Sunday, May 29, 3:00pm, St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman Street, Berkeley, Masks required | 5 years and older
Thank you for coming!
This is our first live Berkeley Community Chamber Singers (BCCS) spring concert since June, 2019.
We hope you enjoy it!
The Berkeley Community Chamber Singers (BCCS) is an a cappella group of 16–32 singers that serves as the outreach arm for the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra (BCCO).
BCCS sings a varied repertoire of madrigals, gospel, pop songs, and spirituals and performs at diverse venues, such as senior residences, hospitals, and homeless shelters. BCCS also presents concerts for the general public.
During Fall and Spring sessions, the Chamber Singers meet on Tuesdays, 5:45 to 7:45 PM, at St. Alban’s Church 1501 Washington Ave, Albany.
To join BCCS or BCCO - email and mention “Chamber Singers” or “Membership”, as applicable, in the Comment section.
Costas Dafnis is a composer and sound artist based in California. In addition to concert music he writes for theater, dance and games, lectures in film at San Francisco Art Institute and composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
His work has been awarded by New Music USA, the American Prize, International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition, and the Dallas Winds. His Mariana for soprano and processed underwater audio was featured by NOAA/PMEL in an article called “The Music of Challenger Deep” and his 2019 set of Cajun-language art songs is the subject of soprano Nancy Carey’s series of DMA lecture recitals and dissertation. Upcoming premieres include works for the SoCal Brass Consortium, the Greek Chamber Music Project and the Ferndale Public Schools Orchestra, a new piece for wind ensemble, theater and dance companies. His orchestral work was featured at the 2019 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music’s In the Works series and his music for media will be heard in the indie feature Overwhelm The Sky and at Cinequest in CR Coppola’s VR short, Universe At Play. Costas plays mandolin, designs experimental instruments, conducts and curates New Music at New Vision and lectures in film at San Francisco Art Institute.
Gerald Finzi wrote "My Spirit Sang All Day" while he was courting Joyce Black, or Joy, who would remain his constant source of inspiration and encouragement. It is the third song in Seven Poems by Robert Bridges. Finzi used rapid tempo and varied dynamics, and believed that no fine text, however difficult, was incapable of being set to music.
My spirit sang all day
O my joy.
Nothing my tongue could say,
Only My joy!
My heart an echo caught
O my joy
And spake,
Tell me thy thought,
Hide not thy joy.
My eyes gan peer around,
O my joy
What beauty hast thou found?
Shew us thy joy.
My jealous ears grew whist;
O my joy
Music from heaven is't,
Sent for our joy?
She also came and heard;
O my joy,
What, said she, is this word?
What is thy joy?
And I replied,
O see, O my joy,
'Tis thee, I cried, 'tis thee:
Thou art my joy.
If a database could sing, this is how it might sound. Vienna Teng’s "Hymn of Acxiom" sounds like a choir hymn, except that the speaker isn't a divine being — it's a database. With lyrics like "somebody hears you" and "someone is gathering every crumb you drop," the song addresses both the pros and cons of the surveillance that, through companies like marketing-data company Acxiom, has become a regular part of life. While preparing for her recording, Teng was experimenting with a pedal hooked up to her electronic keyboard that automatically generates vocal harmonies, thus creating a multilayered sound with only one singer. This arrangement tries to mimic that sound.
Somebody hears you. you know that. you know that.
Somebody hears you. you know that inside.
Someone is learning the colors of all your moods, to
Say just the right thing and show that you're understood.
Here you're known.
Leave your life open. you don't have. you don't have.
Leave your life open. you don't have to hide.
Someone is gathering every crumb you drop, these
Mindless decisions and moments you long forgot.
Keep them all.
Let our formulas find your soul.
We'll divine your artesian source (in your mind),
Marshal feed and force (our machines will)
To design you a perfect love
Or (better still) a perfect lust.
O how glorious, glorious: a brand new need is born.
Now we possess you. you'll own that. you'll own that.
Now we possess you. you'll own that in time.
Now we will build you an endlessly upward world,
(Reach in your pocket) embrace you for all you're worth.
Is that wrong?
Isn't this what you want?
Amen.
