CRIMSON ROSES Dec 3, 2023

CRIMSON ROSES The Musica Viva NY Commissions Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 5pm All Souls NYC 1157 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10075

WELCOME TO MUSICA VIVA NY’S SECOND CONCERT OF THE 2023/24 SEASON!

A

t a time when we are witnessing relentless suffering and destruction in the world, Musica Viva NY extends an invitation to find solace and joy in our concerts. During these challenging times, for a brief respite, we seek to create an experience of peace and healing for our audience.

Appropriately, the central peace of this concert is Joe Turrin’s cantata And Crimson Roses May Once Again Be Fair, which is about World War I, and the ultimate futility of war.

An important part of Musica Viva NY’s mission is our commitment to championing living composers and enriching the choral repertoire through the commissioning of new works. Over the past decade, we have also sought to perform music by composers historically underrepresented in the classical canon.

Composers we have commissioned include Bora Yoon, Seymour Bernstein, Elena Ruehr, Joseph Turrin, Bruce Saylor, Jean-Louis Petit, Eugenio Toussaint, Gilda Lyons, Richard Einhorn, and Trent Johnson, among others. In tonight’s concert, we showcase three recent commissions by the exceptional composers Joe Turrin, Gilda Lyons, and Richard Einhorn.

By programming these compositions more than once and recording them shortly after this concert, we aim to give these works the exposure they deserve.

We are particularly excited to feature the internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, who, despite retiring from fulltime performing in 2010, is making a rare appearance due to her special connection with Joe Turrin’s music and Vera Brittain’s poem Perhaps in his cantata. Ms. von Stade says Perhaps is “such a meaningful poem for me as my Dad was killed in WWII while my Mom was expecting me. She never got over losing him so I’m creating this wonderful chance to honor her. Her name was Sara Clucas von Stade.” We certainly look forward to her performance at this concert and subsequent recording sessions.

Furthermore, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Ms. von Stade for her induction into the OPERA America Hall of Fame in January 2024!

On January 23, 2024 we invite you to a special fundraising event at The Century Association to support Musica Viva NY. Additional details are set out later in this program.

As always, thank you for coming and thank you for supporting Musica Viva NY! Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, Artistic Director Jasna Vasić, Executive Director

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Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 5pm All Souls NYC

CRIMSON ROSES The Musica Viva NY Commissions Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, Artistic Director Trent Johnson, Assistant Director of Music Musica Viva NY choir Musica Viva NY orchestra Erinn Sensenig, soprano Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano Gilda Lyons (1975 - ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Momotombo I. El tren iba rodando sobre sus rieles II. The baptism of volcanoes III. ¡Momotombo! – exclamé IV. Evocación V. Yo tenía quince años Samuel Barber (1910-1981). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adagio for Strings Richard Einhorn (1952 - ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Luminous Ground

INTERMISSION Joseph Turrin (1947- ) . . . . . . . Cantata And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

Prelude Let us remember Spring will come again – May 1915 Rejoice, friends! That we are alive Bombardment At the Front I am the Division Commander – A Lieutenant General Sings Soliloquy – The Last Meeting

VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII.-XIII

Anthem for Doomed Youth In Flanders Fields Interlude Poor Dogs The Mortars Elegy/Perhaps

Erinn Sensenig, soprano

Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano XIV.

Let us remember Spring will come again (Epilogue)

We hope you will join us for a reception downstairs after the concert.

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MEET THE ARTISTS

F

ounded in 1977, Musica Viva NY is a chamber choir of thirty professionals and highly skilled volunteers, based in Manhattan’s historic All Souls Church. Its mission is to bring world-class music to a widening community through its annual concert series, community engagement programs, and an ambitious artistic vision. Under the baton of Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez since 2015, Musica Viva NY has been praised by The New York Times as an “excellent chorus.” Musica Viva NY has toured in France (2004), Germany (2006) and Italy (2012).

Musica Viva NY regularly commissions and premieres new American music and is committed to performing the work of living American composers, women composers and composers of color, including works that are socially conscious and address social, racial or environmental issues. Since 2014, Musica Viva NY has commissioned and performed works by Bora Yoon, Seymour Bernstein, Elena Ruehr, Joseph Turrin, Alexandra T Bryant, Gilda Lyons, Richard Einhorn, Steve Reich, Frank Ticheli, Morten Lauridsen, Florence Price, Frank Ferko, Lori Laitman, Trent Johnson, George Walker, Joel Thompson, Missy Mazzoli, Randall Thompson and Jesse Montgomery, among others.

