Schola Summer 2025 Program

Ave Maria
14^th century Gregorian Chant
The “Ave Maria” first existed as a Gregorian chant, or plain chant, derived from the French plein chant, meaning “full singing.” This plein chant prayer is full of the sounds of medieval Europe, praying their intercession to Mary.

Ave, María, grátia plena,
Dóminus tecum.
Benedicta tu in muliéribus,
et benedíctus fructus ventris
tui, Jesus.
Sancta María, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus
nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.
Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
And so it shall be.


Ave Maria
Tomás Luis de Victoria (Spain, 1548 – 1611)
This polyphonic setting of Ave Maria is attributed to Spain’s 16^th century Tomás Luis de Victoria.


The Lamb

Sir John Kenneth Tavener (England, 1944 – 2013)
Text: William Blake (England, 1757 –1827)

The Lamb was composed in 1982, and was performed that year at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge. Taverner said The Lamb “was composed from seven notes in an afternoon.”

Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee,
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb,
He is meek, and he is mild,
He became a little child.
I, a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!


"The Lamb" in William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794), illustrated by Blake


Taverner in 2005.


William Blake, author of "The Lamb."


Dixit Maria
Hans Leo Hassler (Germany, 1564 – 1612)
Text: Luke 1:38
Published 1591

Dixit Maria was published by Hassler in 1591 as part of his Cantiones Sacræ collection. Dixit Maria is Luke's telling of the Annunciation.

Dixit Maria ad angelum:
Ecce ancilla Domini,
fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Mary said to the Angel:
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord,
let it be done to me, according to your word.


Da Vinci's "Annunciation" (1472-1475)


Hans Leo Haßler in 1593, two years after his publication of Dixit Maria


In the Stillness
Sally Beamish (England, b.1956)
Text: Katrina Shepherd (Scotland)

A setting of original words by Scotland’s Katrina Shepherd, this short carol beautifully captures the hushed rapture of a small parish church in a snowbound landscape, just before Christmas.

In the stillness of a church where candles glow,
In the softness of a fall of fresh white snow,
In the brightness of the stars that shine this night,
In the calmness of a pool of healing light,
In the clearness of a choir that softly sings,
In the oneness of a hush of angels’ wings,
In the mildness of a night by stable bare,
In the quietness of a lull near cradle fair,
There’s patience as we wait for a new morn,
And the presence of a child soon to be born.
 

Sally Beamish


Alleluia

Randall Thompson (USA, 1899 – 1984)

Alleluia was commissioned the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood as a new anthem to symbolize the center’s mission: the performance of music.
The date for the opening was July 8, 1940. Conductor G. Wallace Woodworth had his chorus ready to rehearse this new piece, but opening day approached and no music arrived. On July 8, with 45 minutes to go, Thompson delivered his “Alleluia”. Woodworth got his first look at the score and reassured his singers "Well, text at least is one thing we won’t have to worry about." The performance successfully launched a tradition: to this day Alleluia is performed each summer at the center’s opening.

The anthem’s tempo mark of lento was very important to the composer. France had just fallen to the Nazis, and Thompson later explained, "Alleluia" has so many possible interpretations. The music in my particular Alleluia cannot be made to sound joyous. It is a slow, sad piece, and …here it is comparable to the Book of Job, where it is written, ‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’"

Alleluia – Hebrew for “Praise God”
Amen – Hebrew for “and so it shall be”


Randall Thompson


Flos ut rosa floruit
14^th century monastic chant

The manuscript containing the Marian Flos ut rosa floruit comes either from the Bavarian 12^th century Augustinian monastery in Indersdorf, or from the 9^th century St. Blaise Benedictine Abbey, both in southern Germany. Early literature suggests it was written in the early 15th century, but probably already existed in the second half of the 14^th Century. The manuscript was located in the St. Blaise Abbey. It was purchased by the British Museum in 1867.

Flos ut rosa floruit quando virgo genuit Maria!
Salvatorem omnium, summi patris filium, nova genitura.

Qui divina gratia descendit ad infera humana
et salvavit omnia summa cum potentia, nova genitura.

Cantemus hymnum gloriae cantico laetitiae
laudando sollemnizantes hodie regi regum justitiae gratias agendo

Qui natus est de Virgine mistico spiramine nova genitura
Ergo nostra concio psallat cum tripudio benedicat Domino

A flower like a rose bloomed when the Virgin Mary gave birth!
The Savior of all, the Son of the Most High Father, a new generation.

Who by divine grace descended to the human underworld
and saved all things with supreme power, a new generation.

Let us sing a hymn of glory, a song of joy,
praising, celebrating today the King of kings, giving thanks.

Who was born of the Virgin by a mystical breath, a new generation
Therefore let our assembly sing with joy and praise the Lord.


