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CD145 My Spirit Sang All Day...

My Spirit Sang All Day...

Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham, NC
Rodney Wynkoop, Director

Complete texts and translations
58'58" total playing time

CD145 $15.95

The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham
Rodney Wynkoop, conductor
Jane Lynch, accompanist
Rebecca Troxler, flute

	CONTENTS
1.	Gerald Finzi: My Spirit Sang All Day
2.	John Rutter: Musica Dei donum
3.	John Rutter: Hymn to the Creator of Light
4.	Dan Locklair: Create in Me a Clean Heart
5.	Dan Locklair: Pater noster
6.	Howard Hanson: A Prayer of the Middle Ages
7.	René Clausen: Ubi caritas
8.	Egil Hovland: How Long, O Lord?
9.	Edwin Fissinger: By the Waters of Babylon
10.	Donald McCullough: Is Not a Flower a Mystery?
11.	Zoltán Kodály: Too Late
12.	Samuel Barber: Agnus Dei
13	Sven Lekberg: Let All the World in Every Corner Sing

Listen:

Let All the World in Every Corner Sing

Boasting rich sonorities and firm technique, Durham's 40-voice Vocal Arts Ensemble is carving out a solid reupation as one of the Southeast's best chamber choirs. Mr. Wynkoop leads them with passion and skill. Recorded sound from the clear acoustic of their own Duke University Chapel is first-rate, and we get concise notes and full texts. You won't be disappointed.
--Koob, American Record Guide, Nov/Dec 2004

The Composers in Brief

Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) was born in London, England, studied privately in Harrogate and York, and later moved to Gloucestershire. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music, was a close friend of Vaughan Williams (who premiered Finzi's Violin Concerto). His many orchestral and choral works are notable for their connection to the English countryside and folk traditions.

John Rutter (b. 1945) born in London, is one of England's most prolific living composers. Trained at Clare College, Cambridge University (where he later became director of the chapel music), he is the founder of the Cambridge Singers who have splendidly recorded most of his choral works. He is a frequent guest conductor and choral clinician.

Dan Locklair (b. 1949) is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and continues to live in Winston-Salem where he is Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music at Wake Forest University. Having been trained first as an organist and church musician, his organ and choral works have been received warmly and performed regularly throughout the United States. He also writes works for orchestra, voice, and chamber ensembles.

Howard Hanson (1896-1981) born in Yahoo, Iowa, was educated at Luther College in Wahoo, Nebraska, the Institute of Musical Arts, New York, and at Northwestern University. After teaching at the College of the Pacific, he became director of the Eastman School of Music in 1924 until his retirement in 1974. His orchestral works have been played by every major orchestra in the United States and Europe. His works, conservatively crafted, influenced a generation of American composers.

René Clausen (b. 1953) has presided over the choral program at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota since 1986. Active as a composer, conductor, and educator, his compositions include works for stage, solo voice, film and video, orchestra, and choral/orchesral arrangements. His choirs are regularly featured on PBS televison during the Christmas season.

Egil Hovland (b. 1924) is one of Norway's most productive composers. Graduated as a church musician from the Oslo Conservatoire, he has held for many years the post of director of music at the church og Glemmen in Fredrikstad, Norway. He studied composition with Vagn Holmboe in Copenhagen, Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, and Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence. He has won several significant musical awards and in 1983 was made a Knight of the Royal Order of Saint Olav in recognition of his services as composer and performer to Norwegian music.

Edwin Fissinger (1920-1990), a native of Rockford, Illinois, was educated at Marquette University, and (after servcie in the Army Air Force during WWII) the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. After a short stint as director of choral activiites at the University of Illinois Circle Campus, Chicago, he became chairman of the music department at North Dakota State University, where he conducted the concert choir until his retirement in 1985. The mystical quality of much of his choral writing is attracting significant current popularity.