“Musica Viva NY is a treasured institution that makes living in New York a joy.” – Front Row Center Esteemed conductor and pianist Dr. Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez is Artistic Director of Musica Viva NY and Director of Music at the historic Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan. He is also Artistic Director and co-founder of the New Orchestra of Washington, and Artistic Director of the Victoria Bach Festival. He has earned accolades from The Washington Post as a conductor “with the incisive clarity of someone born to the idiom,” as well as praise from The New York Times for leading “a stirring performance” of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. At a concert commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the WWI Armistice (featuring the world premiere of Joseph Turrin’s cantata, And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair) Oberon’s Grove wrote: “Maestro Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez drew rich, warm sounds from the musicians” in “a beautiful and deeply moving program.” He is featured in El mundo en las manos/Creadores mexicanos en el extranjero (The World in Their Hands/Creative Mexicans Abroad), a book by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs honoring Mexican nationals who are leading figures in diverse artistic fields. He is the recipient of a 2016 Shenandoah Conservatory Alumni of Excellence Award for his exemplary contribution to his profession, national level of prominence, and exceptional integrity.

A passionate advocate of new music, Hernandez-Valdez has commissioned and premiered works by Joan Tower, Arturo Márquez, Joseph Turrin, Gilda Lyons, Seymour Bernstein, Viet Cuong, Juan —4—

MEET THE ARTISTS Pablo Contreras, Elena Ruehr, Ramzi Aburedwan, Jorge Vidales, Mokale Koapeng, Trent Johnson, Javier Farias, Andrés Levell, Zachary Wadsworth, Martin Spruijt, Joel Friedman, and other notable composers.

Hernandez-Valdez’s guest conducting engagements include appearances at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Lincoln Center in New York City, and the historic Degollado Theatre in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he has directed the Jalisco Philharmonic.

He resides in New York City.

Described by the New York Times as “one of America’s finest artists and singers,” Frederica von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the music world’s most beloved figures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname “Flicka,” the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for four and a half decades.

Though she retired from full-time performances in 2010, she continues to make special appearances in concert and opera.

Ms. von Stade’s career has taken her to the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. She began at the top, when she received a contract from Sir Rudolf Bing during the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut in 1970 she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. In addition, Ms. von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera.

She has made over seventy recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six GRAMMY® nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy’s Premio della Critica Discografica, and “Best of the Year” citations by Stereo Review and Opera News.

In 1998 Ms. von Stade was awarded France’s highest honor in the Arts when she was appointed as an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1983 she was honored with an award given at The White House

by President Reagan in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts. On January 26, 2024 she will be honored by OPERA America as an inductee of the 2023 Opera Hall of Fame.

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MEET THE ARTISTS Erinn Sensenig is a New York-based soprano and voice teacher active as soloist and professional choral singer. Most recently, she was heard as soprano soloist on the Poulenc Gloria with Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Chamber Choir and soprano soloist on Schubert Mass in G with Musica Viva NY. Other recent engagements include soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah and as History Teacher in Paul’s Case by Gregory Spears with Ad Astra Music Festival. Erinn sings with All Souls NYC, Musica Viva NY, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Chamber Choir, New York Virtuoso Singers, among others. Before living in NYC, Erinn worked in Dallas, TX where she sang with professional ensembles across the metroplex and TX, including Orpheus Chamber Singers, Victoria Bach Festival, Incarnation Choir, and was a founding member of Verdigris Ensemble, a choir that commissions new works and presents genre-bending performances. Erinn is also Artistic Operations Manager for All Souls NYC and Production Manager for Musica Viva NY. Erinn is a graduate of Westminster Choir College. Find full biographic information and voice studio information, please visit www.erinnsensenig.com.

MUSICA VIVA NY 2023-2024 SEASON Our remaining concerts this season: March 3, 2024

BECAUSE: Bach, Gounod, Beethoven and Bierey

Including premiere of commission from Trevor Weston May 19, 2024

PERPETUAL LIGHT: Mozart and Golijov

Special event at The Century Association on January 23, 2024

W

e are delighted to announce that David and Susan Rockefeller are hosting a very special, exclusive event at

The Century Association to support Musica Viva NY on January 23, 2024, starting at 6pm. Come for cocktails and canapés, followed by a performance by Musica Viva NY soloists of Lieder by Mahler, Strauss and Schubert, accompanied by Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez on the piano. For more information about becoming a Leadership Donor for this event, or to buy one of the limited numbers of tickets available, visit our website: www.musicaviva.org.

