One day tells its tale to another,
and one night imparts knowledge to another.
Although they have no words or language,
and their voices are not heard,
Their sound has gone out into all lands,
and their message to the ends of the world.

I wanted the ensemble to be a little quirky community of people living by the edge of the sea: a busybody flute, a wise viola, and the masculine, workmanlike bassoon, trombone, and upright bass. The piano acts as an agitator, an unwelcome visitor, bearing with it aggressive electronic noises and rhythmic interruptions.

Part 1 introduces the chord structure that governs the entire piece, and ends with the repeated words, “only your will is your own.” The second and third parts, loosely dealing with the Devil and the importance of choosing one’s words, are based on drones generated by the voices and the strings; the constant (but slightly morphing) texture is meant to be meditative and vague. I have always wanted to set the Beatitudes, and Craig has paraphrased them beautifully here; the tenors intone the word “blessed” over and over while the strings and winds reiterate the passacaglia from the opening of the piece. The fifth and final part is a series of proverbs. The orchestra begins in a series of loose, ecstatic drones, which increase in intensity (“Make your own family!”) until we jump suddenly to the garden of Gethsemane, where Christ was betrayed while his disciples slept. “Why are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake for one more hour?” he asks, while the strings and winds lazily chant in the background.

MORTIFICATION
How soon doth man decay! When clothes are taken from a chest of sweets
To swaddle infants, whose young breath Scarce knows the way;
Those clouts are little winding sheets, Which do consigne and send them unto death.

When boyes go first to bed, They step into their voluntarie graves;
Sleep bindes them fast; onely their breath Makes them not dead.
Successive nights, like rolling waves, Convey them quickly, who are bound for death.

When youth is frank and free, And calls for musick, while his veins do swell,
All day exchanging mirth and breath In companie;
That musick summons to the knell, Which shall befriend him at the houre of death.
When man grows staid and wise, Getting a house and home, where he may move
Within the circle of his breath, Schooling his eyes;
That dumbe inclosure maketh love Unto the coffin, that attends his death.

When age grows low and weak, Marking his grave, and thawing ev’ry yeare,
Till all do melt, and drown his breath When he would speak;
A chair or litter shows the biere, Which shall convey him to the house of death.

Man, ere he is aware, Hath put together a somemnitie,
And drest his herse, while he has breath As yet to spare.
Yet Lord, instruct us so to die That all these dyings may be life in death.
—GEORGE HERBERT

Text

Pater Noster

Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur Nomen Tuum;
adveniat Regnum Tuum;
fiat voluntas Tua,
sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a Malo. Amen.

Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Text

Like as the Hart

Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks,
so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

Syllables was commissioned by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus as part of their 2006-2007 commissioning season, alongside works by Paul Morvaec and David Lang.

Read a review here.

Texts

Icelandic texts:
Sól tér sortna, sígr fold í mar,
hverfa af himni heiðar stjörnur;
geisar eimi ok aldrnari,
leikr hár hiti við himin sjálfan.

Geyr nú Garmr mjök fyr Gnípahelli;
festr man slitna, en freki renna.

Sér hon upp koma öðru sinni
jörð ór Å“gi iðjagrÅ“na;
falla forsar, flýgr örn yfir,
sá er á fjalli fiska veiðir.

Þar munu eptir undrsamligar
gullnar töflur í grasi finnask,
þærs í árdaga áttar höfðu.

Völuspá 57-59, 61

English texts:
The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea,ӬThe hot stars down from heaven are whirled;ӬFierce grows the steam and the life-feeding flame,ӬTill fire leaps high about heaven itself.

Now Garm howls loud before Gnipahellir,ӬThe fetters will burst, and the wolf run free;ӬMuch do I know, and more can seeӬOf the fate of the gods, the mighty in fight.

Now do I see the earth anewӬRise all green from the waves again;ӬThe cataracts fall, and the eagle flies,ӬAnd fish he catches beneath the cliffs.

In wondrous beauty once againӬShall the golden tables stand mid the grass,ӬWhich the gods had owned in the days of old.

Trans. Henry Adams Bellows (1923)

[audio:03 I Cannot Attain Unto It 1.mp3]
Live Recording
The Manhattan Choral Ensemble
Thomas Cunningham, conductor

Text

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
– Psalm 139, 6-8

[audio:WebSweets.mp3]
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Dianne Berkun, conductor

Text

The Sweets of Evening by Christopher Smart (1722-1771)

The sweets of evening charm the mind,
Sick of the sultry day;
The body then no more confin’d,
But exercise with freedom join’d,
When Phoebus sheathes his ray.

