2003

If Music Be The Food of Love (David C. Dickau, 1953-)
Text by Henry Heveningham

"If music be the food of love, sing on till I am filled with joy;
For then my listening soul you move to pleasures that can never cloy.
Your eyes, your mien, your tongue declare that you are music everywhere.
Pleasures invade both eye and ear, so fierce the transports are, they wound,
And all my senses feasted are.
Tho’ yet the treat is only sound, sure I must perish by your charms,
Unless you save me in your arms.
If music be the food of love, sing on."

David Dickau received his bachelors and doctoral degrees from U.S.C. and his Masters from Northwestern in Chicago. He is the professor and Choral Chair at Mankato State University in Minnesota. He is married to Allan Petker’s sister (an excellent decision!).

A REMINISCENCE

Adoramus te (Quirino Gasparini, ?-1778)

"Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum."
(We adore Thee, Christ, our Lord, and we worship thy name.
Who, by thy sacred cross and passion hast redeemed the whole world.)

Very little is known about Quirino Gasparini. The good news is that the Adoramus Te was previously and erroneously attributed to Mozart, who copied the work. The credits have been properly restored.

Os Justi meditabitur sapientiam (Anton Bruckner, 1824-1896)

"Os Justi meditabitur sapientiam, et lingua ejus loquetur judicium.
Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius: et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus."
(The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.)

Anton Bruckner, a deeply religious man, spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His symphonic works are grand in scale, but his choral motets are concise and profound. This work is one of three Graduals.

There Will Be Rest (Frank Ticheli, 1958-)
Poem by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

"There will be rest, and sure stars shining over the roof-tops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting, the music of stillness holy and low.
I will make this world of my devising, out of a dream in my lonely mind,
I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me stars I shall find."

Frank Ticheli received his doctoral and masters degrees from The University of Michigan. He now lives in Pasadena and teaches composition at U.S.C. His orchestral, band and wind ensemble compositions have been presented by major performance groups and symphonies worldwide.

The Little Horses (Aaron Copland, 1900-1990)

"Hush you bye, don’t you cry, go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you shall have, all the pretty little horses.
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays, coach and six-a little horses.
Hush you bye, don’t you cry, go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you’ll have new cake, and all the pretty little horses.
A brown and a gray and a black and a bay and a coach and six-a little horses.
Hush you bye, don’t you cry, Oh you pretty little baby."

Aaron Copland has been widely recognized as one of the world’s greatest composers who captured the American spirit in his work. In this work he is not listed as creator but credited as adapting the text and tune. The choral arrangement is by R. Wilding White.

Two Movements from "Sweet" Three of "The Feast"
(Allan Robert Petker, 1955-)

Cherry-Ripe
Poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
" Cherry ripe! ripe! ripe! I cry, full and fair ones, come and buy;
If so be; you ask me where they do grow? I answer "There,
Where my lover’s lips do smile; there’s the land of cherry isle
W hose plantations fully show all the year, where cherries grow!"

Do You Carrot All for Me?
Poem by Anonymous
"Do you carrot all for me? My heart it beets for you,
with your little turnip nose and your reddish, radish face,
and then your Indian corn ears. Am I the apple of your eye?
Do you carrot all for me?
You are a peach. I am bananas about you.
If we cantaloupe then lettuce marry.
If you carrot all for me. Do you carrot all for me?
We’d make a real swell pear."

These songs by Allan Robert Petker are part of a collection of four "Sweets" entitled "The Feast." The entire collection was premiered in a sequence of solo quartets by members of the Consort Chorale at their summer concert in 1996.

Songs from the Twelfth Night (Kenneth Neufeld, 1949-)
Texts by William Shakespear, (1564-1616)

I. O Mistress Mine
"O mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O stay and hear – your true love’s coming,
that can sing both high and low:
Trip no further, pretty sweeting,
journeys end in lovers’ meeting,
ev’ry wise man’s son doth know.
What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter.
What’s to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty.
Then kiss me, sweet and twenty!
Youth’s a stuff will not endure."

II. Come Away, Death
"Come away, death, and in sad cypress let me be laid;
Fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, O, prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true did share it.
Not a flower sweet, on my black coffin let there be strown;
Not a friend greet my poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown:
A thousand thousand sighs to save,
Lay me where sad true lover never find my grave to weep there."

III. I Am Gone, Sir
" I am gone, sir, and anon, sir, I’ll be with you again;
In a trice, like to the old Vice, your need to sustain.
Who, with dagger of lath, in his rage and his wrath, cries, ah ha! To the devil:
Like a mad lad, pare thy nails, dad; Adieu, good man devil.
I am gone, adieu. Ha!"