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM Gilda Lyons - Momotombo Nicaragua is home to a range of volcanic formations from young cinder cones and lava domes to calderas and steeply ascending stratovolcanoes. Of them all—observed throughout the ages by caciques, poets, first peoples, conquerors—the greatest may be Momotombo. Rubén Darío’s poem Momotombo embraces the eternal nature of the volcano, present through the rising and passing of epochs, while placing it in the context of an ephemeral moment approaching the volcano by train as a boy: “I was fifteen: a star in my hand!”

I was read Darío’s poetry since early childhood; my mother—born and raised in Diriamba, Nicaragua—had a deep and layered connection to his work, and she made a point of instilling in me an appreciation for his rich imagery, rhythmic drive, lyricism, and wordplay, and a love for the heart that fuels so much of his writing. In his Momotombo, Darío’s contrasting imagery is potent, with the train that keeps going, the volcano that stands seemingly unchanged for all time, and the soul that remains constant as the body changes and inevitably expires, all witness to accounts of and by people who have come and gone.

I followed this shape in this new work for chorus, tracing a line from Darío to the sources he references in his poem—Victor Hugo, from Les raisons du Momotombo; and E. G. Squier’s account of the old friars who went up the volcano and did not come back—and beyond—referencing Oviedo’s History of the Indies and a letter to court from Bartolomé de las Casas—all of which exist in the shadow of the eternal Momotombo, as the memory of a fifteen-year-old self flickers brightly, and as the train keeps going.

– Gilda Lyons

Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings The orchestral arrangement of the second movement of American composer Samuel Barber’s String Quartet (1936) premiered on November 5, 1938. It has long been associated in the United States with national periods of mourning, having been performed at the funerals of U.S. presidents (Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy) and in the days following the September 11 attacks in 2001. It was also part of the film score for Oliver Stone’s Academy Award-winning film Platoon (1986).

The Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini first brought the Adagio for Strings to wide public attention. Impressed by some of Barber’s works that he had heard in performance in Europe, he asked Barber for music that his NBC Symphony might perform. Barber provided the scores for two short works: his Essay for Orchestra (to be the first of three such “essays”) and the Adagio for Strings. Toscanini premiered both works with the NBC Symphony in a broadcast concert and recorded the Adagio soon after.

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM The work is built largely upon an ascending three-note motif and stretches out the repetition of that motif over broadly spacious phrases with dynamics that—like the shape of the melodic phrase itself—rise and fall. All the string parts, including the basses (which would not have appeared in the original string-quartet version), take turns with the deeply melancholy melody. As the music proceeds, phrases become longer and move higher in range, lending a sense of increased intensity.

A brief moment of silence appears before the last restatements of the theme. The original String Quartet, Op. 11, from which the Adagio was derived, premiered in Rome on December 14, 1936.

– Betsy Schwarm

Richard Einhorn - The Luminous Ground Richard Einhorn’s work, titled The Luminous Ground (2023), expands our interpretation of spiritual enlightenment. Einhorn’s inspiration for the work stems from Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna’s definition of “The Luminous Ground,” that which is the stage in a person’s progress towards enlightenment when “the pacifying light of wisdom dawns” and “attachment and aversion have thoroughly ceased.” This nearly unimaginable state of serenity materialized, for Einhorn, through the light sculptures of James Turrell, specifically, an installation at the Guggenheim Museum in 2013. “After writing (and rejecting) several extensive sketches that took a different approach,” Einhorn shares, “I returned to my initial impression of Turrell’s art and sought to turn its contemplative nature into a slow, gradually changing soundscape that always remains still and hushed. A wordless chorus performs long, sustained, overlapping drones that interweave with the strings. The piano plays simple chords and fragments of melody that, in the final section become a soft, chiming chord whose repetitions grow farther apart.”

– Madison Schindele

Joseph Turrin – And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair The Composition Cataclysm - the one-word description of the tragedy of World War One, which led to the deaths of over ten million human beings in battlefields from the Marne to the Middle East. Well we should mourn this cataclysmic event and continue to draw lessons from it.

“It was “The War To End All Wars,” - a senseless slaughter that set the stage for the bloodiest century in human history. Yet, it was more than just a war between nations. It was a war between what was and what was to be.

