We Are Hypatia Media

Event Detail

March 8, 2016 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

We Are Hypatia

Dominion-Chalmers United Church 355 Cooper St
Ottawa,

A note from the Artistic Director

I’m delighted to welcome you tonight to the second concert of our pilot year! It seems fitting, in our first year together, to discover more about one another through music; and in this spirit, our program tonight draws from the cultural backgrounds of all of us in Hypatia’s Voice. We are privileged to share this exploration of our common and varied stories with you, and hope you enjoy tonight’s musical journey across the globe with Hypatia’s Voice Women’s Choir.

March 8, 2016 at 7:30pm
Dominion-Chalmers United Church
355 Cooper St, Ottawa

Accompanist: Claire Stevens

British Isles
1	Jerusalem	Michael McGlynn
	My Scottish, English, Irish background represents a common theme in Hypatia: I share this background with over half of the members in the choir! The first piece you heard, Jerusalem, is a traditional melody from Ireland, arranged in a heterophonic setting by Michael McGlynn. Our next two pieces take us to Scotland. The first, Cronan is a lament, and translates “My swift moving little basket, They couldn’t hear your sound (oh woe is me, oh woe is me) Against the roar of the waves / I am filled with grief (Oh woe is me) Your two little piercing eyes, watching me through the opening (And I cannot reach you, and I cannot reach you) The others are tending the sheep, And I am tending the child (And I cannot reach you, and I cannot reach you).” E mo lennan is a “waulking song.” Waulking is the process of stretching nearly woven cloth, traditionally done by a group of women by beating, pushing, and pulling the cloth as they pass it around the table. The singing that always accompanies this task serves both to unify the rhythm of the workers and to divert them from the tedious chore, which can take 2-3 hours for a large, heavy tweed. These pieces were arranged by Canadian composer, Stephen Smith, who we connected with through the Elektra Women’s Choir! – Lisa Cruikshank
2	Crònan	Stephen Smith
3	E mo Leannan	Stephen Smith
	Continuing the theme of backgrounds and heritage—you can probably tell that I’m not from round here by my accent… So it’ll be obvious why I was chosen to introduce the next two items on our programme, which are both English folk songs. The Lass of Richmond Hill is a love ballad that was popular in the 18^th century, and said to be one of King George III’s favourites. I was born near Richmond Hill in South West London, and brought up near Richmond in North Yorkshire, and I understand there’s a Richmond Hill in Ontario too… this song is following me around! We’ll follow The Lass of Richmond Hill with a haunting setting of a parting song from Somerset—The Turtle Dove. – Claire Stevens
4	The Lass of Richmond Hill	arr. Jonathon Willcocks
5	The Turtle Dove	arr. Jason Webb
Central Europe
	Like many Canadians I know, my family history is quite literally all over the map. A large part of my ancestry is unknown to me, but I do know that the most recent immigrants to Canada in my family history are my great grandparents, who came to Canada from Poland in 1911 and 1918, married in 1924 and settled in Toronto. It brought my Grandfather so much joy to help us with the pronunciation of this traditional song, which he recognized right away, and brings me tremendous joy to hear my recording of him singing it. This piece has a pining and longing character in the way it addresses the Polish native, asking, “oh Goralu, does it not hurt you to have to leave your homeland? Will you not come back?” – Laura Hawley
6	Góralu czy ci nie żal	Józef Świder
	My family background is Irish and German. This next piece is German. Schnitter tod is a bit of a warning song! The first three stanzas remind us of the transience of life, with sayings such as “What today is freshly sown, tomorrow will be freshly mown… Take care, little flower!” However, the fourth verse has a twist, as we sing, “Fie, Death, come! I will not hide! When you take me, you’ll only be showing me the way to the heavenly gardens of a new beginning in heaven!”—General sentiment: Hurray! – Jessica Simpson
7	20 Deutsche Volkslieder, WoO 38 Nr. 5	Brahms
	As someone about to leave Canada to travel all over the world, in an adventure that will end in Manchester, where I plan to stay, this program has been an especially fun one for me! Part of my background has already been represented in our British selections, but I have the pleasure now of introducing a piece that relates to my Dutch heritage. Gildebroeders maakt plezieren is a joyful celebration of making music, and honouring its patron saint, Cecelia, whose name you will recognize in the first verse! There are some other words you may know as well: each verse ends with solfège! We sing: do fa so la, Cecelia! And, if you listen closely to the second verse, you may even be able to understand the names of some familiar instruments including, the bass, the violin, zither, harp and flute. We’ll follow this with a Danish piece to conclude our Europe set. It tells the story of a summer’s day, when the singer listened to the nightingales and other songbirds singing in the deep valley. The very smallest bird sang beautifully, and told the singer “Under the trees where the mild wind is blowing, there you will find your lover.” Of course, the singer feels very thankful to this little bird for her song! – Freya van Every
