\nCommissioned by Nell Slater for the Source Song Festival<\/a>.
\nPremiere: August 7, 2017, Saint Paul, Minnesota, by Mary Wilson<\/a>, soprano; Clara Osowski<\/a>, mezzo-soprano; Jacob Christopher<\/a>, tenor; Tyler Duncan<\/a>, baritone; Arlene Shrut<\/a> & Erika Switzer<\/a>, piano<\/p>\n
Program Note<\/strong><\/p>\n The Oxford English Dictionary, <\/em>affectionately called \u201cthe OED\u201d by its devotees, is the standard reference for anyone interested in the English language, its shades of meaning, and its evolution over time. The model for a miscellany for SATB with piano four-hands is naturally the Liebeslieder <\/em>of Brahms. In creating my set of \u201cjoyous lieder,\u201d I surveyed the OED\u2019s capacious entry on Joy, first published in 1901, and followed the clues of the various citations to their respective sources. I frequently found that widening the focus yielded a more interesting text. I chose fourteen that range over five centuries. There are eight named poets, one anonymous poet, two Biblical authors, a dictionary entry, and excerpts from a sermon. Eight of the texts are secular, six sacred.<\/p>\n While To Joy<\/em> is scored for four soloists, many of the movements suggest a larger, more universal voice, and a performance by chorus with soloists is also conceivable.<\/p>\n Performers and DET, Sundin Hall, 8\/7\/2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Consider this fourteen-movement work a journey rather than a joy-ride. Part I suggests that beauty is a way into joy, that \u201cjoy is the grace we say to God.\u201d But earthly beauty is finite, and Part I closes ambiguously. Part II begins in chaos, and mocks then questions the whole endeavor. It concludes with a macaronic English carol in which secular and sacred collide but ultimately coexist cheerfully. Part III begins atop a hill with a boy\u2019s song about a rapturous bike-ride. John Donne, ministering to his flock, counsels that \u201cJoy is the nearest representation of heaven itself to this world.\u201d If beauty opens into joy, joy may be a door to eternity. And while a dictionary may define how a word has been used in the past, its future meaning has yet to be written.<\/p>\n Elie Wiesel was once asked whether he leaned more toward hope or despair. \u201cWhen I am despairing, I choose hope,\u201d Wiesel replied. \u201cWhen I am terribly hopeful, I lean toward despair.\u201d In uneasy times, the same approach may apply to joy. In this work, I choose joy.<\/p>\n \u2013David Evan Thomas, May 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A ramble through the world of Joy through citations from the Oxford English Dictionary, \u201cthe OED.\u201d In the tradition of Brahms\u2019s \u201cLiebeslieder Walzer.\u201d There are nine poets (one anonymous), two Biblical authors, excerpts from a sermon, and a dictionary entry.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_1_Promise_2_Infant-Joy.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 1. Promise & Infant Joy 2. Grace 3. Air<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_5_Ode.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 4. Ode<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_6_Alarm.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 5. Alarm<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_7.-Questions-8.-Scherzetto-_-9.-Carol.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 6. Questions, Scherzo, & Carol<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_10.-Song.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 7. Song<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_11.-Paean.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 8. Paean<\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_12-Responsory_13_Hymn.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 9. Responsory & Hymn<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_14.-Envoy.mp3\"][\/audio]\n 10. Envoy<\/strong><\/p>\n Mary Wilson<\/a>, soprano![\"To](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidevanthomas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_8095.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n[dflip id=\"4051\" type=\"thumb\" ]<\/span><\/h1>\n
To Joy: Citations from the OED
\n<\/bdi>SATB soli, piano 4-hands<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_3_Grace-.mp3\"][\/audio]\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/To-Joy_4_Air.mp3\"][\/audio]\n
\nClara Osowski<\/a>, mezzo-soprano
\nJacob Christopher<\/a>, tenor
\nTyler Duncan<\/a>, baritone
\nArlene Shrut<\/a> & Erika Switzer<\/a>, piano<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3725,"template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[28,59,65,42,26,25,27],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3724","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-baritone","7":"product_cat-chamber-music","8":"product_cat-david-evan-thomas","9":"product_cat-individual-songs","10":"product_cat-mezzosoprano","11":"product_cat-soprano","12":"product_cat-tenor","14":"first","15":"instock","16":"purchasable","17":"product-type-variable"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/3724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=3724"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=3724"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northstarmusicllc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=3724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}