SICF FEATURE CONCERT: UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE CARDINAL SINGERS

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL CHORAL FESTIVAL

KENT HATTEBERG, DIRECTOR
Hosanna to the Son of David (c. 1610)

Thomas Weelkes
(1576-1623)

Blagoslovi, Duche Moya, Ghospoda (All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 No. 2) (1915) Sergei Rachmaninoff
(1873 1943)
Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen (1844)

Felix Mendelssohn
(1809 1847)

Alleluia (2011)
Sarah Tubbesing, soprano Seon Hwan Chu, baritone
Ave maris stella (2015)
Erin Shina, Macy Ellis, soloists
Hymne Saint Martin (1996)

Eric Whitacre
(b. 1970)
Blake Wilson
(b. 1994)
Vaclovas Augustinas
(b. 1959)

Nunc dimittis (1915)

Gustav Holst
(1874 1934)

Benedictio (1991)

Urmas Sisask
(b. 1960)
INTERMISSION

Alleluia (2014)
El Manisero (1928, arr. 1996)
El Guayaboso (1993)
Butterfly (arr. 2001)
Camptown Races (1850)
My Old Kentucky Home (1853)
Heavenly Home: Three American Songs
2. Angel Band (1862/arr. 2010)
3. Hallelujah (arr. 2010)
Ride the Chariot (arr. 2001)

Jake Runestad
(b. 1986)
Moises Simons (1889 1945)
arr. Tania Len (b. 1943)
Guido Lpez-Gaviln
(b. 1944)
Mia Makaroff
arr. Mia Makaroff and Anna-Mari Khr
Stephen Foster (1826 1864)
arr. Jack Halloran (1916 1997)
Stephen Foster, arr. Donald Moore
adapted and arranged Shawn Kirchner
Tune by William Bradbury
Song tune by William Bradbury
Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan
(1957 2003)

Emily Yocum, soloist

Wade in de Water (arr. 1998)

arr. Allen Koepke

(1939 2012)

PROGRAM NOTES, TEXTS, AND TRANSLATIONS

Hosanna to the Son of David

Thomas Weelkes

Thomas Weelkes is known as one of the greatest English madrigalists of the Elizabethan period. His
music stands out for its brilliant sonorities, rich texture, and innovative use of dissonance and crossrelationships. While working as a church organist for much of his life, Weelkes made significant
contributions to the church anthem repertory. Hosanna to the Son of David is among his impressive list of
sacred a cappella works. This six-voice motet skillfully alternates large block entrances of voices with
imitative passages. Voice crossings between the two soprano lines as well as the alto and tenor lines,
syncopated rhythm, and sonority changes engage the listener from beginning to end.
Hosanna to the Son of David.
Blessed be the King
that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna.
Thou that sittest in the highest heavens,
Hosanna in excelsis Deo.

Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda (All-Night Vigil)

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff composed the All-Night Vigil in less than two weeks in January and February 1915.
The work is dedicated to the memory of Stephan Smolensky, under whom Rachmaninoff had studied
ancient chant. The work, also known as the Vespers, is a setting of chants from three separate services
Vespers, Matins, and Hours to be performed on the eve of holy days. It consists of fifteen a cappella
movements, with six movements based on znamenny chant (7, 8, 9, 12, 13, and 14), two on Kiev chant
(4 and 5), two on Greek chant (2 and 15), and five original but heavily chant-influenced sections (1, 3,
6, 10, and 11). The work, lasting approximately 60 minutes, was premiered in Moscow on March 10,
1915 under the direction of Nicolai Danilin, and was performed five more times within the next month. It
is considered by many as the pinnacle of Orthodox church music.
With the increasing turmoil of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, two years after the premiere of the AllNight Vigil, Rachmaninoff emigrated to New York. The Liturgy was banned in Russia for some seventy
years; therefore, performances of the work were rare. All-Night Vigil was not recorded until 1957, several
years after Rachmaninoffs death.
Blagoslovi, dushe moy, Ghspoda is the second movement of the All-Night Vigil. Like much of the
work, it is largely homophonic, tonal in harmony, with mostly stepwise motion. The voices are split up to
eight parts, melodies are set against sustained notes and chords, parallel voice leading is common, and the
number of voices changes constantly and dramatically. It is set for alto solo and chorus, but in our
performance the alto solo is performed by the entire alto section. Rachmaninoff exploits the varying
ranges of the choir, from four-part women over a drone in the first tenor, to the use of basso profundo
notes coming to rest at a low C at the close of the movement.
Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda.
Blogosleven yesi, Ghospodi.
Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda.
Bozhe moy, vozvelichilsia yesi zelo.
Blagosleven yesi, Ghospodi.
Vo ispovedaniye i v velelepotu obleksia yesi.
Blagosleven yesi, Ghospodi.
Na gorah stanut vodi

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
My Lord, how great Thou art.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord.
Thou art clothed with glory and majesty.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord.
The waters stood above the mountains.

