Elegies in D Minor

For Matthew and Astronomy are performed by the Orange Park Chorale, Dr. Carol Clifford, Artistic Director.

Pie Jesu is performed in its original version by Riverside Presbyterian Chancel Choir, Andrew Clark, Music Director

FOR MATTHEW

ASTRONOMY

PIE JESU (with organ & harp)

FOR MATTHEW lament & prayer

Lament Wyoming stars in silent horror cried as Satan's fists struck hard again, then crucified God's gentle child. And there the weeping night in disbelief beheld a broken boy's despair: chilled bones, alone, barefoot and bleeding, swaddled in an icy shroud distilled and crystallized from autumn's tears. O hear the first bird's cry and feel the breaking of his heart to realize his mother's grief.Prayer Why own this fear? Our silence multiplies, condemning us complicit in his pain, complacency our guilty wile. Now pray his suffering might our apathy dispel; let hopeful deeds amend and help atone. No hateful shouts of rage--but let us call aloud for justice, truth, and love, through sorrow's haze. O hear the first bird's cry and heed the waking in our hearts lest death be vain. Rest, Matthew. Peace.

In the pre-dawn hours of October 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old son of Judy and Dennis Shepard, was kidnapped, tortured, beaten, and left to die in a frost-covered field near the University of Wyoming. According to courtroom testimony, the two murderers, following a plan made before ever meeting their victim, randomly selected the slightly-built college student from among the patrons at a gay-friendly pub and lured him with the promise of a safe ride home. Mistaking him for a scarecrow, an early morning jogger discovered the comatose youth tied cross-like to a fence, his battered head covered in blood except for streaks washed clean by tears.

It was from this horror that the text of the Lament arose. During the days following that cowardly and brutal attack, while young Matthew lay in a coma, I was haunted by Samuel Barber's song, The Crucifixion, as witnessed in my allusion to its moving verse, by W.H. Auden. The appended Prayer was directly inspired by the reflections of the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston on October 12, 1998, the day that Matthew Shepard died. Bishop Charleston, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, former Bishop of Alaska, and now President and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School, observed that, "Crimes of hate may live in shouts of rage, but they are born in silence," referring to fears that prevent many within the Christian community from actively supporting unpopular but just causes, despite "the words of a savior whose only comment on human relationships was to call us to never judge but only to love."

The poem was written in 1998, during the week Matthew Shepard died. The musical setting, originally for tenor and string quartet, was composed in 2000, and soon adapted for chorus with flute and organ accompaniment. The preferred choral arrangement, using piano and flute (or violin) instead of organ, was prepared in July 2006, at the request of Dr. Carole Clifford for the Orange Park Chorale (Orange Park, Florida), who are featured in the recording, joined by Clinton Weinberg on flute.

ASTRONOMY song for maureen

There's Jupiter ...

It's like five million miles away,

but textbooks never mention "up"

--I guess 'cause everything is relative.

I'll bet it's lonely there.

I know it's lonely here

without her.

I'm wondering,

how far away is heaven?

Some say it's just beyond these stars ...

I guess a song won't have the answer,

but I bet it's lovely there.

I know it's lonely here.

And if home is where the heart is,

well, then mine's beyond those stars,

a million broken pieces

out of reach.

I'm wondering

if there's a God in heaven,

and can He turn this night to dawn?

I know a song can't hold the answer,

but she won't be lonely there.

But god, it's lonely here ...

And if home is where the heart is,

well, then mine's beyond those stars,

a million broken pieces

out of reach.

Now I'm wondering,

how far away is heaven?

Some say it's just beyond those stars.

I know a song can't hold the answer,

but you won't be lonely there.

God knows, it's lonely here,

so lonely. It's lonely here

without you.

My dear friend Maureen Miller (1946-2005) was a Jacksonville artist and designer, and a source of joy to all who knew her. She maintained boundless warmth and humor even while suffering the ravages of lupus that eventually robbed us of her. Astronomy was begun soon after her passing, and was first heard as a ballad at her memorial service. It reflects how random, unrelated thoughts can lead us to those we love, and how we seek solace through hope, even in the face of terrible loss.

The current arrangement for mixed voices and piano was prepared in July 2006, at the request of Dr. Carole Clifford for the Orange Park Chorale (Orange Park, Florida), who are featured in the recording.

PIE JESU from missa pro defunctis

My mother, Marzell Martin Lein (1922-1980), remains the kindest and most loving person I have ever known. I had been toying with the idea of composing a Requiem, and on March 15, 1989, the 9th anniversary of my mother's death from cancer, I sat at my piano and wrote this Pie Jesu. It took me about 2 years to finish the rest of the mass, "dedicated to victims of terminal illness, in memory of my mother," and it was first performed in 1991 by the Riverside Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir, Jacksonville, Florida (Andrew Clarke, organist and choirmaster), with members of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

The arrangement for the Elegies is for soprano solo and chorus with piano and obligato flute, oboe or violin (not yet performed), and there is also a version for soprano, violin and piano, which was first performed in October 2007 by soprano Katherine Cromley and violinist Chris Chappell accompanied by Maureen Rhodes. The Pie Jesu was used yet again as the 3rd movement in my Symphony No. 2 ("Lux aeterna"), and I also plan to make a trio version, for oboe or clarinet, violin and piano.

The recording of the original version with organ, oboe and harp, from a 1991 performance of the Missa pro defunctis, featuring the Riverside Presbyterian Chancel Choir.