The Heavenly Banquet
from Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs (1953)
I would like to have the men of Heaven in my own house;
with vats of good cheer laid out for them.
I would like to have the three Marys, their fame is so great.
I would like people from every corner of Heaven.
I would like them to be cheerful in their drinking.
I would like to have Jesus sitting here among them.
I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings.
I would like to be watching Heaven's family
Drinking it through all eternity.
Text attributed to Saint Brigid, 10th Century
Program Notes
The Heavenly Banquet, performed on the Christ & Saint Stephen's Church Concert Series (NYC), was conceived in the spirit of Saint Brigid's words, as a musical cornocopia of style and genre, a "banquet" for the senses. As Saint Brigid, earnestly and irreverently, invites both divine and earthly beings to drink at her table, she hopes that they will remain always, delighting in each other's company Through an exploration of G.F. Handel's tragic heroine Lucrezia, the romantic duets of Robert Schumann, the quirky and poignant tales of Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs, and lively selections from Pauline Viardot's 12 Mazurkas, The Heavenly Banquet strives to conjure this communal space for creative expression and inclusive storytelling.
June 2015
New York City
Hermit Songs (1953)
i. At Saint Patrick's Purgatory
Pity me on my pilgrimage to Loch Derg!
O King of the churches and the bells
bewailing your sores and your wounds,
But not a tear can I squeeze from my eyes!
Not moisten an eye after so much sin!
Pity me, O King!
What shall I do with a heart that seeks only its own ease?
O only begotten Son by whom all men were made,
who shunned not the death by three wounds,
pity me on my pilgrimage to Loch Derg
and I with a heart not softer than a stone!
Anonymous Poet, 13th Century
The Heavenly Banquet
Noelle McMurtry soprano
Kevin Delaney, tenor
Jeffrey Grossman, harpsichord
Joseph Yungen, piano
Lucrezia, HWV 145 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
i. Récitativo: O Numi eterni!
ii. Aria: Già superbo del mio affanno
iii. Récitativo: Ma voi forse nel Cielo
iv. Il suol che preme
v. Récitativo: Ah! che ancor nell’abisso…
vi. Aria: Alla salma infidel
vii. Récitativo: A voi, a voi, padre, consorte…
viii. Arioso: Già nel seno comincia
Vier Duette, Op. 34 Robert Schumann (1810-1856) i. Liebesgarten
ii. Liebhabers Ständchen
iii. Unterm Fenster
iv. Familien-Gemälde
------ INTERMISSION -----
Hermit Songs Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
i. At Saint Patrick’s Purgatory
ii. Church Bell At Night
iii. St. Ita’s Vision
iv. The Heavenly Banquet
v. The Crucifixion
vi. Sea-Snatch
vii. Promiscuity
viii. The Monk And His Cat
ix. The Praises Of God
x. The Desire For Hermitage
Selections from 12 Mazurkas* Pauline Viardot (1821-1910)
Seize Ans
Aime-Moi
*based on mazurkas by Fréderic Chopin (1810-1849)
viii. The Monk And His Cat
Pangur, white Pangur,
How happy we are
Alone together,
Scholar and cat.
Each has his own work to do daily;
For you it is hunting, for me study.
Your shining eye watches the wall;
my feeble eye is fixed on a book.
You rejoice when your claws
Entrap a mouse;
I rejoice when my mind
Fathoms a problem.
Pleased with his own art,
Neither hinders the other;
Thus we live ever
Without tedium and envy.
Pangur, white Pangur,
How happy we are
Alone together,
Scholar and cat.
Anonymous Poet, 8th or 9th Century