See, Hear, Speak [No Evil]

Program Notes

See, Hear, Speak [No Evil] gets its proverbial title from the senses evoked in the three Psalm texts—121, 13 and 23—which comprise the three movements of tonight’s keystone composition, Adolphus Hailstork’s I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes. Our opening set of pieces is a collection of complementary Psalm settings by Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (Psalmus 121), Johannes Brahms (Psalm 13), and Bobby McFerrin (Psalm 23) through which we will explore these Psalms via their respective Baroque, Romantic, and Contemporary styles.

It’s worth noting that Cozzolani’s setting of Psalm 121 is the only Psalm in our opening set whose numbering comes from the Vulgate system (organized with one less number than the modern Psalms), gifting us the “Laetatus sum” or “I was glad” text, which is now most frequently referred to as Psalm 122. Cozzolani offers the double chorus a number of lively dances, while interspersed solos—performed by members of The Spectrum Singers—relax our ears into expressive ariettas.

The joy created by Cozzolani is contrasted by the more desperate Psalm 13 setting by Johannes Brahms. Known for his tenure directing treble choruses, Brahms led the premiere himself in 1859. The clearly defined sections of this work guide us through a transition of initial pleading to an eventual unmistakably optimistic confidence of faith. We conclude this set with Bobby McFerrin’s setting of Psalm 23, whose Anglican chant-style structure finds immense beauty in its harmonic simplicity and natural text underlay.

We dovetail from the sacred to the secular on the theme of shepherding with Jean Belmont Ford’s setting of Christopher Marlowe’s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. Marlowe’s promises of earthly delights are meant to woo his “love” into an idyllic life together, his persuasion reinforced by Belmont Ford’s captivatingly winding harmonic turns and contrasting textures. We are kept in the realm of secular love for Sydney Guillaume’s Renmen Renmen, a setting of his father’s poetry in both Haitian Creole and French. Meaning “Go on and love,” the piece offers love as the ultimate solution to the hatred and violence of our anguished world. Guillaume’s rhythmic vitality and loving dissonances bring the listener closer to believing that, as the text declares, “love without prejudice surpasses all barriers.”

A collection of three hymns arranged by Boston-born composer Alice Parker invites us back to the sacred realm for our third set. Compositionally, these Shaker-like settings feature plentiful open thirds and fifths which paint a simple, rustic, and distinctly American soundworld. Vocally, these exposed intervals present the opportunity for The Spectrum Singers to be brought back to basics when it comes to exacting our intonation, vowels, and demonstrating clear expressive goals within each phrase.

The chorus takes a short break during Edward Elgar’s Nimrod, perhaps the most well-known movement from his Variations on an Original Theme, or his Enigma Variations. Each of the fourteen movements depict a musical representation of Elgar’s close friends, the ninth of which our string quartet performs tonight. This movement, Nimrod, who the Bible states was a “mighty hunter before the Lord,” is a play on words from the German word for hunter, “Jäger,” named after Elgar’s close friend and music publisher August Jaeger (he encouraged Elgar to continue composing despite Elgar’s deep depression bringing him to the verge of giving up his craft). May Elgar’s gorgeous sweeping lines and brilliant climatic pacing act as a calm moment of meditation before we take in our final composition of the evening.

We conclude with Adolphus Hailstork’s I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, a three-movement cantata for tenor, choir, and orchestra (tonight, we hear a string quartet and piano version, performed with the composer’s permission). Each movement is set to the previously heard Psalms 121, 13, and 23. The theme from the first movement is bold and dashing, the tenor soloist leading the chorus in a call-and-response which stirs the air for the listeners and performers alike. The dramatic shift to the solemn second movement features soulful humming and calls from the choir, which feel more like a revival than a concert. The glorious “Alleluias” that fill the final movement transcend us to the evening's highest spiritual plane, creating a sense of relief and a space for self-discovery. Our journey through the Psalms is perfectly connected to our roots here on earth when the steady ground bass is met with an ebullient rhythm in the instruments. We are greeted with a satisfying recapitulation of the opening movement’s theme before the final “Alleluias” effortlessly carry us away on a musical cloud.

~ Program Notes © 2025 by Max Holman