Downtown Voices (DowntownVoices.net)
NOVUS New York
Trinity Wall Street, New York City
Full Concert Video: trinitywallstreet.org/videos/...
Concert Program: shorturl.at/ouwFR
Stephen Sands, conductor (StephenSands.net)
Amy Schroeder, violin
Jennifer Liu, violin
Jessica Meyer, violin
Mike Nicolas, cello
Mitchell Vines, pianist
Elizabeth Bates, soprano
Ola Gjeilo’s Dark and Luminous Night portrays the passage of the soul from mortality to its union
with God. Based on the 16th century poem by a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, St. John
of the Cross, the piece depicts a soul leaving its “still house” and venturing into the night. Seemingly fearless, the soul is guided out of the darkness by the light of love; Luminous Night reveals the soul’s fulfillment.
Lyrics: St. John of the Cross
One dark night,
fired with love’s urgent longings
- ah, the sheer grace! -
I went out unseen,
my house being now all stilled.
In darkness, and secure,
by the secret ladder, disguised,
- ah, the sheer grace! -
in darkness and concealment,
my house being now all stilled.
On that glad night,
in secret, for no one saw me,
nor did I look at anything,
with no other light or guide
than the one that burned in my heart.