The “old world” was dying, and the new world had yet to be born. People of all classes and nations saw it as some great cleansing fire that would accelerate this battle and lead to a better world. But, when it was over, more than men had died in the mud of the battlefields. The naive dreams of progress, along with the innocence of the pre-war world, faith in God, and hope in the future all died in the trenches of Europe.” Tony Novosel —8—

ABOUT THE PROGRAM When Alejandro approached me with the idea of writing a cantata for chorus and chamber orchestra as a dedication to the ending of World War One, one hundred years ago, I immediately became interested. We eventually discussed dates, instrumentation and vocal forces and when most of the details were firm I began research on appropriate texts for the piece. What I found was an extremely voluminous amount of poetry, letters, and stories, written by the men and women who lived, fought and died during one of the most horrendous periods in our world history. My task was to find the right balance of texts that would dramatically flow throughout the piece. I literally spent months of intense research, reliving the pain, passion, and sadness that I found in many of these poems.

The one overwhelming factor was to limit the piece to about 40 minutes, which meant I needed to eliminate hundreds of texts that I often referred to as material for several cantatas. Once I selected the set of texts that I would use, I began the process of composing. So I immersed myself into the darkness of what was WWI. Two films I remembered so vividly were All Quiet on the Western Front and Stanly Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, both of which I studied again. These films are not about heroism but about the harsh reality, disillusionment and futility of war.

The cantata title And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair is a line from the poem “Perhaps”, written in 1916 and one of the first poems I found

by Vera Brittain, a nurse who served on the front lines. Her fiancée was killed in battle four months after his proposal to her. It was this poem that became the inspiration for the cantata.

The Poets Charlotte Mary Mew was born in London on November 15, 1869. Her poetry was well regarded by Ezra Pound, Siegfried Sassoon, and Virginia Woolf. In her poem “May 1915,” Mew talks about the mourners who have lost themselves because of the ways in which they are intimately joined to those who have died. In this world of loss, the mourners exist in a place where time itself seems to have stopped. They are blind to the fragments of life that surround them in their brokenness, unable to see or believe that anything will change. Mew took her own life on March 24, 1928.

Bruno Frank was born in 1887 in Stuttgart, Germany. He published his first poetry collection at age 18. Frank enlisted in the German army during World War I and saw action on the Russian front. He was severely wounded there and spent several years recuperating at his home in Bavaria. After his recovery he embarked on a very successful career as a novelist and playwright. Frank and his family fled the Nazi uprising throughout Europe, eventually settling in Beverly Hills. Bruno Frank died there on June 20, 1945.

Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, born in 1886, was an English poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, Sassoon became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of trench warfare and satirized the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon’s view, were responsible for a —9—

ABOUT THE PROGRAM jingoism-fueled war. Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war in his “Soldier’s Declaration” of 1917, culminating in his admission to a military psychiatric hospital; this resulted in his forming a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him.

Alfred Lichtenstein, born in 1889 in Berlin, Germany. A writer and poet who was not destined to grow old, he was killed at age 25 on September 25, 1914 near Vermandovillers, Somme, France. 28 years later his mother and siblings were murdered by the Nazis.

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, born March 18, 1893, was an English soldier and became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His work depicted the horrors of trenches and gas warfare, was heavily influenced by his mentor Siegfried Sassoon, and stood in stark contrast to both the public perception of war and the confidently patriotic verse written by other war poets. Owen was killed in action on November 4, 1918 during the crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal, exactly one week (almost to the hour) before the signing of the Armistice. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant the day after his death.

John McCrae, MD, born November 30, 1872, was a Canadian poet, physician, author, and artist. He served during World War I as a soldier, and as a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. McCrae is best known for writing the famous war memorial “In Flanders Fields”.

Though various legends have developed as to the inspiration for the poem, the most commonly held belief is that McCrae wrote “In Flanders Fields” on May 3, 1915, the day after presiding over the funeral and burial of his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who had been killed at Ypres. The poem was written as he sat upon the back of a medical field ambulance near an advance dressing post at Essex Farm, just north of Ypres. The poppy, which was a central feature of the poem, grew in great numbers in the spoiled earth of the battlefields and cemeteries of Flanders.

McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war.

Albert-Paul Granier was born in 1888 in Le Croisic on the Atlantic coast of Brittany. He was a talented sportsman, musician, and poet. Compulsory national service in France required him to serve in the army from 1911 to 1913 where he trained as an artillery officer. He was recalled to the army in August 1914 and served on the Western Front. He became an airborne artillery observer and was shot down and killed over the battlefields of Verdun on August 17, 1917.

Vera Mary Brittain, born December 29, 1893, was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, and pacifist. Her bestselling 1933 memoir Testament of Youth recounted her experiences during the First World War and the beginning of her journey towards pacifism. Brittain’s 1916 poem “Perhaps” is dedicated to her fiancé Roland Aubrey Leighton (1895-1915), killed at age 20 by a sniper. Brittain was 21 at the time of Leighton’s death and had accepted his marriage proposal barely four months earlier.

