Voices of Connection: 09/11 In Memoriam
In memory of those lost on Sept. 11, 2001, we offer a very special piece today. Byrd’s Justorum animae is perhaps the most profound setting of that text I know. For years we performed the setting by Lassus and I thought there couldn’t be a finer one - until I came across Byrd’s. Both pieces evoke an exceptional mood of tender confidence in a peaceful afterlife. But Byrd’s piece goes further in what it evokes. The beginning, for example depicts not only confidence in the peace, by one that exists side by side with - and rises above - the sense of loss or mourning. When Byrd sets the words “Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori” (In the eyes of the foolish they seem to have died), his harmonic dissonances and suspensions evoke a nebulous, obscure, transitory world between this one and heaven. In this recording, the men of the chorus sing a phrase of Gregorian Chant, preparing for the motet.
– Dennis Keene
JOIN US FOR OUR 30TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON VIRTUAL EVENTS. REAL INSPIRATION.
WILLIAM BYRD Justorum animae
Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director
Jeffrey Johnson, Baritone
from the Delos recording From Chant to Renaissance ℗ 1995 Delos
The singers in this performance are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.