I Love My Love is a Cornish folk tale about a woman whose lover is sent off to sea by his parents to ruin the relationship. She becomes so distraught that she is sent to Bedlam mental hospital. Her lover finds out, rushes back to her, and they live happily ever after. Holst's varied use of mood and voices creates a drama: the woman’s melancholy sighs in verse three, the excitement of reunion in verse four, and the peace of the happy ending.
Abroad as I was walking
One evening in the spring
I heard a maid in Bedlam
So sweetly for to sing;
Her chain she rattled with her hands
And thus replied she
I love my love because I know
My love loves me
Oh cruel were his parents
Who sent my love to sea
And cruel was the ship
That bore my love from me:
Yet I love his parents since they’re his
Although they’ve ruined me
"With straw I'll weave a garland,
I'll weave it very fine;
With roses, lilies, daisies,
I'll mix the eglantine;
And I'll present it to my love when he returns from sea.
For...
Just as she there sat weeping
Her love he came on land
Then, hearing she was in Bedlam
He ran straight out of hand;
He flew into her snow-white arms
And thus replied he
She said: “My love don’t frighten me,
are you my love or no?”
“O yes, my dearest Nancy,
I am your love, also
I am returned to make amends
for all your injury.”
So now these two are married,
And happy may they be
Like turtle doves together,
In love and unity.
All pretty maids with patience wait
That have got loves at sea;
Laid back and swingingly relaxing, "Java Jive" was written by Ben Oakland and Milton Drake in 1940, and speaks of the love of coffee. The lyrics also reflect the slang of the times, including a reference to "Mr. Moto", a Japanese film spy. First performed by the Ink Spots, other popular versions include renditions from Guy Lombardo, The King Singers and Manhattan Transfer.
I love coffee, I love tea
I love the java jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the jiving and me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!
I love java, sweet and hot
Whoops! Mr. Moto, I'm a coffee pot
Shoot me the pot and I'll pour me a shot
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!
Oh, slip me a slug from the wonderful mug
And I cut a rug till I'm snug in a jug
A slice of onion and a raw one, draw one.
Waiter, waiter, percolator!
Boston bean, soy bean
Lima bean, string bean.
You know that I'm not keen for a bean
Unless it is a cheery coffee bean.
Oh, slip me a slug from the wonderful mug
And I cut a rug till I'm snug in a jug
Drop me a nickel in my pot, Joe, Taking it slow.
"Good Night Dear Heart" is by Dan Forrest. The lyrics are from a poem written by Robert Richardson. When Mark Twain's daughter died unexpectedly at age 24, he inscribed his daughter's tombstone using words from the poem "o wind, blow softly here. Green sod above, lie light, light, Good night dear heart, good night."
Warm summer sun, shine kindly here
Warm southern wind, blow softly here
Green sod above lie light, lie light
Good night, dear heart
Good night, good night
Warm summer sun
Shine kindly here
Warm southern wind, blow softly here
Green sod above lie light, lie light
Good night, dear heart
Good night, good night
This African song entitled ”Bonse Aba” translates as, ”all who sing have the right to be called the children of God.” The traditional lyrics have a buoyant, rhythmic feel that transports the listener to the center of a traditional celebration. It is sung in the Behmba language, spoken primarily in Zambia, and is a Christian song of celebration that is popular throughout the region.
Bonse aba, mu pokelela, Ba lipele maka akuba bana. (repeat)
Kuba bana, kuba bana, kuba bana bakwa lesa. (repeat)
Muya ya ya, muya ya ya, muya ya ya, bakwa lesa. (repeat)
"Sweet Day" by Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of "Three Elizabethan Partsongs. Through 60 years, he composed operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies. Strongly influenced by Tudor music and English folk-song, he steered British music from its German-dominated style of the 19th century, to informal singing groups whose focus on the joy of participation were a very popular form of entertainment during Elizabethan times, as they still are today.
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridall of the earth and skie:
The dew shall weep thy fall to night;
For thou must die.
Sweet rose, whose hue angrie and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye:
Thy root is ever in its grave
And thou must die.
Sweet spring, full of sweet dayes and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie;
My musick shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.
Onely a sweet and vertuous soul,
Like season'd timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
"Dulaman" is a Gaelic song about seaweed. Due to erosion along the barren West Coast of Ireland, seaweed was carried inland, allowed to rot, and was eventually used to fertilize vegetables. The song has Irish and non-Irish features. Its Irish features include being in the Dorian mode - which is the Irish scale, and has a lilt of a Jig - the 6/8 time signature.