Divna dela Tvoya, Ghospodi.

Posrede gor proydut vodi.
Divna dela Tvoya, Ghospodi.
Fsia premudrostiyu sotvoril yesi.
Slava Ti, Gospodi, sotvorivshemu fsia.

Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen

Glorious are Thy works, O Lord.

The waters flowed through the mountains.
Glorious are Thy works, O Lord.
In wisdom hast Thou made them all.
Glory to Thee, O Lord, who has created all.

Felix Mendelssohn

Mendelssohn composed this eight-part setting of two verses from Psalm 91 in 1844, the same year as his
well-known a cappella settings of Psalm 43 (Richte mich, Gott, Op. 78 No. 2) and Psalm 22 (Mein Gott,
warum hast du mich verlassen, Op. 78 No. 3). It was dedicated to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia,
who had recently survived an assassination attempt by Mayor Tschech of Brandenburg. Mendelssohn sent
the King the motet, along with the following message:
Since I have received this news on my trip to the music festival in Zweibrcken, some verses have
been on my mind, which I could not forget, which I have thought over and over, and as soon as I found
a quiet moment here again, I had to put them to music. So here they are, and I dare to lay them at the
feet of Your Majesty as an expression of my best wishes.
(from a letter in the Staatsbibliothek Preuischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, cited in an article by Georg
Feder: Zu Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys geistlicher Musik, Religise Musik in nicht-liturgischen
Werken von Beethoven bis Reger,ed. Walter Wiora with Gnther Massenkeil and Klaus Wolfgang
Niemller, Studien zur Musikgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts 51 (Regensburg: Bosse, 1978), 97-117.
Article translated by Monika Hennemann and reprinted in The Mendelssohn Companion (Westport,
CT, London: Greenwood Press, 2001), ed. Douglass Seaton, 259-281.

This setting became a staple of the Berlin cathedral choirs repertoire. Each portion of the text is
introduced by either four-part womens or four-part mens voices. Mendelssohn later made some subtle
alterations, orchestrated the work, and incorporated it into Elijah for a double quartet of soloists.
Denn er hat seinen Engeln
befohlen ber dir,
da sie dich behten
auf allen deinen Wegen,
da sie dich auf den Hnden tragen
und du deinen Fu nicht.
an einen Stein stoest.

Alleluia

For he shall give his angels

charge over thee,
that they shall protect thee
in all the ways thou goest,
they shall bear thee up in their hands
lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone.
Psalm 91: 11-12

Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre is one of the most popular and performed composers of our time, and a distinguished
conductor, broadcaster, and public speaker. His first album as both composer and conductor, Light &
Gold, won a Grammy in 2012, and became the top classical album on US and UK charts within a week
of release. His second album, Water Night, debuted at no. 1 in the iTunes and Billboard classical charts on
the day of release. It features seven world premiere recordings and includes performances from his
professional choir, the Eric Whitacre Singers, the London Symphony Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber and
Hila Plitmann. His ground-breaking Virtual Choir, Lux Aurumque, received over a million views on
YouTube in just 2 months He has since released Virtual Choir 2.0, Sleep, Virtual Choir 3, Water Night,
and Virtual Choir 4: Fly to Paradise, the latter having received over 8,400 submissions from 101
countries.
Eric has written for The Tallis Scholars, BBC Proms, the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus,
Chanticleer, Julian Lloyd Webber and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Berlin Rundfunkchor and The
Kings Singers among others. His musical, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, won both the ASCAP