– Joseph Turrin — 10 —

TEXTS Gilda Lyons, Momotombo I. EL tren iba rodando sobre sus rieles EL tren iba rodando sobre sus rieles. Era en los días de mí dorada primavera y era en mí Nicaragua natal.

EL tren iba rodando sobre sus rieles. yo tenía quince años: una estrella en la mano! y era en mí Nicaragua natal.

EL tren iba rodando sobre sus rieles.

De pronto, Suddenly, between a canopy of trees, I saw “Ô vieux Momotombo, colosse chauve et nu...” Ô vieux Momotombo, «calvo y desnudo», and full of ancient triumphal pride.

EL tren iba rodando sobre sus rieles. yo tenía quince años: una estrella en la mano!

I was fifteen: a star in my hand!

EL tren iba rodando sobre sus rieles.

Rubén Darío, from Momotombo, 1907 Victor Hugo, from Les raisons du Momotombo, La Légende des siècles, 1859 II. The baptism of volcanoes The baptism of volcanoes is an old practice... the ceremony was performed early after the Conquest on all the volcanoes in Nicaragua, with the exception of Momotombo.

The old friars who started for its summit to set up the cross there were never heard from again.

E. G. Squier, special chargé d’affaires of the United States to the Republics of Central America from Travels in Central America, particularly in Nicaragua, 1853 III. ¡Momotombo! -exclamé A league and a half from the city of León is a very high mountain on the other side of the lake... from the highest — 11 —

TEXTS peak rises smoke without ceasing...

There, no year passes without the earth shaking many times. ¡Momotombo! -exclamé- ¡oh nombre de epopeya! ¡Oh Momotombo ronco y sonoro!

I have been in that city fleeing to the streets I counted in a single night sixty or so, one after another... ...it is a cause of much fear Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, 1535 General and Natural History of the Indies, and Islands and Lands of the Oceanic Sea, part three, volume IV, 1855 Rubén Darío, from Momotombo, 1907 IV. Evocación Know your grace, que este reino de Nicaragua es... un paraíso ...such abundance, such good health and the gentleness of its people.

Oh Momotombo... Te amo Oh Momotombo... I love you because at your evocation they come to me again, porque a tu evocación vienen a mí otra vez, perfumes de mí infancia, brisas de mí niñez. pride...

Bartolomé de las Casas, de una carta a un personaje de la corte, 1552 Rubén Darío, from Momotombo, 1907 V. yo tenía quince años Momotombo stood lyrical and sovereign, I was fifteen: a star in my hand!

El tren...

Rubén Darío, from Momotombo, 1907

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TEXTS Joseph Turrin And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair Prelude (orchestra) I. Let us remember Spring will come again – May 1915 (Charlotte Mew) Let us remember Spring will come again To the scorched, blackened woods, where all the wounded trees Wait, with their old wise patience for the heavenly rain, Sure of the sky: sure of the sea to send its healing breeze, Sure of the sun. And even as to these Surely the Spring, when God shall please Will come again like a divine surprise To those who sit to-day with their great Dead, hands in their hands, eyes in their eyes, At one with Love, at one with Grief: blind to the scattered things and changing skies.

II. Rejoice, friends! That we are alive (Bruno Frank) Rejoice, friends! that we are alive And that we’re young and vigorous.

Never has there been a year like this, And never has youth been so blessed For we can stand and we can march Where the morning dawns and the evening sinks.

The greatest of all epochs Puts its mark upon our young hearts.

And no matter what may befall any one of us He shall have seen this proud year.

III. Bombardment (Siegfried Sassoon) Four days the earth was rent and torn By bursting steel, The houses fell about us; Three nights we dared not sleep, Sweating, and listening for the imminent crash Which meant our death.

The fourth night every man, Nerve-tortured, racked to exhaustion, Slept, muttering and twitching, While the shells crashed overhead.

The fifth day there came a hush; We left our holes And looked above the wreckage of the earth To where the white clouds moved in silent lines Across the untroubled blue. *Copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon.

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TEXTS IV. At the Front (Anonymous) Every day as we fight our way through mud and the rain, And we lie there in our trenches, Shivering with pain so cold and hungry, feeling numb. We all know that tomorrow will bring more useless dying.

So we may fight to the end, Give our all to country, And maybe if we are lucky soldiers, We may get through this war after all.

And the rain, the rain goes on dripping incessantly.

But still the din of battle goes on, hammering a-way, In the distance legions of death, are begging to us to come and join them, ready or not. And we go on with no end in sight.

We pray, O Lord, have mercy on our souls.

