Love’s Pure Light
Premiered December 23, 2021
Part of In Mulieribus’ 15th Anniversary concert season.
The program featured an eclectic array of music that not only spanned the centuries, but also spanned IM’s fifteen-year history.
Highlights from IM’s annual holiday concert, “Love’s Pure Light,” performed at St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, OR on December 19/20, 2021.
Included here are three compositions reflecting hope, faith in a brighter future, and joy of fulfilled promises – ideals that, in Christianity, are embodied in the Virgin Mary and in Jesus’ birth:
- Gaude virgo virginum, MS Wolfenbüttel 1099, 12th c.
- Misterium mirabile, Nicola LeFanu, b. 1947
- Hodie Christus factus est, Craig Kingsbury, b. 1952
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor
Ben DeMarco, Videographer & Editor
Pauline García-Viardot: Diva, Muse, and Composer of Genius
Premiered October 22, 2021
Part of In Mulieribus’ 15th Anniversary concert season.
Highlights from our concert celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of García-Viardot (1821-1910)
Included here are three compositions reflecting hope, faith in a brighter future, and joy of fulfilled promises – ideals that, in Christianity, are embodied in the Virgin Mary and in Jesus’ birth:
- Gaude virgo virginum, MS Wolfenbüttel 1099, 12th c.
- Misterium mirabile, Nicola LeFanu, b. 1947
- Hodie Christus factus est, Craig Kingsbury, b. 1952
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor
Susan McDaniel, Collaborative Pianist
Ben DeMarco, Videographer & Editor
Visions of Eternity
Premiered October 24, 2020
Part I of In Mulieribus’ 2020-2021 virtual concert season, “Visions in Sound.”
A season of collaboration creating an integrated experience of sight and sound.
Music: ‘From Cycles of Eternity’ composed by Andrea Reinkemeyer; from the album “Cycles of Eternity” (2019) performed by In Mulieribus
Poetry: “Aspiration,” “Limitations,” and “Life” by Henrietta Cordelia Ray (1852–1916)
Artwork: “Waters of March-Spring,” “And Then Again,” and “Luminous Frontiers” by Rita Robillard.
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor
Ben DeMarco, Videographer & Editor
Visions of Mystery
Premiered Dec 19, 2020
The holiday program of In Mulieribus’ 2020-2021 virtual concert season, “Visions in Sound.”
- Stillat in stellam radium, Anonymous, 13th c
- Cum natus esset Iesus, Ivan Moody)
- The Darkest Midnight in December, Kelly Marie Murphy
- Star of Wonder, Terre Roche
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor
Susan McDaniel, Collaborative Pianist
Ben DeMarco, Videographer & Editor
Texts/Translation for Stillat in stellam radium:
LATIN
Stillat in stellam radium,
celeste stillicidium,
mel stillans quo nil melius,
virginale precordium
preter naturae studium
dum replet Dei filius.
Gaudet virgo quae filium
patrem parit humilium,
preter quem non est alius.
In luctum vertit gaudium
crucis sustinens tedium
stella presente radius.
Maternum cor fit anxium
dum videt quod supplicium
filius sentit anxius.
Nam propiciatorium
sacri cordis sacrarium
percusit ipse gladius.
O viginale lilium
rosa per hoc martirium
donum nacta beatius.
Ora patrem pia pium
post huius vite stadium
ut sit nobis propitius. Amen.
ENGLISH
Dropping a ray into the star
is heavenly precipitation —
honey, dripping, of which there is none better,
the virginal womb,
beyond nature’s study,
fills with God’s Son.
The virgin rejoices and bears a Son,
the father of all the humble,
besides Him there is none other.
But joy is turned into mourning,
as the agony of the cross is endured
by the ray in the star’s presence.
The maternal heart is anguished
as it sees what torture
the anguished Son feels.
For the propitiatory
shrine of the sacred heart
is pierced by the sword itself.
O virginal lily,
Rose, who through this martyrdom
has obtained a gift more blessed.
Beseech the merciful Father
that, after this life’s course,
He to us be kind. Amen.
Visions of Beauty
Premiered April 17, 2021
Part III of In Mulieribus’ 2021-2022 virtual concert season, “Visions in Sound.”
Ah, spring! Flowers and gardens symbolize resurgence, rebirth, and beauty in the poetry of the Renaissance. In this final program, the music of Machaut and others is presented with the works of two Portland-based artists: photographer Deb Stoner and animator/calligrapher Marilyn Zornado.
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor
Ben DeMarco, Videographer & Editor
Magi Videntes
Recorded: March 4, 2016
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor
Verbum Novum
Recorded: March 4, 2016
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor
Adorna Thalamum
Recorded: March 4, 2016
Anna Song, Artistic Director & Conductor