8	Gildebroeders maakt plezieren	Vic Nees
9	Jeg gik mig ud en sommerdag	John Høybye
Our Faith
10	Simple Gifts (Quaker)	arr. Aaron Copland
11	Ave Maria (Christian)	Gustav Holst	Library Sponsorship – Dedicated to Carmelo Scaffidi – in loving memory of the man and his music
	Our next piece, Ma Navu, has been a part of my religious and cultural life for as long as I can remember. In the synagogue, this beautiful text from the Prophet Isaiah is chanted, with a melody that dates back thousands of years: “How pleasant atop the mountains are the footsteps of the messenger, bearing tidings of peace in your city.” And in the world of Israeli dance, Ma Navu is a well-loved, traditional folk dance, full of grace and beauty. It was one of the first Israeli folk dances that I learned; I have shared the joy of dancing Ma Navu, with adults and with children, for over 30 years. – Leslie Bricker
12	Ma Navu (Old Testament)	J. Spivak, arr. Barbara Wolfman	Library Sponsorship – Leslie Bricker
North America
13	Song of Life	Sandy Scofield, arr. W. Zwozdesky
	Part of the joy of being Canadian is the freedom of expression and the variety of colours that our landscape and stories paint. Song of Life, as you just heard, is a beautiful celebration of that joyful freedom, honouring the First Nation souls across our landscapes. The next few pieces will bring us to the East Coast—to Newfoundland, where half of my family was born. I’d like to think that the displaced Maritimers in Canada bring a bit of playful humour to those around them, which you’ll witness in this evening’s rendition of the well known traditional, I’se the B’y. And most every passionate Maritimer I know can tell you more than one story (or twelve… hundred) that can last well into the night or early morning. The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle is a lovely traditional folk song that weaves a beautiful story into a gorgeous melody. Without further ado, Newfoundland is where we’re to! – Tara Porter
14	The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle	Eleanor Daley	Library Sponsorship – in loving memory of Margaret and Arthur Babstock
15	I’se the B’y	John Govedas
	My great, great, great grandfather was from Ireland. He immigrated to Canada and married a French Canadian girl who spoke no English. He spoke no French. They might have enjoyed this song together, because we aren’t speaking any language in our next piece. This fast moving, repetitive dance tune is a French-Canadian lilting or mouth music piece. This type of “mouth music” attempts to imitate instruments, such as the fiddle or accordion, which would normally play the reel. Arranged by Malcom Dalglish, here is “Reel à Bouche.” – Laura Scaffidi
16	Reel a’ Bouche	Malcolm Dalglish
	When we think of the French-Canadian culture, there’s always an element of fun and joy. This comes across very clearly in our next piece, J’entends le Moulin, which translated means “I hear the mill.” My mother’s three oldest brothers owned a sawmill in the small village southeast of Quebec City where they were raised. As a child, every time we visited, the equipment and the noise always fascinated me. The rhythmic noise of the mill, ti-que ti-que ta-que, forms the base of J’entends le Moulin. All my male cousins, once old enough, worked at the mill along with my uncles. They worked hard, but it was all worth it when the aunts, uncles and numerous cousins would get together at someone’s house where there would be lots of food, laughter and, of course, song. A key part of operating a sawmill was getting the logs. The logging culture is a large part of Canadian history. The Log Driver’s Waltz is a Canadian folk song that hints at the treacherous work these men performed, but oh my, what young girl did not dream about these daredevil men. In 1979, a short film was created based on The Log Driver’s Waltz. This film is still one of the most requested in the entire National Film Board collection. And no wonder, who could resist these log driving men? And now, for you, J’entends le Moulin and The Log Driver’s Waltz. – Michelle Soldaat
17	J’entends le moulin	Donald Patriquin
18	The Log Driver’s Waltz	Hemsworth/Smail
	When Laura asked me about my background when I was joining Hypatia, I rattled off a number of ethnicities, my Quaker religious background, and the fact that I’m a dual citizen of the US and Canada. It’s thrilling to me that the second half starts and ends with pieces representing me, with Simple Gifts at the beginning, and Shenandoah at the end—many thanks to Laura for that! My family moved from Wisconsin to Ottawa when I was seven, so I don’t have very strong memories of the United States. It has been really meaningful to be reminded of this background through this lovely music rather than simply at election and tax time. My maternal grandparents are from Virginia, where there is a Shenandoah Valley—apparently the song is not actually connected to Virginia, but it’s a fun connection nonetheless! – Rachel Shipley
19	Shenandoah	Mack Wilberg	Library Sponsorship – to Della and Lawrence Goodsell, with love and gratitude

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