V. I am the Division Commander - A Lieutenant General Sings (Alfred Lichtenstein) I am the Division Commander, His Excellency.

I have attained what is humanly possible.

A lovely consciousness.

In front of me Important people and chiefs of regiments Bend their knees, And my generals Obey my commands.

God willing, my next command will be An entire military corps.

Women, drama, music Do not interest me much.

Compared to parades and battles, That does not amount to much.

Would that there were an endless war With bloody, howling winds.

Ordinary life Has no charm for me. * Translation by Robert Levine, Sheldon Gilman & Harry Radford.

Used by permission VI. Soliloquy – The Last Meeting (Siegfried Sassoon) I know that he is lost among the stars, And may return no more but in their light.

I know that he is lost among the stars, And may return no more but in their light.

Though his hushed voice may call me in the stir Of whispering trees, I shall not understand.

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TEXTS Men may not speak with stillness; and the joy Of brooks that leap and tumble down green hills Is faster than their feet; and all their thoughts Can win no meaning from the talk of birds.

My heart is fooled with fancies, being wise; For fancy is the gleaming of wet flowers When the hid sun looks forth with golden stare.

Thus, when I find new loveliness to praise, And things long-known shine out in sudden grace, Then will I think: ‘He moves before me now.’

So he will never come but in delight, And, as it was in life, his name shall be Wonder awaking in a summer dawn, And youth, that dying, touched my lips to song. *Copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon, VII. Anthem for Doomed Youth (Wilfred Owen) What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

VIII. In Flanders Fields (John McCrae) In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.

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TEXTS If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

IX. Interlude (orchestra) Of them who running on that last high place Leapt to swift unseen bullets, or went up On the hot blast and fury of hell’s upsurge, Or plunged and fell away past this world’s verge, Some say God caught them even before they fell.

X. Poor Dogs (Albert-Paul Granier) Round the pitiful villages, round the burnt-out hamlets, the dogs, the poor bewildered dogs, go mutely padding to and fro among the shell-holes, searching for the doorstep, searching through the scattered rubble and collapsed roofs, stepping over charred beams, sniffing uncertain scents.

The poor dogs’ friendly eyes, innocent and gentle, implore the soldiers: “Tell me, please tell me, where’s the rough and ready master, the kindly mistress, the little children who played with me?”

— those friendly amber eyes, questioning, innocent and gentle …

The poor lost dogs pad soundlessly like shadows to and fro in villages of rubble, like memories in madmen’s heads. * Translation by Ian Higgins & published by Saxon Books.

Used by permission.

XI. The Mortars (Albert-Paul Granier) Juddering iron buckets clanging, jerking dead-weight chains clanking, the thunder lumbering caravan labors on, along the baking roads and tracks, all thunderous crash and clash.

The straining, weary horses ponderingly nod, as though to doubt their on-ward slog will ever end…

Wheels as thick as millstones mill the crunching road.

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TEXTS And in towns and villages along the way thunderstruck groups watch the dead-weight cortege of death grind past, the squat carriages, bolt-stubbled muscles bulging, and, mute, menacing, brutal, the black barrels, muzzled and bound like lunatics. * Translation by Ian Higgins & published by Saxon Books.

Used by permission.

XII. – XIII. Elegy/Perhaps (Vera Brittain) Perhaps someday the sun will shine again, And I shall see that still the skies are blue, And feel once more I do not live in vain, Although bereft of You. Perhaps the golden meadows at my feet Will make the sunny hours of spring seem gay, And I shall find the white May-blossoms sweet, Though You have passed away.

Perhaps the summer woods will shimmer bright, And crimson roses once again be fair, And autumn harvest fields a rich delight, Although You are not there.

Perhaps someday I shall not shrink in pain To see the passing of the dying year, And listen to Christmas songs again, Although You cannot hear.

But though kind Time may many joys renew, There is one greatest joy I shall not know Again, because my heart for loss of You Was broken, long ago. * The text of Vera Brittain’s ‘Perhaps’ (1916) is used by permission of Mark Bostridge and T.J. Brittain-Catlin, Literary Executors for the Vera Brittain Estate 1970.

XIV. Let us remember Spring will come again (Epilogue) Let us remember Spring will come again To the scorched, blackened woods, where all the wounded trees Wait, with their old wise patience for the heavenly rain, Sure of the sky: sure of the sea to send its healing breeze, Sure of the sun. And even as to these Surely the Spring, when God shall please Will come again like a divine surprise To those who sit to-day with their great Dead, hands in their hands, eyes in their eyes, At one with Love, at one with Grief: blind to the scattered things and changing skies.