Harold Arlen award and the Richard Rodgers Award. In 2001, Eric became the youngest recipient ever
awarded the coveted Raymond C. Brock commission by the ACDA, despite coming to classical music
relatively late in life when he joined his college choir in Las Vegas. The first piece he ever performed
Mozarts Requiem changed his life. Inspired to compose, his first piece Go, Lovely Rose, was
completed at the age of 21. He went on to the Juilliard School, earning his masters degree studying with
Pulitzer Prize and Oscar-winning composer John Corigliano.
About Alleluia, Whitacre writes: Im not an atheist, but Im not a Christian either, and for my entire
career I have resisted setting texts that could be used in a liturgical context. However, after spending the
2010 Michaelmas term at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, singing with Dr. David Skinner and his
marvellous Chapel choir, I began to see the deep wisdom in the liturgy. I found myself suddenly open to
the history and the beauty of the poetry, and it was the singe-word Alleluia praise God that most
enchanted me. So I transcribed October, a work I originally wrote for wind symphony, for a cappella
voices, using only that single word.
Alleluia was written for Dr. David Skinner and the Sidney Sussex College Choir, who gave the first
performance in Sidney Sussex Chapel, Cambridge University, on 25 June 2011.

Ave Maris Stella

Blake Wilson

Blake Wilson is a student at the University of Louisville and a member of the Cardinal Singers and
Collegiate Chorale. Ave Maris Stella was not necessarily written with the choirs at UofL in mind; rather,
he wanted to compose something that could be sung with a gathering of friends. One of these friends
heard the piece, and thought it would be a great fit for the Cardinal Singers. The piece opens with a rich
homophonic setting of the title text, followed by an unfolding of syncopated entrances around the choir.
The basses join in the same manner at the appearance of the text Solve vincla reis. A brief return to
homophonic texture occurs during the text Monstra te esse Matrem, before the basses start another chain
of cascading entrances. The two soprano parts perpetuate a driving rhythm in canon while the other
voices provide a foundational support of expansive block chords.
A brief moment of repose is signaled by a soprano and alto solo on the final iteration of the text Mites fac
et castos. The full choir enters again in block chords, building in dynamic and range before the climatic
final section. A brief setting in 7/8 uplifts the listener as the choir sings Sit laus Deo Patri, Summo Christo
Decus, Spiritui Sancto. A shift back to common time and the recurrence of homophonic text setting over
expansive chords allows for a glorious ending to the piece.
Ave, maris stella, Dei Mater alma,
atque semper Virgo, felix caeli portas.
Sumens illud Ave Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace, mutans Evae nomen.
Solve vincla reis, profer lumen caecis,
mala nostra pelle, bona cuncta posce.
Monstra te esse matrem,
sumat per te preces,
qui pro nobis natus tulit esse tuus.
Virgo singularis, inter omnes mitis,
nos culpis solutos, mites fac et custos.
Vitam praesta puram, iter para tutum,
ut videntes Jesum, semper collaetemur.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto,
tribus honor unus. Amen.

Hail, star of the sea, loving Mother of God,

and Virgin immortal, Heavens blissful portal.
Receiving that Ave from Gabriels mouth
reversing the name of Eva, establish us in peace.
Break the chains of sinners, bring light to the blind,
drive away our evils, and ask for all good things.
Show yourself to be a mother, that, through you,
he may accept our prayers,
he who, born for us, chose to be your Son.
O incomparable Virgin, meek above all others,
make us, absolved from sin, meek and chaste.
Keep our life pure, make the journey safe,
so that, seeing Jesus, we may always rejoice together.
Let there be praise to God the Father,
and glory to Christ the most High,
and to the Holy Spirit,
and to the Three be one honor. Amen.

Hymne Saint Martin (1996)

Vaclovas Augustinas

Vaclovas Augustinas graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music in choral conducting (1981) and
in composition (1992), where he studied under Professor Julius Juzeli. From 1980 to 1992 he worked at
the Azuoliukas Music School and since 1992 has directed the famed Vilnius Municipal choir Jauna
Muzika, an ensemble that appeared at the 5th World Symposium on Choral Music in Rotterdam in 1999.
Since 1996 he has been a professor at the Lithuanian Music Academy and Vilnius Pedagogical
University, teaching choral conducting, choral arranging, and ear training and sight-singing. He has won
several national and international competitions in choral composition, including Florilege Vocal de
Tours in France and the Lithuania National Song Festival Award.
Hymne Saint Martin was the third prize winner in the International Competition of Choral Composition
Florilege Vocal de Tours in 1996. The piece was written on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of
the death of Saint Martin of Tours, patron of France, father of monasticism in Gaul, and the first leader of
Western monasticism. He founded the famous Abbey of Marmontier near Tours. He was known as a
miracle worker during his life, and was one of the first non-martyrs to be publicly venerated as a saint. In
France he has always been one of the most popular saints; his honorary feast day in the Roman Catholic
Church calendar is November 11. The Cardinal Singers had the privilege of singing this piece under the
composers direction during the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany,
where he was serving on the adjudication jury. The University of Louisville commissioned Mr.
Augustinas to compose a setting of Lux Aeterna, which was premiered at the New Music Festival in
November 2004. The Cardinal Singers recorded three of his works on their Music of the Northern
Horizon CD.
O virum ineffabilem, nec labore victum,
nec morte timendum, qui nec mori timuit,
nec vivere recusavit, alleluia.