A'níon mhín ó, sin anall na fir shúirí
A mháithair mhín ó, cuir na roithléan go dtí mé
Dúlaman, dúlaman, dúlaman na binne buí
Dúlaman na binne buí Gaelach
Dúlaman, dúlaman, dúlaman na farraige
Dúlaman na binne buí Gaelach
Rachaimid go Doire leis an dúlamán gaelach
Is ceannóimid bróga daora ar an dúlamán gaelach
Bróga breaca dubha ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá dhá chluais mhaol ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá ceann buí óir ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá dhá chluais mhaol ar an dúlamán gaelach
Dating from the 18th century, and this song is often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It’s both sad and uplifting at the same time, and was popular as a New Years Eve song in Ireland and Scotland before it was superseded By Auld Lang Syne. “Parting glass” refers to that final drink offered to departing guests to fortify them for their long trip home. It ends with a toast - “Good night and joy be with you all”
Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm I've ever done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be to you all
So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whate'er befalls
Then gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all
Of all the comrades that e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They'd wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
I'll gently rise and softly call
That I should go and you should not
Good night and joy be with you all
Loch Lomond tells the story of two Scottish soldiers who were imprisoned. One of them was to be executed, while the other was to be set free. According to Celtic legend, if someone dies in a foreign land, his spirit will travel to his homeland by "the low road" -- the route for the souls of the dead. His spirit would reach Scotland before his comrade gets home, but he will never meet his true love again.
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
Oh, ye′ll tak the high road
And I'll tak the low road
And I′ll be in Scotland afore ye
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond
'Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep sides of Ben Lomond
Where deep in purple hue
The highland hills we viewed
And the moon coming out in the gloaming
The wee birdies sing and the wildflowers spring
And in sunshine the waters lie sleeping
But the broken heart will ken nae second spring again
And the world knows not how we are grieving
Darkness, literal and figurative, often inspires art that holds hope for or celebrates the coming of brighter days. After a dreary winter of coping with personal troubles as well as unusually harsh weather, George Harrison took a break from stressful business meetings to visit his friend Eric Clapton's home. While enjoying the lush garden there and using a borrowed guitar -- the first he had played in weeks, Harrison wrote the body of “Here Comes the Sun" with ease. "It was the first thing that came out," he recalled. "It just came." Recorded a few months later in 1969 on the Beatles' Abbey Road album, it surely was a song for its time, and for ours a half-century later.
Here comes the Sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the Sun and I say
It's all right
Little darling
It's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the Sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the Sun and I say
It's all right
Little darling
The smiles returning to the faces
Little darling
It seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the Sun
Here comes the Sun and I say
It's all right
Sun, Sun, Sun, here it comes
Little darling
I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling
It seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the Sun (doo, doo, doo)
Here comes the Sun and I say
It's all right
‘Seal Lullaby’ is from "The Jungle Book", where it forms the epigraph to ‘The White Seal’ and captures the intimacy and tenderness between parent and child very powerfully. The arrangement reflects this, rising and falling like the sea, or breath, and in a way it’s unsurprising to learn Whitacre had his own child in mind when he wrote the song. The piece was written at the request of Disney executives who were planning a movie of ‘The White Seal’.
BCCS invites the audience in joining us singing this. The score can be found here.
Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, O’er the combers, looks downward to find us
At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, there soft by the pillow.
Oh, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, no shark shall overtake thee
Asleep in the storm of slow-swinging seas.
Rudyard Kipling
Soprano
Lin Clymer
Madeleine Gordon
Christine Izaret
Lisa Nelbach
Janelle Noble
Alto
Catherine Atcheson
Jan Murota
Ellen Rosenfield
Dan-Ching Young
Tenor
Joan King-Angell
Ignacio Dayrit
Eloise Fox
Janet Hack
Bass
Stan Dewey
Kevin Mann
Jarred Miyamoto-Mills
Richard Page
Howard Rosenberg
During Fall and Spring sessions, the Chamber Singers meet on Tuesdays, 5:45 to 7:45 PM, at St. Alban’s Church 1501 Washington Ave, Albany.
To join us - email - please enter “Chamber Singers” in the Comment section.