Song of Luke Composer Notes

What I have always loved about the Gospel of Luke is that everyone seems to burst into song. There is a tradition that Luke may have been an artist, perhaps even the first iconographer, since he paints such stunning tableaus with his words; but most assuredly he was a poet and a singer. That was my first inspiration to write The Song of Luke. In the Infancy Narrative alone--the story of the annunciation and birth of both John the Baptist and Jesus, up until Jesus' being presented in the Temple and the family's return to Nazareth from Bethlehem--are contained the four great Gospel canticles of the Christian liturgical tradition: the canticle of Zechariah (known as the Benedictus) which is the church's morning song; the canticle of Mary (the Magnificat) of evensong; the Glory to God (Gloria in excelsis Deo) sung by the angels, a traditional Christmas text also used in many traditions at Eucharist; and the canticle of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis) which has for centuries accompanied night prayer.

The work was originally commissioned by John Pennington for the Durango Chrorale Society at the Animas Music Festival in May 2002. The instrumental ensemble includes oboe, clarinet, cello, bassoon, and percussion, while the entire piece is accompanied by alternating harp, vibraphone, and piano/organ. The cantillated recitative is introduced, augmented and concluded by a series choral pieces, songs and dances.

My second inspiration came from working closely with the French composer Lucien Deiss on his recitative settings of the four accounts of the Passion of Christ for soloists and choir, liturgical settings to be sung on Palm Sunday or Good Friday. But instead of another setting of the Passion, my idea was to write a cantilation of the Gospels for the Christmas cycle, with optional parts for soloists and choir, and to tie them together with the great canticles, two of which I had already written in first form, so that they could also be performed together as a program of sorts. And since I had already begun to compose sacred dances based on some of the same scenes, it seemed obvious to add them in as divertissements. Thus, with the addition of two pieces at the beginning and one at the end, was born The Song of Luke. I was hesitant at first to use such a lofty term as oratorio, but indeed this work is an oratorio in the very earliest sense of that word, that is, an extended setting of a religious libretto for vocal soloists, chorus and instruments, for performance either in concert or in church, usually without scenery, costumes or acting per se. Strictly speaking though, the credit goes to the good Roman priest Philip Neri in the 16th century for inventing a type of morality play to be performed in his oratory, which would give later rise to the musical version, and soon to opera itself. I'm particularly touched that the first oratorio was written by Cavalieri in early 17th century Florence, since I have carried postcards of Pontormo's frescos of the Annunciation from the church of Santa Felicita in Florence with me for two years now as an inspiration. Indeed two of the pieces were written right on Piazzale Michelangelo overlooking the Duomo.

There are certain themes that carry through the story, but none so prominent as the fulfilment of promises. And so we hear right at the beginning, in the words of the prophet Baruch, to be consoled! Take off your robe of mourning and misery! Put on the splendor of glory! What you have waited for is here, is now! Why? We hear the basses sing at the end of the first piece, Puer natus es, quoting the Gregorian introit for Christmas--because a child is born for us, who is the fulfilment of all promises, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Indeed, not just the Hebrew scriptures, but all time centers on this child. So as we hear the rest of the choir moving forward singing the traditional Christmas proclamation, from "the time in the beginning when God created the heavens and earth", through secular time and the reign of Octavian Augustus, the basses chant the genealogy of Jesus from Luke 3, from Joseph back to Adam and God's own self, until they both collide, "the whole world being at peace, in the sixth age of the world. . ." So too Simeon and Anna, who had waited so long with all the just ones, at the end are content to die in peace, for with their own eyes they have seen the Light made flesh. O that we may see and feel in our own hearts the consolation of that promise fulfilled before we close our eyes to sleep! So too we hear Gabriel blessing the child in Mary's womb, and Elizabeth blessing Mary herself for believing that the promise of the Lord would be fulfilled, and Zechariah blessing God for coming to set Israel free; while Mary turns rather to us four times, saying blessed is anyone "who hears the word of God and keeps it like a treasure in the heart", echoing the same words her son himself will say. For us too the promise will be fulfilled, the eternal birth of God in our own virginal hearts, if we have the courage of hope.

Lest we get too bogged down in our reasoning faculties, four times sounds and moving bodies express for us movements that perhaps cannot be expressed or explained, and refuse to be contained by mere words. And just as each of the principal characters have a voice and a dance, so they each have an instrument, the oboe for Mary, the bassoon for Elizabeth, the cello for Zechariah, and especially prominent is the clarinet of Gabriel. We must remember that Gabriel is the voice of God; in Hebrew scriptures it is not all that clear but that the angel may be God's own self manifesting. So let's say the clarinet is the voice of God, but this is the "coyote" God of the desert, dancing at the periphery, daring,inviting, cajoling us to dance too! I have always loved the plaintive yet joyous resonance of the clarinet especially in the klezmer music of eastern Europe. So listen throughout for the invitation to join in the dance!

The only one silent here is Jesus, who as yet, in the words of Timothy Dudley Smith, "…comes to us as one unknown, / a voice unseen, unheard, / as though within a heart of stone, / a shrivelled seed in darkness sown, / a pulse of being stirred." But that is as it should be for now, for soon enough "…evr'y stone shall cry / in praises of the child / by whose descent among us / the worlds are reconciled."

This work was premiered at the Animas Music Festival in the spring of 2002, in a year when we were all still reeling in the wake of the horrendous events of the year before. Throughout the rehearsals and certainly at the performance there kept appearing a certain gentleness and sense of sweet consolation that I didn't even know was there as I was writing. God's Word, God's promise of peace contained in the story of the birth of this child was making itself known like a still small voice in the midst of the cacophony around us, assuring us the we too would be blessed if we believed that the promise of peace would be revealed, in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

An enormous debt of thanks to my friend and collaborator and now producer John Pennington, for making all this happen; to Linda Mack who conducted the premiere and then assembled members of the astounding Desert Chorale to make this recording; to the Durango Chorale Society whose bright faces were in my mind's eye late nights and early in the morning dreaming up choir parts for real people; then to the Santa Fe Desert Chorale whose stupendous voices made me think I was hearing the music for the first time during the recording sessions; to my brother monks of New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, especially Fathers Raniero and Isaiah who lovingly and generously followed every step on the way; and to my dear friends in Italy who gave me three weeks of gentilezza to put the first notes on paper two years ago. Last but not least thanks to Tom and Jean Moore whose generous help made it possible for us to make this recording.

I have followed rather scrupulously the New American translation of the Bible for the recitative, with some slight omissions for brevity's sake, but all the texts for the canticles and all other intervening pieces are my own free adaptations of the Scriptural texts.

Glory to God, and peace! peace! peace! to all people and creatures who live on the earth.

Cyprian Consiglio OSB Cam Santa Cruz, California August 2004