"We Bloomed in Spring" by Edie Hill

From Pacific Chorale's "Songs of the Soul" concert on March 19, 2022, at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church Newport Beach, here is a captivating performance by members of the Pacific Chorale of Edie Hill's "We Bloomed in Spring," conducted by Robert Istad.
Video & Audio Captured by Arts Laureate, www.artslaurea...
CONCERT SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Platinum Season Sponsor -- Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons
Silver Season Sponsor -- Charles and Ling Zhang
Silver Season Corporate Sponsor -- Salt-Away Products, Inc.
This project was supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE PIECE
Edie Hill’s "We Bloomed in Spring" sets poetry by the Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic, author, and Doctor of the Church St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), in Daniel Ladinsky’s English translation (from his collection of spiritual poetry "Love Poems from God"). Composed in 2014 for Philip Brunelle and Plymouth Congregational Church, it appears on Hill’s "Clay Jug" album (Navona Records). Her sensitive setting for double SATB choir is slow moving and soft, only rising to fortissimo on the phrase “I will just say this forthright.” Hill’s work features consecutive and simultaneous seconds, creating a gentle dissonance that only partly resolves at the end.
(Program Notes by Dr. John Koegel, Professor of Musicology, California State University Fullerton)
Learn more about Edie Hill's work at www.ediehill.com/
TEXT & TRANSLATIONS
Text by St. Teresa of Avila (1515 - 1582)
Translation by Daniel Ladinsky,
from "Love Poems from God" (2002)
We
bloomed in Spring.
Our bodies
are the leaves of God.
The apparent seasons of life and death
our eyes can suffer;
but our souls, dear. I will just say this forthright:
they are God
Himself,
we will never perish
unless He
does.
ARTISTS
Robert Istad, Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons Artistic Director
John Alexander, Artistic Director Emeritus
Kibsaim Escarcega, Assistant Conductor
SOPRANOS: Rebecca Hasquet (section leader), Alexandria Burdick, Chelsea Chaves, Kathryn Lillich, Maria Cristina Navarro, Joslyn Sarshad
ALTOS: Jane Hyun-Jung Shim (section leader), Denean R. Dyson, Eleen Hsu-Wentlandt, Laurel Sanders, Alison Stickley, Emily Weinberg
TENORS: Nicholas A. Preston (section leader, Roger W. Johnson Memorial Chair), Daniel Alvarez, Nate Brown, Saunder Choi, Alan Garcia, Sammy Salvador
BASSES: Ryan Thomas Antal (section leader, Ron Gray Legacy Chair), Jared Daniel Jones, Matthew Kellaway, Yannick Lambrecht, Jackson McDonald, Emmanuel Miranda