Kenneth Neufeld is a Los Angeles-based composer with over 200 works to his credit. A graduate of California State University Long Beach, his compositions have been presented in major performance halls worldwide. Besides composing in a wide variety of venues, he is also a vocalist, whose voice you have heard in commercials, films and other recordings.

THERESIENMESSE (Franz Joseph Haydn, 1732-1809)

During the years of 1796 and 1802, Haydn composed 6 great masses which tower over his earlier masses and indeed crown much of his work. The "Lord Nelson Mass" was completed in 1798 and this mass in 1799. Both carry dramatic martial sounds to celebrate victories in the Napoleonic wars. But the mass performed tonight, titled for Princess Maria Hermenegild’s name-day, is noticeably lighter. The mass’s nickname "Theresienmesse," however, is associated with the Empress Maria Theresa, wife of Franz II, who sang the soprano solos in not only this work, but also "The Creation" and "The Seasons."

I. Kyrie (Soloists: Soprano-Marty Friesen, Alto-Ruthann Lovetang,
Tenor-Michael Petersen, Bass-Jim Kamphoefner)
"Kyrie eleison! Christe eleison! Kyrie eleison!"
(Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord have mercy!)

II. Gloria
"Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te."
(Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we adore Thee, we glorify Thee.)

III. Gratias (Soloists: Soprano-Marty Friesen, Alto-Ruthann Lovetang,
Tenor-Michael Petersen, Bass-David Irvine)
"Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Pater omnipotens, Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.
Domine Deus, agnus Dei, filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis!
Suscipe deprecationem nostram, qui sedes ad dexteram Patris. Miserere nobis."
(We give thanks to Thee, we praise Thee for Thy glory. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father. Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son of the Father. Lord God, lamb of God, son of the Father. Thou who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou who takes away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou who art seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.)

V. Credo
"Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotenten, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium omnium. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula, Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum, non factum, consubstatialem Patri, per quem omia facta sunt, qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis."
(I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of earth and heaven, of all things seen and unseen. Begotten of the Father before all worlds. God from Gods, Light from light, true God from true God. Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven.)

VIII. Sanctus (Soloists: Soprano-Martha Wall, Alto-Beth Sharpe, Tenor-Michael
Petersen, Bass-John Griffin)
"Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua, osanna in excelsis!"
(Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.)

X. Agnus Dei
"Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis!
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem!"
(Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us!
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us your peace.)

XI. Dona nobis (Soloists: Soprano-Marty Friesen, Alto-Ruthann Lovetang,
Tenor-Michael Petersen, Bass-David Irvine)
"Dona nobis pacem!"
(Grant us your peace.)

THANKS

GIVE ME WORDS (Allan Robert Petker, 1955-)
Text by Allan Robert Petker

"Give me words to weave a prayer exceeding heaven’s boundaries.
Give me text to paint a thought that births a joy unknown.
Give me script to draft a poem that multiplies all thinking.
And when the spoken art gives way, and silence leaves too much to say,
yet more demands expressing: Ah!
Move my lips to say the lines that go beyond all speaking.
Move my heart to utter thanks that passion understands.
Move my eyes to share the light, illuminating touches.
And when the spoken art gives way, and silence leaves too much to say,
yet more demands expressing: Ah! Mmm."

Allan Robert Petker wrote both music and text for Consort Chorale in honor of its tenth anniversary. It premieres as part of the Consort Chorale Summer 2003 anniversary concert.

ENCORE

Give Me Jesus ( Arr. Larry L. Fleming)

"O, when I am alone, give me Jesus.
You may have all the rest, give me Jesus.
O, when I come to die, give me Jesus.
You may have all the rest, give me Jesus.
And when I want to sing, give me Jesus.
You may have all the rest, give me Jesus."

Larry Fleming has gained distinction as a composer and arranger, and also as conductor of the semi-professional National Lutheran Choir based in Minneapolis. he is a former conductor and professor of choral music at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

Quick! We Have But a Second (Arr. Charles V. Stanford, 1852-1924)
Text by Thomas Moore

"Quick! We have but a second, Fill round the cup while you may:
For time, the churl, hath beckon’d, and we must away, away!
Grasp the pleasure, Oh! Not Orpheus’ strain could keep sweet hours,
Or charm them to life again.
See the glass how it flushes, like some young Hebe’s lip,
And half meets thine, and blushes that thou should delay to sip.
Shame, oh shame, if e’er thou see that day when a cup or lip, and turn untouched away."

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was both Professor of Music at Cambridge and Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music simultaneously for nearly 40 years. His students in London and Cambridge read like a roll-call of British composers of the first half of the 20th century. Among those who owed much to Stanford’s teaching were Ralph Vaughn Williams, Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells, to name only a few.