Claim OwnershipChrist and the Sacramental Imagination
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© 2012 Christendom Educational Corp.
Description
A little over a year before the official ceremonies celebrating the 30th anniversary of the opening of Christendom College, I remember thinking that it would be a good idea to invite alumna Imelda Franklin Bogue (Class of ’96) to sing a recital as part of the festivities. I also thought that, being a composer, this would be a good opportunity to write something for such a professional vocalist. What resulted, with the assistance of accompanist Maestro Stephen Sulich, was an historic concert for the college.
For the concert, which took place on the evening of September 15, 2007, Imelda cleverly grouped a selection of religious art songs into two “song cycles.” The first song cycle is entitled “The Life of Christ” (tracks 1-5). The second, which she called “The Sacramental Imagination,” (tracks 6-14) is a collection of 20th century art songs that included, among other things, my Three Hopkins’ Songs. At the suggestion of a student, I did settings of three poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins: “The Starlight Night,” “Pied Beauty,” and “God’s Grandeur.” Art songs by such composers as Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten, and Johannes Somary were also included. Finally, Imelda ended the concert by singing as an encore “Will Ye No Come Back Again” about Bonnie Prince Charlie (track 15)—a personal favorite of the founder and first president of Christendom College, Warren H. Carroll.
To round out the CD, we decided to include, as bonus tracks (tracks 16-18), a short three-piece concert performed for the opening of the St. John the Evangelist Library in 2004 and which took place within the new library itself. This event featured a piece that I had written entitled the St. John the Evangelist Overture. To this end, I have included the program notes for this work of mine. The overture was certainly a very ambitious work, and it has its moments, although it lacks the more mature aesthetic and cohesiveness of the Three Hopkins’ Songs. However—if including the overture is the price to be paid for hearing once again a wonderful organ improvisation by a great friend of the college, the late Calvert Shenk, on the chant Ave Maris Stella (Track 17) from that same library concert in 2004—then, so be it.
Finally, I hope that you, the listener, will not only enjoy this CD but that, as Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote in his Letter to Artists, “[it will lead you] to that infinite ocean of beauty where wonder becomes awe, exhilaration, unspeakable joy.”
Dr. Kurt Poterack
Director, Christendom College Choir
[This disc was produced for the Liturgical Music Minor at Christendom College.]
For the concert, which took place on the evening of September 15, 2007, Imelda cleverly grouped a selection of religious art songs into two “song cycles.” The first song cycle is entitled “The Life of Christ” (tracks 1-5). The second, which she called “The Sacramental Imagination,” (tracks 6-14) is a collection of 20th century art songs that included, among other things, my Three Hopkins’ Songs. At the suggestion of a student, I did settings of three poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins: “The Starlight Night,” “Pied Beauty,” and “God’s Grandeur.” Art songs by such composers as Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten, and Johannes Somary were also included. Finally, Imelda ended the concert by singing as an encore “Will Ye No Come Back Again” about Bonnie Prince Charlie (track 15)—a personal favorite of the founder and first president of Christendom College, Warren H. Carroll.
To round out the CD, we decided to include, as bonus tracks (tracks 16-18), a short three-piece concert performed for the opening of the St. John the Evangelist Library in 2004 and which took place within the new library itself. This event featured a piece that I had written entitled the St. John the Evangelist Overture. To this end, I have included the program notes for this work of mine. The overture was certainly a very ambitious work, and it has its moments, although it lacks the more mature aesthetic and cohesiveness of the Three Hopkins’ Songs. However—if including the overture is the price to be paid for hearing once again a wonderful organ improvisation by a great friend of the college, the late Calvert Shenk, on the chant Ave Maris Stella (Track 17) from that same library concert in 2004—then, so be it.
Finally, I hope that you, the listener, will not only enjoy this CD but that, as Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote in his Letter to Artists, “[it will lead you] to that infinite ocean of beauty where wonder becomes awe, exhilaration, unspeakable joy.”
Dr. Kurt Poterack
Director, Christendom College Choir
[This disc was produced for the Liturgical Music Minor at Christendom College.]
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