ILLUMINARE

Illuminare is Elaine Hagenberg’s first extended work, consisting of five movements for SATB chorus and chamber orchestra. Using lesser-known sacred Latin texts, the five sections create a narrative arc with common thematic material woven throughout.

With a majestic and bright opening in D major, Illuminare begins with a radiant flurry of 16th notes representing the entrance of Light. Then the voices enter in powerful unison, and the Ambrosian hymn text bursts into a punctuated and joyful Gloriae section. As the music turns to a softer legato passage, a portion of the peace theme is revealed in the cello – a theme that will emerge several times throughout the work. The music then returns to the joyful rhythmic momentum of the beginning.

The second movement features the women’s voices and portrays a tender season of beauty. The elegant words of Hildegard von Bingen hearken back to an image of Eden – a time of goodness and purity. After a slow and gradual ascent to the word pacis (peace), a brief moment of the peace theme gracefully reappears in the cello, concluding with serene sustained tones.

Movement three takes a dramatic shift. Sensing an ominous shadow on the horizon, the choir sings the traditional Kyrie text (Lord have mercy). Then, a percussive B-minor blast of fury disrupts the world as the text turns to Nox et tenebrae (night and darkness). Accented rhythms and mixed meter further create chaos, confusion, and despair.

In movement four, the darkness begins to fade, and the peace theme emerges once again, yet this time lingering in a minor mode. The shadows of the night clear away and the choir ascends to the word Lux (light). Yearning for the peace they once knew, the singers plead a heartfelt prayer, culminating in a dramatic crescendo to munera pacis (grant us peace). Then, suddenly, the music becomes still and calm. The peace theme that has been whispered throughout the work is finally revealed to be the voice of Christ gently assuring us: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” The orchestra swells to affirm these comforting words, then concludes by echoing the beauty of movement two – now with a new hope of an even greater peace. At the arrival of the final movement, joy is restored as the orchestra gradually returns to full force. Energetic rhythms support the soaring vocal lines as the choir sings from the prophecy in the Canticle of Zechariah: illuminare his qui in tenebris (illuminate those in darkness). Then a return to brilliant D major and rhythmic material from movement one blazes forth to declare: Light has triumphed to guide us toward a brighter future.

CONSIDER THE LILIES

Consider the Lilies: An Appalachian Requiem is intended to capture the sounds and feelings of the north Georgia mountains where I grew up. One of my earliest memories is hearing the rugged, unaccompanied voices of an Appalachian congregation singing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” echo and filter down through the trees from a mountain above my grandparent’s house in full, heartfelt, four-part harmony. That early memory provides a nostalgic framework for this piece, informing and inspiring the spirit of the music through these poignant and powerful hymns.

However, the history, tradition, and beauty of the Latin Requiem mass also permeates this work, set orchestrally, and constructed with a chiastic architecture. There’s a lot of symbolism here, some of it on purpose and some of it, I’m sure, sub-conscious.

I chose the texts myself, approaching all these disparate inspirational parts very individually and freely. This work is inspired by shape-note singing, Appalachian/Celtic mystery, and liturgical beauty, but is not bound by either the rustic, nor the elegant. It may certainly function within a liturgical sequence, though it contains only fragments of the historical prayers, but may also be performed as a concert work.

It is a personal work for me. I actually wrote some of the material years ago. However, after experiencing life-altering tragedy, I began to write and play through the old material and to add new melodies as a discipline of reflection and healing as I worked through my grief. I did not initially intend to create a formal, publically available work for performance, but as the music took shape, and my family was blessed by performances of three other choral pieces by talented colleagues that were written as memorials to our loss, I was encouraged by friends to offer it as a personal statement. I am grateful, now almost two years removed from that terrible day, that many of my old, close friends, as well as some new ones, signed onto this commissioning project with their ensembles in order to give this work a life of its own.