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MUSICA VIVA NY Musica Viva NY roster Soprano Shabnam Abedi* Anna Aistova* Beth Clancy Mary Esbjornson Katie McCreary* Erinn Sensenig* Laura Villanueva Reldalee Wagner Kate Wolfe Sarah Worthington

Alto Holly Drew Rodolfo Girón* Heather Jones* Kate Katigbak Madalyn Luna* Emily Mikesell Dinah Nissen Andrew Troup* Tenor Shawn Bartels* Juan Hernandez*

Doug Purcell* Erik Resurreccion Nathan Siler* Bass Nick Hay* Matt Mueller* Harold Norris Mark Rehnstrom* Christopher Rothko John Verkuilen* Augustus Young * Section leader

Musica Viva NY orchestra Violin I Zoë Martin-Doike** Doori Na Monica Davis

Cello Caleb van der Swaagh* Molly Aronson Bass Andrew Trombley

Violin 2 Keiko Tokunaga* Ben Russell Jeremiah Blacklow Viola Bethany Hargreaves* Greg Luce Vitalii Yaremiy

Horn Rachel Drehmann Trumpet Wayne du Maine

Flute Ryu Cipris

Percussion David Stevens* Josh Perry

Clarinet Paul Cho

Harp Renee Murphy

Oboe Ryan Walsh

Piano Trent Johnson

Bassoon Brad Balliett

* Principal ** Concertmaster

SPONSOR MUSICA VIVA NY There are many opportunities to play a role in bringing Musica Viva NY’s season to life as a sponsor, including: • Underwrite a concert • Underwrite a recording • Underwrite a tour • Underwrite the appearance of a guest artist Naming opportunities are available for sponsors.

Contact Jasna Vasić, Executive Director at jasna@musicaviva.org.

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MUSICA VIVA NY Our Team Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez

Dinah Nissen, Esq.

Conductor and Artistic Director

Marketing Director

Jasna Vasić

Kate Phillips

Executive Director

Director of Community Engagement

Trent Johnson

Barbara de Bellis

Assistant Director of Music

Librarian

Erinn Sensenig

Nathan Siler

Operations and Production Manager

Digital Marketing Consultant

Board of Directors Julie Brannan President

Lisa O’Brien, Esq. Treasurer

Dinah Nissen, Esq.

Heidi DuBois Vice-President

Shawn Bartels

David Rockefeller, Jr.

Winnie Olsen Secretary

Shu-Wie Chen

Kate Phillips

Constance Beavon Melanie Niemiec

Advisory Board Seymour Bernstein

Galen Guengerich

Jean-Louis Petit

Laurel Blossom

Susan Jolles

Bruce Saylor

Renée Fleming

Walter Klauss Artistic Director Emeritus

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube for photos, videos, and more

facebook.com/musicavivany

@musicavivany — 19 —

youtube.com/musicavivany

PATRON SUPPORT LEVELS FOR OUR 2023-2024 SEASON

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e need your generous contributions for our 2023-2024 season to support the outstanding concerts and community engagement programming of the Musica Viva NY choir and instrumentalists. There is a level for every budget, and you will enjoy special benefits as a measure of our thanks. Your contribution can be made as a one-time gift, or on a recurring basis.

PATRON LEVELS APPASSIONATO $10,000 and above • Invitation to a dinner featuring a special performance by the Artistic Director • Invitation to a season preview with the Artistic Director in the choir loft • Six complimentary season subscriptions • Reserved seating • Two free passes to each concert’s Saturday dress rehearsal CON FUOCO $5,000 to $9,999 • Invitation to a dinner featuring a special performance by the Artistic Director • Invitation to a season preview with the Artistic Director in the choir loft • Five complimentary season subscriptions • Reserved seating • Two free passes to each concert’s Saturday dress rehearsal CON BRIO $3,000 to $4,999 • Invitation to a dinner featuring a special performance by the Artistic Director • Invitation to a season preview with the Artistic Director in the choir loft

• Four complimentary season subscriptions • Reserved seating • Two free passes to each concert’s Saturday dress rehearsal RISOLUTO $1,000 to $2,999 • Invitation to a season preview with the Artistic Director in the choir loft • Three complimentary season subscriptions • Reserved seating • Two free passes to each concert’s Saturday dress rehearsal ESPRESSIVO $500 to $999 • Invitation to a season preview with the Artistic Director in the choir loft • Two complimentary season subscriptions • Preferred seating CANTABILE $150 - $499 • Invitation to a season preview with the Artistic Director in the choir loft • One complimentary season subscription • Preferred seating DOLCE $25-$149 • Acknowledgment in program at all levels — 20 —

MUSICA VIVA NY PATRONS 2023-24

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e are deeply grateful to our Patrons listed below for their support of our 2023-2024 season. Thank you for joining us! Your support for our outstanding Musica Viva NY artists, our high-caliber, innovative choral and chamber music performances, and our community engagement is vital and essential.

