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Aaron Copland (USA, 1900-1990)
In the beginning

The First Day
In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good:
and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The Second Day
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament,
and divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament:
And it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven.
And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The Third Day
And God said,
Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear:

And it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth;
and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas:
And God saw that it was good.

And God said,
Let the earth bring forth grass,

the herb yielding seed,
and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind,
whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth:
And it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass,
and herb yielding seed after its kind,
and the tree yielding fruit,
whose seed was in itself,
after its kind:
And God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The Fourth Day
And God said,
Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night;
and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years
And let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night
and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days, and years:
And let there be lights

Lights!
Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night
and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years
And let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night
and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years
And let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth
And it was so.
And God made two great lights;
the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night:
he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the day from the darkness:
And God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The Fifth Day
And God said
Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life,
and fowl that may fly above the earth
in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created great whales,
and ev’ry living creature that moveth,
which the waters brought forth abundantly,
after their kind,
and ev’ry winged fowl after his kind:
And God saw that it was good.
and God blessed them, saying,
Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas,
and let fowl multiply in the earth.

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

The Sixth Day
And God said,
Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind:
and it was so.

And God said,
Let the earth bring forth grass.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind,
and cattle after their kind,
and ev’ry thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind:

And God saw that it was good.

And God said,
Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness:
and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle,
and over all the earth,
and over ev’ry creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.
And God blessed them,
and God said unto them,
Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it:
and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air,
and over ev’ry living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Behold...

And God said,
Behold, I have given you ev’ry herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth,
and ev’ry tree,
in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;
To you it shall be for food.
And to ev’ry beast of the earth,
and to ev’ry fowl of the air,
and to ev’ry thing that creepeth upon the earth,
wherein there is life,
I have given ev’ry green herb for food:

And it was so
And God saw ev’ry thing that he had made,
and, behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The Seventh Day
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the hosts of them
And on the seventh day God ended
his work which he had made;
and he rested on the seventh day
from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:
because that in it he had rested
from all his work which God created and made.

These are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
and ev’ry plant of the field before it was in the earth,
and ev’ry herb of the field before it grew:

For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth,
and there was not a man to till the ground.

But there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the ground.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul.

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Ross Edwards (Australia, b. 1943)
Mountain Chant

I. O Quam Preciosa

O quam preciosa est
virginitas virginis huius
que clasusam portam habet,
et cuius viscera
sancta divinitas
calore suo infudit, ita
quod flos in ea crevit

Et Filius Dei per secreta ipsius
quasi aurora exivit

Unde dulce germen,
quod Filius ipsius est,
per clausuram ventris eius
paradisum aperuit

How precious is
this Virgin’s sweet virginity,
a closed gate
whose womb
divinity most holy with
its warmth has flooded so
a flower sprung within it

The Son of God has come forth from
her hidden chamber like the dawn

And so the sweet and tender shoot—
her son—
has through her womb’s enclosure
opened Paradise

II. Mountain Chant

Warumbungle, Crooked mountains.
Woorut, Whitegum, Wambelong.

Berrumbuckle, Fan’s Horizon.

Breadknife, Balor,
Breadknife, Ruadan.

Tonduron Spire, Macha Tor,
Gurianawa

III. Oratio Dominica

Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum.
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in caelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis
debita nos sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo,
quoniam tibi est regnum et potestas et gloria in saecula.

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 trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

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Heitor Villa Lobos (Brazil, 1887-1959)
Bachianas Brasileiras (No.9)

Villa-Lobos composed Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 in two versions, one for string orchestra and one for chorus. He referred to the choral ensemble for the latter as ‘orquestra de vozes’, an orchestra of voices, and this orchestral treatment is highlighted by the use of abstract syllables rather than text, as well as the instruction to sing boca fechada, with closed mouth.

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Conductor
Paul Hillier

Soloist for In the Beginning
Laura Lamph

Sopranos
Abbi Temple
Elizabeth Adams
Felicity Hayward
Charlotte Trepess

Altos
Christina Whyte
Laura Lamph
Leanne Fitzgerald
Stephen Wallace

Tenors
Alan Leech
Stuart Kinsella
Shane Barriscale
Edward Woodhouse*

Basses

Jeffrey Ledwidge
Paul McGough
Eoghan Desmond
William Gaunt

Church Slavonic Language Coach

Katerina Speranskaya

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About Paul Hillier - Artistic Director, Chamber Choir Ireland

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About Paul Hillier - Artistic Director, Chamber Choir Ireland

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Paul Hillier is from Dorset in England and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. His career has embraced singing, conducting, composing, and writing about music. He formed the Hilliard Ensemble in 1973 and was its musical director for 17 years. In 1990 he created a new group called Theatre of Voices, which he continues to direct today. He has taught in the USA at the University of California campuses of Santa Cruz and Davis, and from 1996-2003 was Director of the Early Music Institute at Indiana University, Bloomington.