12^th century Augustinian monastery in Indersdorf


9^th century St. Blaise Benedictine Abbey


Come to Me
Ivo Antognini (Switzerland, b.1963)
A poem by Christina G. Rossetti (England, 1830 – 1894)
Published 2019

Antonini set Christina Rossetti’s poem, entitled Echo, in 2019. Echo concerns a person who has lost their beloved long ago, and only through dreams is able to have an echo of what once was, but never will be again. Rossetti wrote "Echo" in 1854 and published it in her first poetry collection, A Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862).

Echo, by Christina Rossetti

Come to me in the silence of the night;
Come in the speaking silence of a dream;
Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright
As sunlight on a stream;
Come back in tears,
O memory, hope, love of finished years.

O dream how sweet, too sweet, too bitter sweet,
Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,
Where souls brimful of love abide and meet;
Where thirsting longing eyes
Watch the slow door
That opening, letting in, lets out no more.

Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live
My very life again though cold in death:
Come back to me in dreams, that I may give
Pulse for pulse, breath for breath:
Speak low, lean low,
As long ago, my love, how long ago!


Christina Rossetti in 1863, a year after her composing the poem "Echo."

Abenlied
Josef Rheinberger (Bavaria, 1839–1901)
Text: Luke 24 v. 29

Rheinberger composed this six-part setting of Luke's text on March 9, 1855, a few weeks before Easter and only days before his 16^th birthday.

Blieb’ bei uns, denn es will Abend warden;
Und der Tag hat sich geneiget, sich geneiget,
O bleib’ bei uns, denn es will Abend earden.

Bide with us, for evening shadows darken,
And the day will soon be over, soon be over,
O bide with us, for evening shadows darken.
Tr. John Rutter (b. 1945)


Rheinberger at 16 years of age - one year after he composed Abendlied.


Calme des Nuits
Camille Saint-Saëns (France, 1835–1921)
Published 1883, Op. 61, No. 1

Saint-Saëns’s choral arrangement is of his own poem, Calme des Nuits, which puts this piece in a rare category of both his words and his music. The piece reflects on the beauty of quiet nights and on those who can appreciate the peace which they can bring.

Calme des nuits, fraîcheur des soirs,
vaste scintillement des mondes,
grand silence des antres noirs
vous charmez les âmes profondes.
L'éclat du soleil, la gaité,
le bruit plaisent aux plus futiles;
le poète seul est hanté
par l'amour des choses tranquilles.

Calm of the nights, freshness of the evenings,
vast scintillating of the worlds,
great silence of the dark caves
you charm the deep souls (i.e. the poets).
The brilliance of the sun, the gaiety,
the noise pleases the most futile;
the poet alone is haunted
by the love of quiet things.


Camille Saint-Saëns c.1880, two years before he composed Calme de Nuits.

O Salutaris Hostia
Gregorian chant: Thomas Aquinas (Italy, 1225–1274)
Polyphonic setting: Ēriks Ešenvalds (Latvia, b.1977)

O Salutaris Hostia is from the last two verses of Verbum Supernum, one of the five Eucharistic Hymns written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) at the request of Pope Urban IV (1261-1264) when the Pope first instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. The prayer is still used today, often at exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

O salutaris Hostia,
quæ cæli pandis ostium:
bella premunt hostilia,
da robur, fer auxilium.

Saving Victim,
who opens the gate of heaven:
wars press hostile (on us),
Give strength, send aid.

Uni trinoque Domino
sit sempiterna gloria,
qui vitam sine termino
nobis donet in patria.

The the one and threefold Lord,
May there be eternal glory,
who life without end,
may he give us the Fatherland.

Amen.

And so it shall be.


Corpus Christi procession on Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico (1884 - 1892?)
Palace of the Governors Photo Archives


Magnificat octave toni
Magnificat according to Gregorian chant tone eight
Dufay, Guillaume (b. near Beersel, Belgium 1397; died Cambrai, France
1474)

Dufay, the brilliant early Renaissance composer, set this three-part magnificat for use during Vespers in Old St. Peter's in Rome. With the construction of the "new" Sistine Chapel in the early 1500s, Dufay's Magnificat octave toni was copied for Vespers in this new chapel that was exclusively for the pope's use.

The Magnificat is known as the Canticle of Mary and the text is found in the Gospel of St. Luke. In Mary’s canticle, her first words, Magnificat anima mea Dominum, from which comes the title, translates into English as “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.” The Lord has bestowed on her to be the mother of the Christ child. The text describes God’s promises fulfilled through the ages and now the greatest of all fulfilled through her. St. Benedict decreed in his Rule of St. Benedict that the Magnificat, originally sung as a Gregorian chant, be sung daily during the office of Vespers. The Magnificat is still sung today during Vespers.

And Mary said…"my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…"

1. “Magníficat ánima méa Dóminum,

My soul magnifies (proclaims the greatness of) the Lord,

2. Et exultávit spíritus méus in Déo salutári méo.

And my spirit rejoiced in God my Savior.