Corporate and Foundation Support

Risoluto $1,000 - $2,999

The Heart & Soul Charitable Fund New York City Department of Cultural Affairs The Rea Charitable Fund The Alice M. Ditson Fund Appassionato $10,000 and above

Melanie & David Niemiec Susan & David Rockefeller, Jr. Con Fuoco $5,000 to $9,999

Heidi & Nicholas DuBois Don & Georgia Gogel Fritz Reuter Jennifer Shotwell Con Brio $3,000 to $4,999

Shu-Wie Chen Victor Fidel & Heather Floyd Lois Gaeta, in Memory of David Remember Baker Pamela Healey Gunleif Jacobsen & Thomas Simpson Charitable Fund Dinah Nissen & Elizabeth Apelles Lisa O’Brien Laura Pedersen Madonna K. Starr

Constance Beavon Bill Bechman & Tom Garlock Tom & Heli Blum Austin & Sarah Bramwell Julie Brannan Lisa & Richard Cashin Eleanor Drew Richard & Cynthia Esposito Galen Guengerich & Holly Atkinson Elizabeth Harvey Cherie Henderson & David Poppe Lena Kaplan Margaret T. MacCary Harold Norris & Kell Julliard Winnie Olsen Epp Sonin Karen Steele Brenda Walker Espressivo $500 - $999

Lynne & Richard Allen Astrid & John Baumgardner Barbara de Bellis, in memory of Greta Minsky Robin Bossert Miles Chapin Dixie Goss & Dan Cryer

To find out about ways to support Musica Viva NY through employer matching, volunteering, and monthly giving, please contact our Executive Director at jasna@musicaviva.org.

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MUSICA VIVA NY PATRONS 2023-24 Mary Gundermann Michele Jawin & Dr. Mark Kroll James Moskin Suzanne Olbricht & Kevin Fickenscher Kate Phillips Lynne Randall Judith Samuelson & Vic Henschel Deborah Taylor Ned Whitney & Martha Howell Aracy Winter Cantabile $150 - $499

Mark Allen Anne Brewer Nancy Deering Marjory & Jeffrey Friedlander Mary Geissman Dana Ivey Millie & John Liebmann Marilyn Reagan

Barbara Reed & Dan Schlieven Claire Richard Gayle Sanders Jasna Vasić Margaret Williamson Rachel Ziemba Two anonymous donors Dolce $25 - $149

Betsy & David Bennett Richard Einhorn Joan Flesch Christine Goodwin Erika Mikkelsen Halford Nathalie Moore Mary Persic Linda Rousseau Brad Woolbright

This list reflects gifts received from June 1, 2023 to November 22, 2023.

Musica Viva NY’s recording project

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wo days after this concert, the Musica Viva NY choir, orchestra and Frederica von Stade will travel up to SUNY Purchase Concert Hall in Westchester, which is known for its excellent acoustic, to make our recording of the three pieces we commissioned that we are performing tonight. The recording and CD will be released on the prestigious Naxos label.

We are extremely grateful to all who made this recording project possible with their generous support, including the prestigious Alice M. Ditson Fund, Julia Lanigan, the Musica Viva NY Board of Directors and a generous Musica Viva NY Board member who proposed a match of $25,000 which we met with your support.

For more information about the project visit our website at www.musicaviva.org.

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Did you know? ✹ Musica Viva NY reaches almost 1,000 students each year in New York Public Schools, through concerts and educational workshops.

✹ Musica Viva NY partners with the New York Public Library to present monthly family concerts in various neighborhoods in the Bronx reaching over 300 families each year.

For more information about all our community engagement activity please visit the “Engagement” page on our website musicaviva.org.

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Musica Viva NY is extremely grateful for the following help with its 2023-24 season from:

All Souls NYC (www.AllSoulsNYC.org) for Musica Viva NY’s meeting, rehearsal, performance, and reception spaces as well as for the facilities and events staff who help make all productions run smoothly

Heart & Soul Fund, Inc. for its longtime support of our community engagement programming

MVNY’s community engagement is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

The Women’s Alliance

Musica Viva NY 1157 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10075

212 794 3646 info@musicaviva.org