THE ROMANTIC VOICE

Composed in 1992, by Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941).

Premiered in 1992 and commissioned by the Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia, the inspiration for Hailstork’s lushly romantic and deeply spiritual Sonata da Chiesa is wildly diverse, spanning centuries, beginning in his childhood at the great Gothic-revival Cathedral of All Saints in Albany, NY, with his love for the building itself and the choral liturgy that fills its walls. But instead of text and voices, Hailstork uses only strings, looking back to the instrumental ingenuity of Arcangelo Corelli and the 17th century Italian church sonata. 

Dubbed Albany’s “Medieval” Cathedral, All Saint in Albany was built between 1884-1906 in a high Gothic style, complete with flying buttresses and European stained-glass. At 320 ft in length and 130 ft at the transepts, it was the first Episcopal Cathedral in the United States. African American families have been an important part of the congregation since its founding and the church was known during the Civil Rights Era, when Hailstork lived in Albany and sang as a chorister boy, for standing up against racial segregation. The rich, expansive string voicing of this work places us in a truly special space among stone walls and high arches where beams of sunlight pierce through colored glass.

The seven movements, performed without pause, could almost tell the story of the cathedral itself, but instead are drawn from choral liturgy.

Finally is Hailstork’s nod to Arcangelo Corelli, a humble, mild and moral man, and the first composer to derive his fame exclusively from instrumental compositions; his oeuvre consisting of 12 concerti grossi,12 sonatas for violin and continuo, and four collections of trio sonatas, both sonata da camera and sonata da chiesa. More reverent, more devout; the sonata da chiesa (church sonata) was intended for religious meditation in a more serious and contemplative setting. Corelli’s Op. 1 and Op. 3 Sonata da Chiesa sonatas are the exemplary works of this form. In the end, Hailstork ingeniously weaves together centuries of musical ideas with his own unique voice in this emotionally moving work.  

“I love creating grand moments in choral and orchestral music,” Dr. Adolphus Hailstork said in a recent interview, a quote that not only illustrates his creative philosophy, but reflects his early exposure to the “smells and bells of the Anglican tradition”. He was born in Rochester, New York and raised in Albany, New York. Growing up, he studied piano, violin, organ and voice. While at Howard University, Dr. Hailstork joined ROTC, became a lieutenant and was stationed in Germany where he ran the officers' club, played the piano, and wrote music. After graduation from Howard, he attended the American School at Fountainebleau and studied with Nadia Boulanger. Dr. Hailstork went on to receive his Bachelor and Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and his PhD in composition from Michigan State University. He went on to professorships at Michigan State University, Youngstown State University (Ohio), Norfolk State University (Virginia).

Dr. Hailstork has written more than 300 pieces for chorus, ballet, opera, solo voice, piano, organ, various chamber ensembles, band and orchestra. His compositions range across a variety of styles, which he attributes to his experiences growing up, “I always wanted to be diverse. I never had solid roots... I was free to do a lot of different things, anything I wanted to do...” His works have been performed by major orchestras and won awards in the area of band, chamber ensemble. Dr. Hailstork's commissions include “The Gift of the Magi”, a choral ballet; “Rise for Freedom”, an opera about the Underground Railroad; and “Still Holding”, for orchestra. He is currently working on his fifth symphony and “A Knee on the Neck” (a tribute to George Floyd) for chorus and orchestra.

Note by Pam Chaddon & Charlease Elzenga

Composed in 1857-58, by Richard Wagner (1813-1883).

Wagner was known for his affair with Mathlide Wesendonck, who was also married at the time of this affair. With a secret affair, there is no doubt that a baby may have been what sparked the love captured and embedded within this cycle. This song cycle is known as a study piece for Wagner's opera, Tristan und Isolde. Everyone knows that love story! Follow me on a journey through this music, told through the eyes of a mother who is having an affair and a secret baby.

Der Engel is the compassion of angels who risk the force of gravity to carry earthly spirits to heavens. The angels from heaven comes down to bless my body with a new life yet relieve me of my old self.

In the early days of childhood
I often heard tell of angels
Who exchange heaven's pure bliss
For the sun of earth,
So that, when a sorrowful heart
Hides its yearning from the world
And would silently bleed away
And dissolve in streams of tears,
And when its fervent prayer
Begs only for deliverance,
That angel will fly down
And gently raise the heart to heaven.
And to me too an angel descended,
And now on shining wings
Bear my spirit, free from all pain,
Towards heaven!

Stehe Still! is a plea to time to stop its ceaseless circles so that the supplicant might experience the emptiness of pure being. A plea to time to stop so I can enjoy the bonding process with my unborn child all the wild keep them safe from the outside warfare.

