Shawn Crouch’s “Who Would You Be” reminds us that in the wake of violence and war, every child lost was a son or daughter… every child had a favorite color, and perhaps a favorite game that made them smile… every child had a full life ahead of them with people to meet, places to go, and perhaps children of their own. Crouch’s setting of his own text is not overly complex, but some angular melodies and dissonant harmonies convey grief and sorrow. In contrast, the simple rhythms he selects places the text at the forefront, compelling one to face the hard questions.

Who would you have become?
What would be your favorite color?
Would you still look like Mom?
How tall would you be?
Would you keep playing soccer?
Where are the places you would go?
Who will you meet?
Would you become a father?
Would you have left a mark?
Would you have made a difference?
Who would you be?

“God Will Give Orders/Sweet Child” is an excerpt from Sarah Quartel’s larger work Snow Angel. With its lilting meter and delicate melody, the first half explores the idea of divine guidance in the form of angels to help those on earth. However, in the second half, the music and text take a drastic turn, and the angels’ song of comfort seems almost more a command to everyone else: children enter this world pure, but it is our responsibility to teach them to love. Rather than wait for peace, it is our responsibility to break the cycles of the past.

God will give orders to his angels about you,
And all his angels, all his armies sing: ‘ah!’
Do not think poorly of these little children,
All of them have an angel in heaven,
And all their angels can see the face of the Father.
Sweet child, hear my song.
Sweet child, I will guard you.
Sweet child, you’re the future.
Love and mercy show to others.
Faith, like a child, can hear the song,
a song that falls on ears of those who wait,
Like a child, for peace to come.
And trust that we will learn to show them love,
Like a child, who knows no wrong
From being loved by those who’ve taught them.
Faith, like a child, forever strong.
The circle goes on.

“Goin’ Home” utilizes the melody from the “Largo” of Antonín Dvořák’s “New World Symphony.” As a Hungarian coming to the United States in the nineteenth century, Dvořák was highly influenced by the spiritual melodies sung by African slaves in America. Many spirituals of the time used coded language that on the surface seemed to be about Christian faith and an afterlife, but the songs found more immediate meaning in regard to freedom from slavery. Dvořák cited not just the beauty of the melodies, but the passion and conviction with which they were sung. Borrowing Dvořák’s melody, Paul Langford adapted his own words and arranged the tune for choir, cello, and piano. Langford’s lush harmonies and decorative accompaniment effectively communicate a longing for peace and calm in both this life and the next.

Goin’ home, goin’ home, I’m a goin’ home;
Quiet-like, some still day, I’m just goin’ home.
It’s not far, just close by, through an open door;
Work all done, care laid by, goin’ to fear no more.
Mother’s there expecting me, father’s waiting too.
Lots of folks gathered there, all the friends I knew.
Morning star lights the way, restless dream all done.
Shadows gone, break of day, real life’s just begun.
There’s no break, there’s no end, just a living on.
Wide awake, with a smile, goin’ on and on.

“Child of Wonder” is the last movement of The Sacred Veil, a twelve-movement work by Eric Whitacre that he wrote with poet Charles Anthony (Tony) Silvestri for choir, piano, and cello. Whitacre writes: “The Sacred Veil chronicles the rich life of Tony and his late wife Julie Silvestri: their courtship, the birth of their children, Julie’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer, her treatment, her struggle, and finally, her death. I decided to write the poetry for “Child of Wonder” myself, with the hope that it would serve as a kind of benediction, not only for Julie, but for my best friend Tony.” Although Whitacre’s larger work walks through a different kind of grief, we present his piece in this concert as the title and text address the discomfort and injustice of innocent “child-like” victims, while simultaneously challenging the listener to face loss with openness.

Child of wonder
Child of sky
Time to end your voyage
Time to die.

Silent slumber calls you
Dark and deep
Child of soft surrender
Child of sleep.

Child of sorrow
Child of rain
There is no tomorrow
No more pain.

Turn your silvered sail
Toward the light
Child of mourning
Child of night.

Child of iridescence
Child of dream
Stars and moons will guide you
Down the stream.

Stretched on ocean waves
Of endless foam
Welcome home my child
Welcome home.

“You Do Not Walk Alone” is a traditional Irish blessing set by composer Elaine Hagenberg. Hagenberg captures a Celtic character with active grace notes and other rhythmic figures characteristic of an Irish fiddle improvisation. Despite its folk-like roots, Hagenberg’s setting is very modern sounding, with full harmonies, a bright tonality, and a dramatic key change. Nevertheless, she tastefully allows the beautiful melody and text to stand on their own without significant alteration. In response to tragedy, violence, and war, this piece closes the first half of today’s concert to offer comfort to the living: “may you always hear, even in your hour of sorrow, the gentle singing of the lark…” and “may hardness never turn your heart to stone.”

May you see God’s light on the path ahead
when the road you walk is dark.
May you always hear even in your hour of sorrow,
the gentle singing of the lark.
When times are hard may hardness never
turn your heart to stone.
May you always remember when the shadows fall–
You do not walk alone.

https://bellevuechamberchorus.org/about/

Ben Luedcke, Artistic Director

Cori Belle, Accompanist

Imran Goychayev, Assistant Conductor

November 2024 Chorus Personnel:

Soprano: Maria Bayer, *#Kris Bryan, Debra Defotis, Jenn Evora, Megumi Hayashi, Kathy McMillan, Megumi Oshima, *Jane Wasell, *Kristen Wright

Alto: *Toma Aliyeva, Elena Camerini, Claire Gajary, Rachel Keo, Arisha Kulshrestha, Anita Lenges, Michelle Lin, Pratha Muthiah, Marcia Olmsted, Karin Swenson-Moore

Tenor: Patrick De Leon, *#Ember Powers, Imran Goychayev, Melanie Grube, Michael Grube,
*Jim Leininger, Kennedy Stewart, David Varner, Jamie Walch

Bass: Bill Baxter, Allan Chartrand, Dennis Defotis, Mark Liebendorfer, *James McTernan, Fabien Mousseau, Eric Mullen, Jeff Pierce, Albert Tsai, Trevor Tsang

* board member; # on hiatus