“The Voices of Our Ancestors,” a new Lyrita CD, from England, recorded in New York City, and distributed globally by Naxos Records, captures three works, in their world premiere recordings, by esteemed Scottish and American composer Thea Musgrave (operas “Harriet, the Woman Called Moses,” “The Voice of Ariadne,” and “Mary, Queen of Scots”), representing nearly half-a-century’s effort. The New York Virtuoso Singers, under Harold Rosenbaum’s baton, realize these pieces, with the assistance of organists James Adams and David Enlow and the American Brass Quintet.
Two shorter oeuvres precede the one which gives the release its title.
In the otherworldly “Rorate coeli desuper!” (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above) (1973), taken from her 90th birthday celebration, on May 27, 2018, at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, in the theater district, Musgrave brings us to another place, another time, blending two early Renaissance poems, from Scotland, by William Dunbar, "On the Nativity of Christ" and "Done is a battle on the dragon black," with Latin phrases and prayers, including the Dies irae, sometimes sung in counterpoint and considering birth, death, and rebirth, mourning and rejoicing, with soloists Elizabeth van Os, Aine Hakamatsuka, Suzanne Schwing, Alex Guerrero, and Paul Holmes. If I stop short of embracing it entirely, its line "The Jews and their error are confounded" put me off.
The Missa Brevis (2017), for choir and organ (Enlow), recorded at Advent Lutheran Church on April 13, 2019, consists of a contemplative Kyrie; uplifting Gloria; ethereal Sanctus; restrained Benedictus, then jubilant Hosanna; culminating in a hushed Agnus Dei. Hakamatsuka, van Os, Donna Breitzer, Michael Steinberger, Nicholas Hay, and Steven Moore are the soloists.
"The Voices of Our Ancestors" (2014), recorded at its American premiere at St. Mary the Virgin, is the featured opus, made up of a dozen poems, in various languages, from nations of yesteryear, translated into English, and making for a creation full of awe and rich in the atmosphere of the ancient world. Sarah Griffiths, Sishel Claverie, Chad Kranad, and Elijah Blaisdell are the solo vocalists.
The grand, spoken "Creation Hymn" (Nasadiya Sukta), from the Rig Veda, originally in Sanskrit, is expressively, expansively declaimed by Q News' own Tadeusz von Moltke, with instrumental accompaniment and interludes by American Brass. "Time," by Bhartrihari, also originally in Sanskrit, serves as further choral commentary.
An excerpt from the Hebrew-language "The Royal Crown," by Solomon ibm Gabirol, for baritone and chorus, lyrically affirms God's existence. From the Persian Zoroaster's sacred book comes the high soprano's innocent query about existence, creation, and their Maker, with segue into an excerpt from "Inscription on the City of Brass," fom the Arabic, with more earthy questioning, with the chorus.
"You Will Die," from the Chinese Shi King, and the Persian "The Gift of Speech," by Sa'di, look at mortality: a life replete with riches, necessities, and eloquence will, nevertheless, come to an end. "Dido's Lament," for mezzo-soprano, drawn and adapted from Virgil's "Aeneid," presents a more vengeful Queen of Carthage than we know from opera--far from "forget my fate," this a Dido whose deliberate ghost will haunt you. Another lament, "The Desolate City," originally in Arabic, depicts a devastated land, with a survivor (tenor), keening, surrounded only by death and missing his love.
The more upbeat final section celebrates love, life, and drink and their appreciation. In "Age," Anacreon, author of romantic Greek poetry, is detemined to seek pleasure while still he may. "Let us drink" is a hearty brindisi, invoking Jove and Semele, by Alcaeus, from Lesbos, and a contemporary of Sappho. It's later than we think, is the Egyptian "Song of the Harper"'s considered, climactic message.