—Timothy Michael Powell, August 2019

Both the Cherokee Chorale and the Creekview High School Choir were partners in the commissioning project. The Chorale was preparing to perform the work at its spring 2020 concert. The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted those plans, and the Chorale performed the concert virtually. We are glad to be able– finally–to perform this work in person with a live audience.

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Consider the Lilies
Timothy Powell

I. A Parable
Consider the lilies, look how they grow, O how they grow!
King Solomon, in all his glory, holds no candle to such as these.

Requiem aeternam Eternal rest,
dona eis Domine grant them, Lord.
Et lux perpetua And perpetual light,
luceat eis. shine on them.

Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.
Christe Eleison. Christ, have mercy.
Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.

II. A Hymn
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.
Each little flow’r that opens, each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings!
He gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty, who has made all things well!

III. A Keen
Credo in Jesu; I believe in Jesus;
quod non credo. I don’t believe.
Jesu adiuva me. Jesus, help me.

IV. A Hymn
I have found a friend in Jesus, he’s everything to me.
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
The Lily of the Valley, in him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He’s my comfort, in trouble He’s my stay;
He tells me every care on him to roll.
He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
He all my grief has carried, and all my sorrows borne;
In temptation He’s my strong and mighty tow’r;
I’ve all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn
From my heart and now he keeps me by his pow’r,
Though all the world forsake me, and trials leave me worn,
Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal.
He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
He’ll never, never leave me, not yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessed will;
A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,
From His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory to see His blessed face,
Where rivers of delight shall ever roll.
He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

V. A Prayer
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me.

Pie Jesu Domine, Holy Lord Jesus,
Dona eis requiem. eternal rest, grant them.

VI. A Promise
When you pass through the waters, do not fear.
When you pass through the waters, do not fear.
When the winds of grief assail you, I will be with you.
When you pass through the waters, do not fear.
I am the storm’s eye. I am the storm’s eye.
I am the storm’s eye. I am the storm’s eye.
When the winds of grief assail you, I will be with you.
When you pass through the waters, do not fear.
When the earth around you trembles, do not fear.
When the earth around you trembles, do not fear.
When your grief tears all asunder, take refuge in my care.
When the earth around you trembles, do not fear.
I am the storm’s eye. I am the storm’s eye.
I am the storm’s eye. I am the storm’s eye.
When your grief tears all asunder, take refuge in my care.
When the earth around you trembles, do not fear.
When you pass through the fire, do not fear.
When you pass through the fire, do not fear.
When your grief’s a fiery furnace, I will walk with you.
When you pass through the fire, do not fear.
I am the storm’s eye. I am the storm’s eye.
I am the storm’s eye. I am the storm’s eye.
When your grief’s a fiery furnace, I will walk with you.
When you pass through the fire, do not fear.

VII. A Comfort
I am the Rose of Sharon – Lily of the Valley.
Like a lily among the thorns,
So is my beloved among the daughters.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.
For love is strong as death!
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; He dwells among the lilies.
“Make haste. Arise! Make haste! Arise!
Make haste, my darling, my beautiful one!
Make haste, and come! ARISE!

VIII. An Invitation
The voice of my lover, behold He comes! “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
The winter is past and the rains are gone, “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”
The flowers appear and the singing bursts forth! “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
The turtle dove calls; the fox lends its voice. “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”
My lover is mine and I am His! “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
His flock finds their pasture where Lily now lives! “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”
Lord, banish the shadows and let the sun rise! “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
Cross the vast darkness ‘tween earth and the skies! “Arise, arise, arise, my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”
“Arise, arise, arise!” He calls, “Arise and come my love!”

IX. A Commandment
Requiem aeternam Eternal rest,
dona eis Domine grant them, Lord.
Et lux perpetua And perpetual light,
luceat eis. shine on them.
Alleluia. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen.

O let the children come unto me. Forbid them not.
They do not toil, they do not spin,
Yet the kingdom belongs to them.
For God’s kingdom belongs to them.

Susan Armour

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