Rushing, roaring wheel of time,
You that measure eternity;
Gleaming spheres in the vast universe,
You that surround our earthly sphere;
Eternaal creation - cease:
Enough of becoming, let me be!

Hold yourselves back, generative powers,
Primal Thought that always creates!
Stop your breath, still your urge,
Be silent for a single moment!
Swelling pulses, restrain your beating;
Eternal day of the Will - end!
That in blessed, sweet oblivion
I might measure all my bliss!

When eye gazes blissfully into eye,
When soul drowns utterly in soul;
When being finds itself in being,
And the goal of every hope is near,
When lips are mute in silent wonder,
When the soul wishes for nothing more:
Then man perceives Eternity's footprint,
And solves your riddle, holy Nature!

Im Triebhaus is emphasizing the nothingness of reality. Pregnancy has sunken in. (I feel kicks)

High-arching leafy crowns,
Canopies of emerald,
You children who dwell in distant climes,
Tell me, why do you lament?

Silently you bend your branches,
Inscribe your symbols on the air,
And a sweet fragrance rises,
As silent witness to you sorrows.

With longing and desire
You open wide your arms,
And embrace in your delusion
Desolation's awful void.

I am well aware, poor plant;
We both share a single fate,
Though bathed in gleaming light,
Our homeland is not here!

And just as the sun is glad to leave
The empty gleam of day,
The true sufferer veils himself
In the darkness of silence.

It grows quiet, a whirring whisper
Fills the dark room uneasily:
I see heavy droplets hanging
From the green edge of the leaves.

Schmerzen reflects on the paradox that “if death brings forth life and sorrow only bring delight O how thankful am I that nature granted me such sorrow”. It’s delivery day and every sick day up to this point was worth the beautiful blessings to come.

Every evening, sun, you redden
Your lovely eyes with weeping,
When, bathing in the sea,
You die an early death;

Yet you rise in your old splendour,
The glory of the dark world,
When you wake in the morning
As a proud and conquering hero!

Ah, why should I complain,
Why should I see you, my heart, so depressed,
If the sun itself must despair,
If the sun itself must set?

If only death gives birth to life,
If only agony brings bliss:
O how I give thanks to Nature
For giving me such agony!

Traume is a dissolution of being. Dreams dreamt and goals manifested in the creation of my son. Letting him know that he is my biggest dream.

Say, what wondrous dreams are these
Embracing all my senses,
That they have not, like bubbles,
Vanished to a barren void?

Dreams, that with every hour
Bloom more lovely every day,
And with their heavenly tidings
Float blissfully through the mind!

Dreams, that with glorious rays
Penetrate the soul,
There to paint an eternal picture:
Forgetting all, remembering one!

Dreams, as when the Spring sun
Kisses blossoms from the snow,
So the new day might welcome them
In unimagined bliss,

So that they grow and flower,
Bestow their scent as in a dream,
Fade softly away on your breast
And sink into their grave.

The context of these pieces is based merely on the imagination of what ifs and using context clues of the unspoken truths. Wagner was noted saying that these songs he will do nothing greater and that they will stand the true test of time.

Note by GeDeane Graham

Composed in 1824, by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).

That Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 1 premiered when he was just 15 years old would be impressive enough; in truth, Mendelssohn had composed twelve other symphonies between the ages of 12 and 14 before completing what would later be called his "Symphony No. 1."

Today's piece distinguishes itself from those earlier works as Mendelssohn's first symphony to call for the use of woodwinds and brass. It is also a markedly more confident and mature work, leaving those dozen, earlier "string symphonies" to be largely forgotten until after Mendelssohn's death.

Felix's prodigiousness is hardly surprising: the Mendelssohn family was enormously influential, with access to some of the best musical training available at the time. Felix's Symphony No. 1 premiered at a private celebration in honor of Felix's sister, Fanny's, 19th birthday, where members of the elite royal orchestra attended to perform the work, according to music theorists A. B. Marx and Heinrich Dorn.

The piece begins by dropping the listener directly into the middle of the action. While the piece as a whole has clear roots in the music of Mozart and Beethoven, the introduction's use of minor key pushes a unique sense of urgency rather than tragedy (as Mozart might) or turbulence (as Beethoven often did). Listen especially for a long, sustained note in the horns, quiet in volume but full of expectation, which signals a transition into the final section of the first movement.

The winds take up the melody for large portions of the second movement. This movement provides the closest thing to a breath of calm before plunging back into the frenetic energy of the third movement - ostensibly a minuet, but with considerably more drama than that courtly dance would normally embody. Here one can listen for a brief, chant-like trio section in the winds, before ominous timpani triplets demand we return to the angst that also typifies the fiery finale of this work, being performed nearly 200 years to the day after its premiere.

Note by Jacob Pope