Oh, man unsullied and invincible by work,

fearless of death, who hasnt dread of death,
not declined of life, alleluia.

Oculis et manibus in caelum semper intentus,

in victum ab oratione spiritum
non relaxabat, alleluia.

Eyes and arms always turned to the heavens,

not overcoming by the spirit of prayer,
and not wearied, alleluia.

Martinus Abrahae sinu laetus excipitur:

Martinus, hic pauper et modicus,
caelum dives ingreditur,
Hymnis caelestibus honoratus. Alleluia.

Martin, beaming with joy of Abraham,

Martin, he is poor and modest,
stepping rich to the heavens,
honored with hymns of heaven. Alleluia.

Nunc dimittis

Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst studied counterpoint with George Frederick Sims, organist at Merton College in Oxford. In
1893 he entered the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with Charles Villiers
Stanford. After his studies, Holst first made his living as a trombonist. In 1905 he was appointed head of
music at the St. Pauls Girls School in Hammersmith, and in 1907 was named music director at Morley
College in London. In 1919 he took a position in composition at the Royal College of Music and a music
professorship at University College in Reading. Although he is best remembered for The Planets, Holst
composed a large number of works for chorus.
In 1914, R.R. Terry, organist and director of music at Westminster Cathedral, invited four composers,
including Holst, to write unaccompanied eight-part settings of the Nunc dimittis text for use during Holy
Week at the cathedral. Holsts setting was premiered on Easter Sunday in 1915, although it was not
published until 1979 by the composers daughter Imogen Holst. It begins quietly, with each of the eight
voices entering individually. In the next section, Holst alternates between mens and womens voices. The
imitative writing of the concluding Gloria Patri builds to a magnificent climax in A major.

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine,

secundum verbum tuum in pace.
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum,
Quod parasti ante faciem
omnium populorum,
Lumen ad revelationem gentium,
et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.

Lord, let thy servant now depart in peace,

O Lord, according to thy word.
For my eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared
before the face of all peoples,
A light as revelation to the Gentiles,
and a glory of thy people Israel.
Luke 2:29-32

Gloria Patri, et Filio,

et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio,
et nunc, et semper,
et in scula sculorum. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Benedictio

Urmas Sisask

Urmas Sisask was born in Rapla, Estonia. He studied composition with Ren Eespere at the Tallinn
Conservatory, where he completed his studies in 1985. His choral and piano works have been particularly
successful, but he has also composed chamber and symphonic works. Since childhood, Sisask has been
fascinated by astronomy, which has inspired him to write so-called astromusic. Several of his works
bear titles based on heavenly bodies. Benedictio, however, is a Latin work of remarkable tonal and
rhythmic power. Its building blocks are relatively simple motifs, added one by one in various voice parts.
An accelerando leads to a repetitive chant by the male voices as the soprano theme is introduced. This
thematic material in the soprano section becomes the focal point of the piece, until a powerful
homophonic shout on the text Benedicat vos omnipotens. The sopranos regain the focus as the rest of the
choir chants the text in repetitive 6/4 chords. Although basically a tonal work, Benedictio features
numerous seconds throughout, particularly in the alto voice.
Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus.
Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus. Amen.

Alleluia

Praise to the almighty God.

Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jake Runestad

Considered highly imaginativewith big ideas (Baltimore Sun) and stirring and uplifting (Miami
Herald), award-winning composer Jake Runestad has received commissions and performances from many
leading choral and orchestral ensembles. Dubbed a choral rockstar by American Public Media, Jake is
one of the most frequently performed composers in the U.S.A. and travels extensively to work with
ensembles as a clinician and resident composer. He holds a Masters degree in composition from the
Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning
composer Kevin Puts. Prior to graduate school, he studied privately with acclaimed composer Libby
Larsen. A native of Rockford, IL, he currently lives in Minneapolis, MN.
About Alleluia, Runestad writes Through history, the singing of alleluia has served as an outward
celebration as well as an introspective prayer of praise. This setting explores these two uses of the word
within a spiritual context. The work begins with a rhythmic declaration of joy and builds intensity through
metric changes, tonal shifts, glissandi, and hand clapping. This lively exultation soon gives way to a
reverent meditation with soaring melodic lines and lush harmonies. The dancing rhythms from the
beginning return with a gradual build in intensity as ones praises rise to the sky. Alleluia was
commissioned by Brady Allred and the Salt Lake Vocal Artists, and premiered by the ensemble on
February 21, 2014 at the Western ACDA Conference in Santa Barbara, CA.

El Manisero

Moises Simons, arr. Tania Len

Moises Simons, a native of Havana, Cuba, was widely known in Caribbean countries and Latin America
as a composer, bandleader, and pianist. El Manisero, his most famous song, was supposedly composed
late one night in 1928 on a napkin while he was in a Havana tavern, having been inspired by a passing
peanut vendor who was singing a pregn (jingle) to sell his cucuruchos de man (paper cones filled with
peanuts).
Composer and conductor Tania Len, also a native of Havana, came to the United States in 1967,
becoming a founding member and first musical director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969. She has
since been active as a composer and conductor, and has served as an advisor to numerous arts
organizations. In 1998 she was awarded the New York Governors Lifetime Achievement Award. She has
received Honorary Doctorates from Colgate University and Oberlin College and awards from the
American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America,
NYSCA, Lila Wallace/Readers Digest Fund, ASCAP and Koussevitzky Foundation, among others. In
1998 she held the Fromm Residency at the American Academy in Rome. She was a Visiting Lecturer at
Harvard University and Visiting Professor of Composition at Yale University.
Ms. Len arranged El Manisero in 1996 for Chanticleer, who recorded it on their 1997 compact disc
Wondrous Love. The arrangement is in twelve parts, with ostinato bass lines, vocal percussion sounds
dispersed among tenor and alto parts, supporting the melodic material, found mostly in the soprano parts.
Man, man, man
Que si te quieres por el pico divertir,
Comprame un cucurichito de man.

Peanuts, peanuts, peanuts.

So if you want through your mouth to have fun,
buy me a little bag of peanuts.

Man, man, man

Caserita no te acuestes a dormir,
Sin comer un cucurucho de man.

Peanuts, peanuts, peanuts.

Little housewife dont go to sleep tonight
without eating a little bag of peanuts.

Que calentico y rico est

Ya no se puede pedir ms.

They are so warm and delicious

that one cant ask for more.

Ay caserita no me dejes ir
Porque despues te vas a arrepentir
Y va ser muy tarde y.

Ay, little housewife dont let me go

cause then youll be sorry
and it will be too late.

Manisero se v
Caserita no te acuestes a dormir,
Sin comer un cucurucho de man.

Peanut vendor is leaving!

Little housewife dont go to sleep tonight
without eating a little bag of peanuts.

Cuando la calle sola est

Casera de mi corazn,
El Manisero entona su pregn
Y si la nia escucha mi cantar
Llama desde su balcn.

When the street is deserted

little housewife of my heart,
the peanut vendor sings his song
and if a little girl hears my singing
she beckons from her balcony.

Dame de tu man
Que esta noche no voy a poder dormir
Sin comer un cucurucho de man.
Man, man, man. . .

Give me some of your peanuts

cause tonight I wont be able to go to sleep
without eating a bag of peanuts.
Peanuts, peanuts, peanuts. . .

