Psalms and Canticles

Year: 2020

Heading: for singer and ensemble

Movement Titles:
1. First Psalm, Wine That Makes
2. Second Psalm, They That Sow
3. First Lamentation, On the Ground
4. Second Lamentation, Mother’s Arms
5. Third Psalm, Let the Heavens
6. Fourth Psalm, Enter His Gates
7. First Canticle, Come Away
8. Second Canticle, While I Slept
9. Third Canticle, Deep Waters
10. Fourth Canticle, Give You my Love
11. Fifth Canticle, Set Me As a Seal

First Performance:
December 15, 2022
Parco della Musica
Contemporanea Ensemble
Teatro Studio Brogna
Rome, Italy

Instrumentation: female singer, flute, 2 clarinets, 2 soprano saxes, 3 trombones, 2 marimbas, 2 pianos, 2 violins, viola, cello, bass

Duration: 47:00

Program Note: Psalms and Canticles brings together the rhythmic components of Being (2019) with the vocal features of Four Proverbs (1993).

Listen now: PSALMS and CANTICLES (click here to listen)

Study score: To purchase study score, click here

Text:

1. First Psalm, Wine That Makes
...wine that makes the heart of man glad,
oil to make his face to shine,
and bread that strengthens man's heart.
The earth is filled with the fruit of your works. [Psalm 104: 15,13]

2. Second Psalm, They That Sow
They that sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.
He that goes forth weeping,
bearing seed for sowing,
shall come home with joy,
bringing his sheaves with him. [Psalm 126: 5-6, 4]

3. First Lamentation, On the Ground
On the ground in silence sit the old men of daughter Zion;
They have cast up dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth.
The maidens of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground. [Lamentations 2:10]

4. Second Lamentation, Mother’s Arms
They ask their mothers,
"Where is the cereal?" in vain,
as they faint away like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
and breathe their last
in their mother's arms. [Lamentations 2:12]

5. Third Psalm, Let the Heavens
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
Let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice. [Psalm 96: 11-12, 2]

6. Fourth Psalm, Enter His Gates
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
And his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good his mercy is everlasting.
Shout for joy to the Lord
And serve with gladness:
Come before his presence singing. [Psalm 100: 4-5, 1-2]

7. First Canticle, Come Away
My beloved speaks and says to me:
"Arise, my love, my fair one, come away with me;
for lo, the winter's past, the rain is over,
and the flowers bloom throughout the land.
The time of singing has begun,
the cooing of the doves is heard,
and figs begin to ripen; air is fragrant.
So arise, my love, my fair one, come away with me.
Arise, my love, my fair one, come away with me, O come away.

“You are a dove that hides in cracks of rocks
and hides in secret places in the crannies of the rock.
Show me your face,
and let me hear your voice,
for you are lovely,
and your voice enchants me and is sweet .
Catch us the foxes, catch the little foxes
plundering the vineyards
for our vines have tender grapes.”

My love belongs to me, and I to him;
he feeds his flock among the lilies as he pastures them.
Until the day breathes cool and shadows lengthen,
roam, my lover,
Like a stag upon the rugged hills. [Song of Songs 2: 10-17]

8. Second Canticle, While I Slept
While I slept my heart was awake, keeping vigil
I heard my beloved; he's knocking and saying,
"Please open to me, my beloved, my fair one,
for my head is wet with the dampness of night.”

I have taken off my robe,
am I then to put it on?
I have bathed my feet,
must I then soil them again?

My lover thrust his hand through the hole of the door,
my heart pounded, I trembled,
and I grew faint when he spoke.
I was thrilled he was near.

I rose up to open
to let my beloved come in
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
and my fingers were dripping of wetness
as I grasped the handle, the bolt of the lock;
it too, dripped of from the myrrh.

I opened to my love
but he had already departed and gone
[so] I sought him but I could not find him;
I called him, but he gave no answer to me. [Song of Songs 5:2-6]

9. Third Canticle, Deep Waters
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,
he would be roundly mocked. [Song of Songs 8:7]

10. Fourth Canticle, Give You My Love
Come, my beloved, let’s go out into the fields,
Let's lodge in the villages.
Let's go early to the vineyards
to see if the vines have budded;
if the blossoms have opened.
There I will give you my love. [Song of Songs 7:12-13]

11. Fifth Canticle, Set Me As a Seal
Set me as a seal on your heart,
As a seal on your arm;
For love is strong as death,
passion is cruel as the grave;
It burns like a blazing fire,
like a mighty flame. [Song of Songs 8:6]