Donald McCullough (b. 1957) is currently music director of the Master Chorale of Washington, D.C. Prior to 1996 he was founder and director of the McCullough Chorale, Virginia's only fully professional choral ensemble, and also of the Virginia Symphony Chorus. He is an active composer and holds degrees from Stetson University and Southern Methodist University.

Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) is perhaps as well known for his collaboration with Bartok in collecting the folk music of his native Hungary as for his many compositions in all genres. Educated at the Franz Liszt Academy and at the University of Hungary, where he earned a degree in Hungarian, German, and later a doctorate in linguistics, Kodály was also very involved in the music education of children.

Samuel Barber (1910-1981) is one of America's best known symphonic and operatic composers. Having won a Pulitzer Prize for his opera Vanessa, he was commissioned to write Antony and Cleopatra to open the new Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. His intensely lyrical Adagio for Strings (itself a transcription from an earlier string quartet movement) is heard on this CD in Barber's own choral transcription. It has become perhaps his most recognizable composition because of it's use in both concerts and films (Platoon, The Elephant Man, El Norte, and Lorenzo's Oil).

Sven Lekberg (1899-1984) spent most of his career as professor of music at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. His modest output of choral works have remained constant in the repertory of America's college and church choirs.

Texts
1. My Spirit Sang All Day My spirit sang all day O my joy. Nothng my tongue could say, only: my joy! My heart an echo caught O my joy, and spake, Tell me thy thought, Hide not thy joy. My eyesgan peer around, O my joy what beauty hast thou found? Shew us thy joy.	Gerald Finzi My jealous ears grew whist; O my joy, music from heaven is't, sent for our joy? She also came and heard; O my joy, What, said she, is this word? What is thy joy? And I replied, O see, O my joy, 'Tis thee, I cried, 'tis thee: Thou are my joy. -Words: Robert Bridges (1844-1930) -Music: © Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Ltd.

2. Musica Dei donum Musica Dei donum optimi trahit homines, trahit deos; Musica truces mollit animos, tristeque mentes erigit. Musica vel ipsas arbores et horridas movet feras.	John Rutter Music, the gift of the supreme God, attracts men, attracts gods; Music makes savage souls gentle, and uplifts sad minds. Music moves even the very trees and wild wild beasts.
-Text known only from the musical setting by Orlando de Lassus, published 1594 -Music:© Oxford University Press

3. Hymn to the Creator of Light	John Rutter
Glory be to thee, O Lord, glory be to thee, Creator of the visible light, the sun's ray, the flame of fire. Creator also of the light invisible and intellectual, that which is known of God. Glory be to thee: for writings of the law, for oracles of prophets, for melody of psalms, for wisdom of proverbs, expereince of histories - a light which never sets, God is the Lord who hath shewed us light. Light, who dost my soul enlighten; Sun, who all my life dost brighten; Joy, the sweetest man e'er knoweth; Fount, whence all my being floweth. From thy banquet let me measure, lord, how vast and deep its treasure; through the gifts thou here dost give us, as thy guest in heaven receive us. -Words: Lancelot Andrewew (1555-1626); trans. Alexander Whyte (1836-1921) and Johann Franck (1681-1677); trans. Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) -Music:© Oxford University Press

4. Create In Me a Clean Heart	Dan Locklair
Crreate in Me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit witin me. Cast me not away from thy presense; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. -Words: Psalm 51: 10-13 -Music: © Subito Music

5. Pater noster Pater noster, qui es in cœlis, santificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum, Fiat voluntas tua, Sicut in cœlo et in terra. panem nostrum quotidianum 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.	Dan Locklair Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. -Words: Matthew 6: 9-13 -Music: © Subito Music

6. A Prayer of the Middle Ages	Howard Hanson
We declare unto all the ages as the greatest marvel, ere there were hills and trees or the mighty ocean, ere the sunlishgt shone forth, or the moon cast its beams, when naught was, from end to end, there wert thou, O God, thou almighty God. Thou who madest heaven and earth, give through thy holy blessing faith unending, give to us wisdom, prudence and strength, that thy will we may do. Amen Words: 8th century; tr. James Francis Cooke (1875-1960) -Music: © Carl Fischer, Inc.