He was Principal Conductor of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (2001-2007) and has been Chief Conductor of Ars Nova Copenhagen since 2003. His books about Arvo Pärt and Steve Reich are published by Oxford University Press. In 2006 he was awarded an OBE for services to choral music. In 2007 he received the Order of the White Star of Estonia, and was awarded a Grammy for Best Choral Recording.

In 2008 he became Chief Conductor of Chamber Choir Ireland and was appointed artistic director of the newly formed Coro Casa da Musica in Porto. That same year he also created his own music publishing company, Theatre of Voices Edition (www.tov-edition.com). During 2009 he was artist in residence at Yale University’s Institute for Sacred Music. In 2010 he was awarded his second Grammy - for David Lang's The Little Match Girl Passion. In 2013 he was awarded the Order of Dannebrog (the Danish knighthood) by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Paul is represented worldwide by Konzertdirektion Hörtnagel, Berlin.

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Garnering a strong reputation for its unique approach to creative commissioning, recording and programming, Chamber Choir Ireland is the country’s flagship choral ensemble and national chamber choir under the Artistic Direction of the multi-award- winning conductor, Paul Hillier. The Choir’s programmes span from early renaissance to the present day, incorporating established choral classics with cutting edge commissions, and a style of performance that incorporates versatility, dynamism and often vocal pyrotechnics.

Chamber Choir Ireland performances have been described as having a tone which is ‘liquid in its power and purity’ with a ‘strong vocal flexibility of style’ (Belfast Telegraph). The Choir has a strong commitment to touring in Ireland and continues to develop its touring network in order to present high quality choral concerts to audiences around the country. International touring has included the USA, UK, Belgium, Russia, Germany and South America.

The choir has previously recorded for the Harmonia Mundi, RTÉ Lyric FM labels including the world premiere recording of works by Gerald Barry, Barry meets Beethoven, featuring the Crash Ensemble and Stephen Richardson on the Orchid Classics label. The most recent release garnering a 5-star review in the Irish Times was Letters which included the CCI commission Triptych by David Fennessy and A Letter of Rights by Tarik O’Regan & Alice Goodman on the Naxos label (November 2020).

Chamber Choir Ireland has a strong Learning and Participation programme, including in Composers in the Classroom, Choral Sketches, Sing! at Axis:Ballymun and a lecture series on the history of choral music in Ireland.

Chamber Choir Ireland receives principal funding & support from the Arts Council/ an Chomhairle Ealaíon, is a resident ensemble at the National Concert Hall of Ireland, Associate Artists to Dublin City University, and a member of TENSO – the network of professional chamber choirs in Europe. In 2021, Chamber Choir Ireland welcomed President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins as Patron.

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The NCH is delighted to present an ambitious programme of concerts as part of its new season titled “Refractions”, celebrating the resumption of concert life.

Refractions refers to the scientific phenomena of light and sound passing from one medium to another, a fitting title for a programme which brings the wonder of live music back to audiences, representing a shift towards the light of hope after a period of darkness.

Offering a stimulating mix of performances and events, ‘Refractions’, comprises over 30 concerts to be staged from September to December offering audiences a variety of events online and in-venue, appealing to all musical tastes.

More info available  https://bit.ly/NCHRefractions

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Dmitry Bortniansky (Ukraine, 1751-1825)
Concerto No. 24 (I will lift mine eyes to the mountain)

Vozṽedóh óchi moyí v hórï,

otñiúdu zhe priídet pómoshch moyá.

Pómoshch moyá ot Hóspoda,

sotvórshaho nébo I zémliu.

Ne dazhd̃ vo sm̃iateñiye nóhï tvoyeyá

ñízhe vozdrémlet hrañiáy t̃ia.

Se ne vozdrémlet hrañiáy Izráil̃ia.

Hospód̃ sohrañít t̃ia,

Hospód̃ pokróv tvoy na rúku désnuiu tvoyú.

Vo dñi sólntse ne ozhzhét tebe, ñizhé luná nóshchiyu

Hospód̃ sohrañit t̃ia ot vs̃iákaho zla

sohrañít dúshu tvoyú Hospód̃;

Hospód sohrañít vhozhdéñiye tvoyé

I ishozhdéñiye tvoyé, ot nïne I do ṽiéka

I lift up my eyes to the mountains,

from where my help comes.

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

Let not your foot be moved,

nor let Him Who keeps you slumber.

Behold, he Who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord will keep you,

the Lord is your shelter at your right hand.

The sun will not burn you by day, nor the moon by night.

May the Lord keep you from all evil;

the Lord will keep your soul.

the Lord will keep your coming in

and going out from now and for ever.

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Artistic Director
Paul Hillier

Patron
Michael D Higgins, President of Ireland

Chief Executive
Majella Hollywood

Concerts’ Manager
David Darcy

Marketing and Development Manager
Aoife Cuthbert

Board of Directors
Olga Barry
Susan Lannigan
Alastair Rankin
Brian Walsh (Chair)
Richard Twomey