3. Quia respéxit humilitátem ancíllæ súæ,
ecce enim ex hoc beátam me dícent ómnes generatiónes.

For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.


4. Quia fécit míhi mágna qui pótens est :
et sánctum nómen éjus.

For he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

5. Et misericórdia éjus a progénie in progénies
timéntibus éum.

And his mercy on those who fear him in every generation.

6. Fécit poténtiam in bráchio súo :
dispérsit supérbos ménte córdis súi.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud, even the arrogant of heart.


7. Depósuit poténtes de séde,
et exaltávit húmiles.

He has deposed the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the status of the lowly.


8. Esuriéntes implévit bónis :
et dívites dimísit inánes.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

9. Suscépit Israël púerum súum,
recordátus misericórdiæ súæ.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,


10. Sicut locútus est ad pátres nóstros,
Abraham et sémini éjus in saécula.

the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.


11. Glória Pátri et Fílio et Spirítui Sáncto.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

12. Sicut érat in princípio, et nunc, et sémper,
et in saécula sæculórum. Amen.

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. And so it shall be.


Dufay's Magnificat manuscript in the 1473 Vatican choir book that was readied for use in the new Sistine Chapel.


Dufay shown in a 15^th century manuscript.


Dufay portrait.


Mañanitas a la Virgen de Guadalupe
Trad. of the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

Las Mañanitas a la Virgen de Guadalupe is the traditional song of the ‘Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe.’ Las Mañanitas is our song of greeting to 'her,' where we celebrate Juan Diego’s encounter with the Virgin Mary in 1531, greeting her as 'Guadalupana'. The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is on December 12.

1.
Oh Virgen, la más Hermosa del Valle del Anáhuac,
tus hijos muy de mañana te vienen a saludar.

O Virgin, the most beautiful of the Valley of Anahuac,
your children come to greet you very early in the morning.

Estribillo
Despierta, Madre, despierta, mira que ya amaneció,
mira este ramo de flores que para ti traigo yo.

Refrain
Wake up, Mother, wake up, look at the dawn,
look at this bouquet that I bring to you.

2.
Recibe, Madre querida, nuestra felicitación,
hoy por ser el día tan grande de tu tierna aparición.

Receive, dear Mother, our congratulations,
For today being the great day of your tender appearance.

3.
Recibe, Madre querida, nuestra felicitación;
míranos aquí postrados y danos tu bendición.

Receive, dear Mother, our congratulations;
see at us here prostrate and give us your blessing.

4.
Tú brillaste, Virgen Santa, como estrella matinal,
anunciando la alborada que iba pronto a comenzar.

You shone, Holy Virgin, as the morning star,
announcing the dawn that was soon to begin.

5.
Ya viene alborando el día, qué linda está la mañana,
saludemos a María: buenos días, Guadalupana.

El cerro del Tepeyac escogiste por morada,
por eso te saludamos, buenos días, Guadalupana.

Ya viene amaneciendo, ya la luz del día nos dio,
levántate, Virgencita, mira que ya amaneció.

The day is already dawning, how beautiful the morning is,
Let’s say hello to Mary. ‘God morning Guadalupana!’

You chose the Tepeyac hill as your home,
so we greet you; Good morning, Guadalupana!

Dawn is coming, and the light of day is upon us.
Get up, little Virgin, look and see that it is already dawn!


Our Lady Guadalupe amongst the morning roses.
Santuario de Señora de Guadalupe, Santa Fe, New Mexico


Angelus Domini
Franz Xaver Biebl (Germany, 1906 – 2001)

The praying of the “Angelus” originated in 11th century Europe. As the bells rang in monasteries at dawn, noon and dusk, the custom of chanting the Ave Maria, interspersed with scripture passages, took hold. Biebl composed this setting of the Angelus in 1964 at the request of a choir of firemen in the Fürstenfeldbruck parish near Munich, Germany.

[℣.] Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ;
[℟.] Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.

[℣.] The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary
[℟.] And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[℣.] Ecce ancilla Domini.
[℟.] Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

[℣.] Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
[℟.] Be it done unto me according to your word.

Ave Maria…

[℣.] Et Verbum caro factum est. (In actual practice, here all bow reverently or genuflect.)
[℟.] Et habitavit in nobis.

[℣.] And the Word was made Flesh.
[℟.] And dwelt among us.

Ave Maria…

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
And so it shall be.


Jean-Francois Millet (France, 1814-1875). Millet said of his painting; "The idea for The Angelus came to me because I remembered that my grandmother, hearing the church bell ringing while we were working in the fields, always made us stop work to say the Angelus prayer for the poor departed."





Summer 2025 Schola singers

Anna George - alto/percussion
Denise Moore - soprano
Jackie Mattos - alto/soprano
Lucinda Sydow - alto/soprano/trumpet
Susan Roller Whittington - alto
Maestro Billy Turney - baritone/accordion