may ride a bike!
The Ragged and the Beautiful
Julia Adolphe
BYC Commission
In writing “The Ragged and the Beautiful” I wanted to create a poem that might personally resonate with each member of the Chorus. After my wonderful conversation with all of you, I was so moved by your generosity and openness, and I was deeply inspired by your written messages. I thought about my own experiences as an adolescent who was bullied and made to feel strange in my own body, and how similar my experiences were with yours. I wanted to write about what it feels like to be a stranger to yourself, to be seen as strange by others, to feel bullied or like an outcast because of what your skin or body or hair was like. Or where you came from. Or what your religion might be. I wanted to start the poem by acknowledging those doubts of being a young person in the world who might not fit a “normal mold,” but I wanted to end on a hopeful note. I wanted to give Julia (and all of you) something hopeful to set music to. My aim in choosing the specific words and meaning of this poem was the hope that when you sing these words, you might feel its truth somewhere in your heart-root. Finally, I wanted you all to know that beauty comes in many forms, that you are all beautiful despite what others may say, and I wanted you to have the power to affirm your own beauty by singing it out loud, and out loud, and out loud in your own voices.
When Dianne Berkun-Menaker shared with me her beautiful theme of Silent Voices, I immediately thought of the incredibly powerful voices of the talented, young chorus members of BYC. Like the BYC musicians, I grew up in NYC singing with friends my age, and I remember how unbelievably empowering it was to express myself through song. I also remember the difficulties that come with being a child, and a teenager, striving to understand and assert your unique identity and independence in a world of conflicting, oppressive messages of conformity and subservience. Safiya and I chose to explore what it means to feel underrepresented as a young person exposed to bullying, unsupported by the familial, educational, or government institutions that are meant to protect our freedoms and help build our sense of self. The Ragged and the Beautiful strives to reclaim and redefine the doubt that permeates a young person's mind, and to move towards an embrace of one's uniqueness and individuality.
Libretto
Doubt is a storming bull, crashing through
the blue-wide windows of myself. Here in the heart
of my heart where it never stops raining,
I am strange and unbelonging. I am an outsider
looking in. But in the garden of my good days,
no body is wrong. Here every flower grows ragged
and sideways and always beautiful. We bloom
with the outcasts, our soon-to-be sunlit, we dreamers.
Yes. We are just enough of ourselves
to catch the wind in our feathers,
and fly so perfectly away.
Truth is told, not fed
Alev Lenz
BYC Commission, World Premiere
Truth is our center, truth is central - a shared civic reality holds the social body together and without truth, it will not hold. So how do we sing about truth? How do we call out into the world the importance of truth? How do we call in truth? We share. We connect. We connect to wisdom, and not just knowledge. We engage. We expand our hearts and we listen. Truth is told, not fed.
Libretto
They say the truth got out
How?
Like rain from cloud!
Oh wow
Truth is round
What?
It won’t fit in a square
How do they dare?
Truth can’t be fed, it will only be told
Would you recognise me?
What have you created?
Was it lining pockets?
What’s the shape of your dreams?
Where is your mirror?
Where is your friend?
404ed
Who was shaping your fears?
Truth won’t be fed, it will only be told
There was a little being
The center being self
So concerned with all the shapes
Putting all of them away
It took to outer space
With all the shapes of self
And died in outer space
Looking only at itself
Salt what you eat
Kiss your grandmother’s feet!
A light to the center it won’t blind
Truth is
A light to center not on you
Truth is
A light through center
I see you
Truth is
A light through center
You see me
I see your face on the other side
The truth got out!
How?
Like rain form a cloud!
Oh wow
Truth is round - what?
It won’t fit in a square - how do they dare?
Truth can’t be fed, it will only be told
The future is us.
Where is your mirror, where is your friend?
Where is you 404ed?
Who is shaping your fears?
Truth won’t be fed, it will only be told
I see your face on the other side!
I see your face on the other side
Like rain from a cloud
The Road Home
Tune: “Prospect” from Southern Harmony, 1835
Adapted by Stephen Paulus
Libretto
Michael Dennis Browne
Tell me where is the road I can call my own,
That I left, that I lost so long ago?
All these years I have wander’d,
Oh when will I know
There’s a way,
There’s a road that will lead me home?
After wind, after rain,
When the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream
In the gold of day,
Through the air there’s a calling
From far away,
There’s a voice I can hear that will lead me home.
Rise up, follow me,
Come away is the call,
With love in your heart
As the only song;
There is no such beauty as where you belong,
Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.
The Long and Winding Road
Paul McCartney and John Lennon
Arranged by Rachel DeVore Fogarty
Libretto
The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me here
Lead me to you door
The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day
Why leave me standing here?
Let me know the way
Many times I've been alone
And many times I've cried
Anyway, you'll never know
The many ways I've tried
And still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me standing here
A long, long time ago
Don't leave me waiting here
Lead me to your door
But still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me standing here
A long, long time ago
Don't keep me waiting here
Lead me to your door
The Frost
Erin Propp
Libretto
The frost beckoned me out of my bed
the damp night had ushered it in.
I threw my woolen sheets down to the floor
and I welcomed the winter song in.
The snowshoes buckled upon my feet
I waded the snow sea to sing.
And it all came clear inside of my mind
that the summer had been colder than spring.
You came out of the woods when I called you.
You came out of the woods when I called you.
The summer had melted my pride and my will
And it hardened my heart like a stone.
Now this winter it blew with the north wind a chill
and awakened a love from of old.
I said, “What am I, Lord, to see such a frost?
Not a good deed since I’d left my bed.”
And I trode along just a singing this song
and the frost made a crown for my head.
You came out of the woods when I called you.
You came out of the woods when I called you.
You saved my soul, you saved my soul.
Hallelujah, you saved my soul.
The frost came down, my hair was a crown.
Hallelujah, you came when I called you.
You can out of the woods when I called you.