(Text by Moises Simons)

El Guayaboso

(English translation by Tania Len)

Guido Lpez-Gaviln

During the second half of the nineteenth century, when Cubans felt a growing sense of national pride and
were fighting the Spanish army with machetes in hand-to-hand combat, several musical traditions were
born that became symbols of what it means to be Cuban; one of those was the rumba.
The rumba has three variants: the columbia (fast), the yamb (slow), and the guaguanc (moderato).
Guaguanc is the most widely recognized and most popular of the three. It almost always is very jovial in
spirit and recounts a humorous or festive happening. A soloist always sings a verse, joined by a grouping
of voices for the refrain. Only one couple dances, using traditional steps. The traditional rumba is
accompanied only by percussion: claves, palitos (usually a hollowed trunk beaten with sticks), and three
congas. The drummer who plays the quinto conga (the smallest of the three) executes combinations of
rhythms that are amazing and always changing.
El Guayaboso is a choral guaguanc. I composed the first version in the 1960s for a youth chorus
directed by Carmen Collado when I still was a student in the Conservatorio Armadeo Roldn. The melody
was harmonized in three parts and accompanied by percussion; it was sung in this arrangement for many
years. It was in the decade of the 1980s that I conceived of a version for mixed chorus in which the voices
were to sing the percussion parts. I knew it would be somewhat difficult, but perhaps I could find
courageous souls to sing it! Jos Antonio Mndez proved to be the first of the valiant ones, premiering the
piece as it appears in this edition in 1988 with the Coro de Matanzas.
Where did I get the title El Guayaboso? It is quite simple. In Cuba, a lie is a guayaba (which means a
guava fruit) and it is plain to see that the text is nothing but pure guayabas! And where I was able to get
so many guavas? It is a nice story. When I was young my maternal grandmother, like almost all
grandmothers, told me lots of stories and read me lots of poems, many of which she remembered from her
own childhood. I remembered these disparate rhymes, which probably emerged in a country fiesta in
Matanzas province in the last years of the nineteenth century, and they appeared many years later in the
text of El Guayaboso.
Two excellent Cuban choral ensemblesExaudi, directed by Mara Felicia Prez, and Entrevoces,
directed by Digna Guerra (both of which have won several international competitions)have each
contributed their own excellent renditions along with an increasing number of other international
performances. This pleases me because the piece holds a special place in my heart.
-Note by Guido Lpez-Gaviln
Yo v bailar un danzn
en el filo de un cuchillo,
un mosquito en calzoncillos
y una mosca en camisn.

I saw dancing a danzn

on the edge of a knife
a mosquito wearing trousers
and a fly dressed in a shirt.

Yo v un cangrejo arando
Un cochino tocando un pito
y una vieja regaando
sentada en una butaca.

I saw a crab plowing,

a pig blowing a whistle,
and an old growing woman
sitting in an armchair.

A una ternerita flaca

que de risa estaba muerta,
al ver una chiva tuerta
remendar una alpargata.

And a skinny little calf

die laughing
upon seeing a one-eyed goat
mending a sandal.

Yo v bailar

I saw a mosquito dancing

Butterfly

Words and Music Mia Makaroff

arr. Mia Makaroff and Anna-Mari Khr

Butterfly was written for the Finnish a cappella ensemble Rajaton, who were founded in Helsinki in 1997.
The Finnish word rajaton means boundless, to indicate the breadth of their repertoire, from sacred
classical to near Europop. They perform primarily in Finland, but also tour around Europe and the rest of
the world, having performed in over 25 countries. In 2005, Rajaton album sales reached 100,000
worldwide. The have earned eight gold records in total, with Rajaton Sings ABBA reaching platinum, and
Joulu reaching double platinum.
Butterfly is featured on Rajatons album Boundless (2001), and has been a staple of their repertoire ever
since its immediate success. The melody is performed by the first sopranos throughout, with support from
the rest of the choir. True to the style of contemporary a cappella music, the remaining voices primarily
perform on nonsense syllables to emulate instruments.
1. Sweet is the sound of my newborn wings,
I stretch them open and let them dry.
I havent seen this world before
but Im excused, Im a butterfly.

2. Sweet is the touch of your newborn wings,

we fly in circles, we play with the sun.
We havent seen this world before,
so fair, so bright, so blue the sky.

3. Love me, love me on the leaves

before we say goodbye.
Love me, kiss me with the breeze,
you will be my lullaby.
Tomorrow Ill die.

4. Sweet is the wind as it gently blows

the day away and the nighttime comes.
Great are the wonders that silence shows,
I fall asleep and I dream of the sun
and my butterfly.