7. Ubi caritas Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor. Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur. Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum. Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero. Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur: ne nos mente dividamur, caveamus. Cessent jurgia maligna cessent lites. Et in medicao nostri sit Christus Deus. Simul quoque cum beatis videamus glorianter vultum tumm, Christe Deus. Gaudium quod est immensum atque probium, sæcula per infinita sæculorum. Amen.	René Clausen Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ's love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Let us fear and love the living God. And let us love him with a sincere heart. As we are gathered into one body: beware, lest we be divided in mind. Let evil impulses stop, let controversary cease, And may Christ our God be in our midst. And may we also with the saints gloriously see thy face, O Christ or God, The joy that is immense and good: unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen -Words: antiphon for Holy Thursday -Music: © Mark Foster Music Company

8. How long, O Lord?	Egil Hovland
How long, O Lord, will you forget me, fo ever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall my enenmy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God. For I have trusted in your steadfast love: my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord. -Words from Psalm 13 -Music: © Walton Music Corporation

9. By the Waters of Babylon	Edwin Fissinger
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept. yea, we wept, when we remembered thee, O Sion, We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof. For they that led us away captive required of us a song in our heaviness, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Sion." How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? -Words: Psalm 137: 1-4 -Music: © Walton Music Corporation

10. Is Not a Flower a Mystery?	Donald McCullough
Is not a flower a mystery no flower can explain? Is not God the growing, the pattern which has no end and is never quite the same? Is not God in the heart that sees it and weeps for beauty? Why, then, God, this mystery: that the bombs fall and the sprays kill and the flames rise and the children go up in smoke? Why is there still a flower to remind us of you? Why does the sun still burn to give us life? How do we still turn to you? Why cannot we help but turn to you, but why, why do we turn to you so late? -Words: Chaim Stern (1931-2002) -Music: © Hinshaw Music Inc.

11. Too Late	Zoltán Kodály
We always, everywhere, come too late, for long weary wandering is our fate, slow and sorrowful we stand and wait, and always, everywhere, come too late. Unready are we when we must die, till at last grim death comes to claim us and in red flame our souls are blazing. We always, everywhere come too late. We always, everywhere come too late, for long weary wandering is our fate, for dreams and hopes, for harbor safe, for calmness or rapture we always, everywhere, come too late. -Words: Endre Ady (1877-1919), tr. Elisabeth M. Lockwood -Music: © Universal Edition

12. Agnus Dei	Samuel Barber
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.	Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of of the world, have mercy upon us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of of the world, have mercy upon us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of of the world, grant us peace. -Words from The Ordinary of the Mass -Music:© G. Schirmer Inc.

13. Let All the World in Every Corner Sing Sven Lekberg Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King. The heavens are not too high, his praise may thither fly. The earth is not too low, his praises there may grow. The church with psalms must shout, no door can keep them out. But above all the heart must bear the largest part. My God and King, let all the world in every corner sing. Amen. -Words: George Herbert (1593-1632) -Music: © G, Schirmer Inc.

Rodney Wyncoop

Rodney Wyncoop is Director of University Choral Music and Director of Chapel Music at Duke University, where he is Professor of the Practice of Music. In addition to regularly conducting the Duke University Chorale, the Duke Chapel Choir, the Choral Society of Durham, and the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham, he teaches choral conducting at Duke and has directed conducting workshops across the state.

His appearances abroad include a summer as guest conductor of a professional civic chorus in Brazil, tours of Russia, South Africa, and Nambia with the Triangle Choral Exchange, and tours with the Duke University Chorale and Chapel Choir to England, Wales, Italy, Vienna, Eastern Europe, and China. Three of his choirs (the Vocal Arts Ensemble, the Choral Society of Durham, and the Duke Chapel Choir) have been invited to perform at the Southern Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).

