Sunday, October 14, at 9:15 and 11:00 AM, the Choir will present a Kirby Shaw arrangement of Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” from the 1992 album The Future. Anthem gives a message of hope in darkness.
The birds they sang at the break of day.
Start again, I heard them say.
Don’t dwell on what has passed away…
Or what is yet to be.
The past is the past and can’t be changed. The future is the future and can’t be seen. But today is here, and if you woke up this morning on the right side of the grass, you have a whole new day before you.
Ring the bells that still can ring!
Forget your perfect offering!
There is a crack, a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.
This last year, since the firestorm that devastated so many lives, has shown that hope lives on. Life goes on. And we’re not done yet.
The Maori people came to New Zealand from Polynesia in canoes a long time ago. There they developed the art of chanting, singing, and dancing. They called it poi, after a small swinging, bobbing ball on a string. Sunday, the 23rd of September, the choir will perform Tama Tu, a Maori proverb set to music. It starts off with chanting in the native Maori language, continues with song, briefly switches to English, and circles back again. It’s not a song you will find it easy to sit still for. In fact the Maori words:
Tama tu, tama ora; tama no-oh, tama mah-tay kai.
Kukuti. Poata ra-u. Puoro! Kani kani!
mean:
The one who stands, lives; the one who sits, suffers.
Gather together. Now is the time. Sing! Dance!
It may be hard for some to sing or dance in body, but everyone can make a joyful noise and “pew dance”!
On August 26th, the choir, accompanied by Nancy Hayashibara will present an original composition by Sadie Sonntag, our choir director. She said this about the piece:
“Our family has a tradition of traveling over the summer, going into our own history, taking a break from the present, and pausing for reflection on what is, and what could be.
“Each time we journey through incredibly varied States, I am awestruck by the beauty of each new and different scene. I am intrigued by the differences of personalities of the people we meet and by the diversity in small pockets of culture we encounter.
“Recently, these trips have inspired me to write music around the theme of the United States of America and what that means to me personally. The resulting composition, ‘The Golden Door’, uses the text by Emma Lazurus which is engraved on the side of the Statue of Liberty; ‘Give me your tired, your poor….’
“I have written this piece with the aim of creating something enduring with a very singable and memorable melody. This is for the UU choir and for the congregation, to give voice to those who would feel strongly connected to these words, that they might be heard.”
The theme for the month of August is “Unity-Diversity”, a study of how differences don’t have to keep us apart. Some barriers to unity might be mountains, valleys, or rivers. But Valerie Simpson and Nickolas Ashford pointed out in their 1967 Motown hit, put on the charts by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, that…
There ain’t no mountain high enough
Ain’t no valley low enough
Ain’t no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you
The choir will perform this delightfully rousing love song this Sunday, August 12.
“What A Wonderful World”, featured in the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam, and presented this Sunday by the choir, was originally performed by Louis Armstrong in 1967.
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world
In spite of all we humans do to it, the planet Earth remains a truly wonderful world.
“Lux Aeterna” (eternal light) a choral setting of Nimrod by Edward Elgar, arranged by John Cameron is from the Enigma Variations, published around the turn of the 20th century. Now each of the 16 Variations related to a friend or relative of Elgar, and is each one’s approach to the enigma, which has never been conclusively answered. Nimrod was a Biblical character described as a mighty hunter and the Lux Aeterna paints a portrait of Elgar’s beloved music editor, Augustus J Jaeger. “Jaeger” is German for “Hunter”.
The piece is in Latin, the text is from the Requiem Mass of the Roman Catholic Church. It translates as:
May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord, with Thy saints forever,
for Thou art Kind.
Eternal rest
give to them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
“Climb Ev’ry Mountain” was the closing song of the first act of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 1959 hit musical, The Sound Of Music. The lyrics encourage listeners to take any and all necessary steps to realize their dreams. In the story, the main character, Maria, who clearly “would never be a nun”, gradually awoke to the possibility of a less sequestered life as she was encouraged to do by the Reverend Mother of the abbey. “When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.”
The choir will perform this inspiring song on Sunday, April 15, in keeping with the theme of “Gradual Awakening”.
Climb ev’ry mountain,
Ford ev’ry stream,
Follow ev’ry rainbow,
Till you find your dream!
Easter Sunday
One of the last pieces J S Bach wrote was his Mass in B minor completed in 1749, the year before his death. The choir under Sadie’s direction, along with an ensemble of 3 recorders and cello will perform the last part of the last movement of the Mass, the Dona Nobis Pacem.
The petition to “grant us peace” closes the Mass. It is a somber, deliberate and moving choral expression of hope and expectation. What more poignant and appropriate plea for us today!
Grant us peace. Grant us peace. Grant us peace….
“Luci care, luci belle”, a nocturnes by W A Mozart, was composed around 1783. The words come from Pietro Metastasio, a librettist from the 18th century.
Luci care, luci belle,
cari lumi, amate stelle,
date calma a questo cuore,
date calma a questo cuore!
Dear lights, beautiful lights,
Dear lights, beloved stars,
Give calm to this heart,
Give calm to this heart!
Continuing our month-long theme of humility, this “night song” reflects the calm that soothes the heart when one beholds the vast Universe of stars.
“What Wondrous Love Is This” is a Christian folk hymn first published in 1811 in Lynchburg, VA in a camp meeting songbook. The present melody is from The Southern Harmony, 1835 edition. In 1992, Connie Campbell Hart created new lyrics for this beloved traditional hymn.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
What wondrous love is this, O my soul?
What wondrous love is this that brings my heart such bliss,
And takes away the pain of my soul, of my soul
And takes away the pain of my soul.
Continuing our month-long theme of Love, we sing and celebrate the wonder of Love.