Camptown Races
My Old Kentucky Home

Stephen Foster, arr. Jack Halloran

Stephen Foster, arr. Donald Moore

2014 marked the 150th anniversary of the death of Stephen Collins Foster, known as the father of
American music, and the pre-eminent songwriter of the United States in the 19th Century. Born in
Pennsylvania, he was the youngest of ten children. As a youth, his most important musical influences
were Henry Kleber, a German immigrant who owned a music store in Pittsburgh and gave him music
lessons, and Dan Rice, a traveling blackface singer who introduced him to minstrel songs. In his early
twenties, Foster began writing minstrel songs almost exclusively for Christys Minstrels, a blackface
group formed by Edwin Pearce Christy, including Camptown Races and My Old Kentucky Home. He sold
a number of his compositions to publishing companies, but realized little profit from these sales.
Foster wrote Camptown Races in 1850 as one of his Ethiopian songs. Although he wrote it in black
dialect, Foster's instruction to minstrel singers was to sing it with sympathy, not derision. The choral
arrangement of Camptown Races is by Jack Halloran, a native of Iowa who was a choral director for
films, records, and television, and worked as choral director and arranger on The Dean Martin Show and
director of the chorus and orchestra for several Bing Crosby recordings. Halloran also organized the Jack
Halloran Singers, which performed throughout Southern California. His most popular arrangement for
choirs is the spiritual Witness.
My Old Kentucky Home was composed in 1853, and was adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly as
the official state song of Kentucky in 1928. The choral arrangement is by Donald Moore,
organist/choirmaster at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Camptown Races
Gon to run all night, gon to run all day,

O somebody bet on the bobtail nag, O doo da day.

Camptown ladies sing this song, doo da, doo da,
camptown race track five miles long, O doo da day.
I come down there with my hat caved in, doo da, doo da,
I go back home with a pocket full o tin, O doo da day.
[Refrain] Gon to run all night, gon to run all day,
Ill bet my money on the bobtail nag,
somebody bet on the bay.
The longtail filly and the big black hoss, doo da, doo da,
fly the track and they both cut across, O doo da day.
The blind hoss stick in a big mud hole, doo da, doo da,
I cant touch bottom with a ten foot pole, O doo da day.
[Refrain]
Old muley cow come on to the track, doo da, dooda,
the bobtail fling her over his back, O doo da day.
Then fly a long like a railroad car, doo da, dooda,
runnin a race with a shootin star, O doo da day.
[Refrain]
See them flyin in a ten mile hear, doo da, doo da,
round the race track then repeat, doo da, doo da,
IO win my money on the bobtail nag, doo da, doo da,
keep my money in an old tow bag, dooda doo da.
[Refrain]

My Old Kentucky Home

The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home,
Tis summer, the fields are array,
The corntops ripe and the meadows in the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day.
[Refrain] Weep no more my lady,
Oh, weep no more today:
We will sing one song for my old Kentucky home,
For my old Kentucky home, far away.
The day goes by like a shadow oer the heart,
with sorrow where all was delight.
They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,
Oh my old Kentucky home, good night.
[Refrain]

Heavenly Home: Three American Songs

2. Angel Band
3. Hallelujah

adapted and arranged Shawn Kirchner

Shawn Kirchner is a composer/arranger, singer and pianist active in the music circles of Los Angeles. In
2012, he was appointed to a three-year term as Composer in Residence for the Los Angeles Master
Chorale. His original songwriting ranges in style from jazz and gospel to folk and bluegrass, the latter
featured on his CD Meet Me on the Mountain. Kirchners choral writing is informed by his interest in
songwriting and folk traditions. Best known for his setting of the Kenyan song Wana Baraka, he has also
set many traditional American songs, including the three that comprise Heavenly Home, which have been
praised by the LA Times as arranged with mastery.
Angel Band, the second arrangement and emotional heart of Heavenly Home, is an eight-part a cappella
setting of the beloved William Bradbury tune, set to Jefferson Hascalls text in 1862. Simple, soaring
descants, countermelodies, and rich harmonic textures provide a symphonic breadth to this arrangement
that encompasses the full four-octave range of the choral instrument. Womens and mens choruses
take turns at the first two verses before combining forces on the grand final verse.
Hallelujah, the final movement of Heavenly Home, is a six-part a cappella setting of the popular Sacred
Harp tune. Extensive composed material is used as interlude and accompaniment throughout, with
hallelujahs leaping, plunging and circling to the lilting 6/8 rhythms. The austere Sacred Harp
harmonization is used with only slight modifications on each refrain, providing homophonic contrast to
the mostly polyphonic verses.
-note by composer/arranger Shawn Kirchner
Angel Band
1. The latest sun is sinking fast,
my race is almost run.
My strongest trials now are past,
my triumph is begun.