Dr. Wynkoop's work with choruses in North Carolina's Triangle region has earned him critical acclaim for artistic excellence and innovative programming. He has been honored by the Raleigh News & Observer and other area newspapers for artistic accomplishments and by the Durham Arts Council for his contributions in promoting the careers of local singers and composers. In 2002, he received the Lara Hoggard Award for Distinguished Service in Choral Music in North Carolina, presented by the NC-ACDA.

Dr. Wynkoop has conducted the world premieres of a number of works, including works by Mendelssohn and Ives. Choirs under his direction have released numerous CD recordings, including two recordings of Handel's Messiah by the Duke Chapel Choir, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, and Rachmaninoff's Vespers. His most recent recording on the ARSIS label is Rutter's Requiem and Vierne's Solemn Mass, with the Duke Chapel Choir.

The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham

The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham was founded in 1996 by Rodney Wynkoop to provide superior choral performance opportunities for outstanding singers in North Carolina's Triangle region (Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh). The Ensemble is committed to excellence in presenting masterpieces of choral music. Its 32 members are selected mainly from among musicians who have sung in other choral groups under Dr. Wynkoop's direction. In their professional lives, these singers are engaged in a variety of occupations, including music teacher, church musician, doctor, attorney, accountant, scientist, writer, and student. The Ensemble's mostly a cappella repertoire ranges from Renaissance to the present and has included such diverse and challenging works as Tallis's Spem in alium, Schoenberg's Friede auf Erden, Martin's Messe, Penderecki's Agnus Dei, Orbán's Stabat Mater, and MacMillan's Cantos Sagrados.

In additon to presenting its own concerts, the Ensemble has performed regularly as part of Duke University's Summer Festival of the Arts. Dr. Wynkoop and the Ensemble have been honored with two invitations to perform at the Southern Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), in 2000 and 2004, and they appeared at the NC-ACDA Fall Conference in 2002. The choir also has performed with Durham's Mallarmé's Chamber Players, on the WUNC-FM Composers-in-Context Series, and at Hinshaw's Music's annual Celebration.

THE VOCAL ARTS ENSEMBLE OF DURHAM Rodney Wynkoop, conductor Jane Lynch, accompanist Rebecca Troxler, flute
SOPRANO Gloria Cabada-Leman Susan Dakin Jennifer Lobenhofer* Susan Klebenow+ Elizabeth Clark Peretti Patricia Donnelly Philippe# Charlotte Warren Sass+ Caroline Warren Lynn Wilson Karen Witzleben	ALTO Elaine A. Brown Margie Burd+ Elisa L. Eberhardt* Megan M. Gray Kay Johnson Kristen Phend* Tamsin Simmill Sarah Winslow+ Leigh Joyner Wyncoop Katherine Thomas York	TENOR John Adams+ Robert A. Bearden William Farnsworth Richard R. Hawkins Wade N. Henderson* Chard Kearsley William McCullough+ Ben Myers Richards II* David Stuntz Joshua Varner	BASS Sidney Marquez Boquiren Mark A. Brown Craig DeAlemeida Matthew Fry Steve Harper+^ David Howell D. Thomas Jaynes James C. Ray* Larry Speakman Rafael Tosado+
+ = 2001 sessions only * = 2002 sessions only # = soloist, tracks 9, 12 ^ = narrator, track 9

Recorded in Duke University Chapel, Durham, North Carolina, November 15-16, 2001 and October 19-20, 2002 by VoChor Digital Recording
Recording engineers: Collin j. McKinney, Robert L. Musser, VoChor Digital recording, a division of VoChor, Inc., Durham, North Carolina, www.vochor.com
Production: Rodney Wynkoop, Robert Schuneman
Editing and mastering: Robert Schuneman, ARSIS Audio, Boston, Massachusetts
Cover art: "Singing Man" 1928 sculpture by Ernst Barlach (1870-1938), courtesy of Museum of Modern Art, New York. Reproduction © MoMA, N.Y. 2002, reproduced by permission of SCALA/art Resources.