While all-serene the summer moon
Sends glances thro’ the trees,
And Philomel begins her tune,.
And Asteria too shall help her soon
With voice of skillful ease.

A nosegay, every thing that grows,
And music, every sound
To lull the sun to his repose;
The skies are colour’d like the rose
With lively streaks around.

Of all the changes rung by time
None half so sweet appear,
As those when thoughts themselves sublime,
And with superior natures chime
In fancy’s highest sphere.

These canticles were first performed in November, 2004, at Girton College, Cambrdige, and then at Clare College, Cambridge. They were subsequently broadcast on the BBC 3’s Choral Evensong programme in February, 2005.

The Magnificat features an anxious two-note octave in the organ, nervously twitching in anticipation. The Nunc Dimittis (which is one of my favorite things written in the English language) starts slowly, and then focuses all of its energy towards the beginning of the Gloria Patri, a New Testament harmonic culling of everything that has come before it. ““ Nico Muhly

Many thanks to Judith Clurman for organizing the performances.

[audio:01 Magnificat.mp3]
Magnificat

[audio:01 Nunc Dimittis.mp3]
Nunc Dimittis

Clare College Choir
James McVinnie, organ
Tim Brown, conductor

Texts

MAGNIFICAT
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm.
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things.
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel
as he promised to our forefathers Abraham, and his seed forever.
Gloria Patri

NUNC DIMITTIS

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Gloria Patri

The backside of King’s College Chapel, with Clare College at left

Expecting the Main Things from You begins with a series of exchanges between the choir and ensemble, defining the harmonic progressions that make up the first movement. Throughout the beginning 9-minute movement, the ensemble plays pattern music while the voices sing lines above it ““ a very explicit accompaniment/solo relationship during which the choir describes men at work. A third of the way through, a solo violin begins outlining a series of chords through arpeggiation, which then gradually fill in and become a single shimmering chord. From this, the choir begins the second part of the poem, beginning with the line “The delicious singing of the mother” and ending in the far distance, listening to the “strong melodious songs.” Each movement of Expecting ends with a series of wordless pulses, a sort of musical punctuation. If the first and third poems reference the political urgency of the city, the second movement is a pastoral interlude. Accordingly, the percussion parts in this movement are built around three expanding and contracting rhythms in the woodblock, tam-tam, and vibraphone. Three quarters of the choir sings a stylized Morse code (I was inspired by watching satellites pass overhead in the middle of the woods in Vermont; the now-omnipresent invisible haze of technology even in the fields), while some sopranos and altos overlay long, endless lines. The third movement is the most urgent and the most aggressive in its patterns: I wanted to reinforce Whitman’s movement from the general to the very specific and accusatory second person of the end of the poem. A series of expanding and contracting rhythms and another wordless pulse brings the piece to a quiet close. – Nico Muhly

Performance Notes
All instruments, or no instruments, should be amplified. In the second movement, the choir and the cello are asked to perform a sort of Morse Code tremolo. This should be executed by each musician randomizing a pattern of short and long notes on the indicated pitch. The choir should sing on syllables doo or da depending. All effort should be made not to coordinate with any other musician. The resulting effect should be random and almost electronic. Take breaths whenever you need but the sound should be as continuous as possible.

All text-less music in the choir should be sung at a dynamic such that it blends equally with the strings, percussion, and organ.

Texts (all from Leaves of Grass)

1. PART ONE I Hear

I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics””each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat””the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench””the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song””the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother””or of the young wife at work””or of the girl sewing or washing””Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day””At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
· No. 91

2. INTERLUDE A Farm-Picture

THROUGH the ample open door of the peaceful country barn,
A sun-lit pasture field, with cattle and horses feeding;
And haze, and vista, and the far horizon, fading away.
· No. 93

3. PART TWO Poets to Come

POETS to come! orators, singers, musicians to come!
Not to-day is to justify me, and answer what I am for;
But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental, greater than before known,
Arouse! Arouse””for you must justify me””you must answer.
I myself but write one or two indicative words for the future,
but advance a moment, only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness.
I am a man who, sauntering along, without fully stopping, turns a casual look upon you, and then averts his face,
Leaving it to you to prove and define it,
Expecting the main things from you.
· No. 90

[audio:02 A Good Understanding.mp3]
Live Recording
The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge & the Trebles of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue
James McVinnie, organ
Tim Brown, conductor

Texts

The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.

The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.
(Psalm 99, 1-3, 7)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

(Psalm 111, 10)

Kyrie
[audio:BMWCKyrie.mp3]

Gloria
[audio:BMWCGloria.mp3]

Sanctus & Benedictus
[audio:BMWCSanctus.mp3]

Agnus Dei
[audio:BMWCAgnus.mp3]