Chorus:
O come, angel band
Come and around me stand
O bear me away on your snow-white wings
to my immortal home,

2. I know Im near the holy ranks

of friend and kindred dear;
Ive brushed the dew on Jordans banks,
the crossing must be near.

3. Ive almost gained my heavnly home

my spirit loudly sings.
The Holy Ones, behold, they come
I hear the noise of wings.

Hallelujah
1.And let this feeble body fail,
And let it faint or die;
My soul shall quit this mournful vale,
And soar to worlds on high;

Chorus:
And Ill sing hallelujah,
And youll sing hallelujah,
And well all sing hallelujah
When we arrive at home.

2. O what are all my sufferings here,

If, Lord, Thou count me meet
With that enraptured host to appear,
And worship at Thy feet!

3. Give joy or grief, give ease or pain,

Take life or friends away,
But let me find them all again
In that eternal day.

Ride the Chariot

Traditional Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan

American musician Moses Hogan is best known as a composer and arranger of spirituals, although he
began his career as a concert pianist. He won first place in the prestigious 28th annual Kosciuszko
Foundation Chopin Competition in New York. He studied at The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts,
Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, the Juilliard School in New York, and Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge. He founded the internationally acclaimed Moses Hogan Chorale in 1993. In the final
years of his life, he became increasingly in-demand internationally as an arranger, conductor, and

clinician. His contemporary settings of spirituals, original compositions, and other works have been
enthusiastically accepted by audiences around the globe. He passed away in 2003 from a brain tumor.
Ride the Chariot was arranged for the 35th Anniversary of the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, and was
dedicated to Albert McNeil.
Im gonna ride the chariot soon in the mornin
Ride in the chariot soona in the mornin.
Ride up in the chariot soon in the mornin
an I hope Ill join the band.
Singin Oh, Lord, have mercy
Oh Lord, have mercy.
Good Lord, have mercy on me.
Oh, Lord, have mercy on me.
An I hope Ill join the band.
Im gonna see my mother soon in the mornin.
See my father soona in the mornin.
Ride up in the chariot soon in the mornin
an I hope Ill join the band.
Im gonna chatter with the angels soon in the mornin.
Chatter with the angels soona in the mornin.
Chatter with the angels soon in the mornin
an I hope Ill join the band.

Wade in de Water

Traditional Spiritual, arr. Allen Koepke

Allen Koepke was a music educator in Iowa from 1960 until his death in 2013. He received his Bachelor
of Arts from Luther College in 1960 and his Master of Arts from the University of Northern Iowa in
1967. Most recently he was Director of Choral Music at St. Marks Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. He was Professor Emeritus from Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids) where he taught
for sixteen years. Prior to that he taught in the public schools for twenty years.
Koepke was awarded the Iowa Professor of the Year in 1996 by the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching and Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He was also honored
in 1996 as Innovator of the Year by Kirkwood Community College and the national organization
League For Innovation for his work in computerized classroom instruction. He was inducted into the
Jefferson High School Hall of Fame in 1995 and was awarded the coveted Honorary Student by the
Kirkwood student body and Executive Council in 1994. At the 1997 Iowa Choral Directors Association
Summer Symposium, he was awarded the distinguished Robert M. McCowen Memorial Award for
outstanding contribution to choral music in Iowa. Several of his more than 70 published works have
been performed at national music conventions, as well as on national radio and television in Europe, Asia,
Canada, and the United States.
Mr. Koepke gave the spiritual Wade in de Water a new and exciting treatment in his eight-part
arrangement. From a pianissimo introduction by the basses, other voices are added, building to a forte
entrance of the refrain. The melody is passed from tenor to soprano, then bass to tenor, leading to a
chilling troubling of the water, as one voice after another enters. After a modulation to E-flat minor, the
piece builds to a rousing finish.

Wade in de water, children, wade in de water.

God is gonna trouble de water, my Lord.
Well, de River Jordan is so chilly an cold
(oo) chills de body, and not de soul.
If you get there before I do,
just tell my friends Im a-comin too.
Wade in de water, children, wade in de water.
My Lord, (oo, trouble in de water).