Saturday, Dec. 3, 7:00pm
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (910 E 9th St)
Dr. Jerry Hui, Director
Michaela Gifford, Keyboard
Program
* Symphonic Singers
† Chamber Choir
‡ Schola Cantorum of Eau Claire
♦ Menomonie Middle School Treble Singers
◊ Ganna Ensemble
Maxsim Berezovsky (1745-1777) — I Will Take This Cup of Salvation *
Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921) — Щедрик (Shchedryk; Bountiful Evening) *◊♦
Trad. Polish, arr. Hui — Hej sokoły (Hey Falcons) *
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) — Śpiew z mogiły (Hymn from the Grave) *
Dmitri Bortniansky (1751-1825) — Heruvimskaya pesn' *
Maria Kõrvits (b.1987) — Akvarell III (Watercolor III) †
Veljo Tormis (1930-2017) — Raua Needmine (Curse Upon Iron) †
Trad. Ukrainian, arr. Pikkardiyska Tertsiya — Пливе кача (Plyve Kacha; Hey Duckling) †◊
Trad. Ukrainian, arr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra — Kyrie Eleison †*
Mikolaj Zielenski (1575?-1625?) — Vox in Rama (A Voice In Rama) ‡
Erkki-Sven Tüür (b.1959) — Ukrainale (To Ukraine) †‡
Pärt Uusberg (b.1986) — Kodutee (Journey Home) †
Tormis — Laulusild (Bridge of Song) †*◊
From Our Partners
The arts offer a means to expand our understanding of the nature and character of conflict through the application of a different lens, and, crucially, a means to understand society’s changing attitudes to war and peace. We’re excited and proud to have played a role alongside our Estonian and Polish friends in celebrating the unique artistic and living cultures of our respective heritages in To Freedom. Your rich University setting contributes substantially to wide audience participation affording valuable conversations between thought-provoking objects and music. Really great art really engages and regenerates the perception of reality. - Kathy Nalywajko, President, Ukrainian Institute of America
The Estonian Consulate in New York is delighted to collaborate with the University of Wisconsin-Stout on a project which sheds light on the powerful role culture plays in fighting for democratic values and connecting people from different walks of life. It’s not every day we get to work with so passionate a professor as Dr. Jerry Hui who initiated 'To Freedom' and has been leading the project so wonderfully. If even just a fragment from a melody from an Ukrainian song, a visual from an Estonian artist’s painting, or a single word from the Polish language would stay lingering in a student’s mind, this could be a stepping stone to a much more in depth inquiry into the role of culture as a tool for transformation.
Since its foundation, the Polish Cultural Institute New York (PCINY) worked with various universities and we always value working with academics and educators because public education and especially educating young generation is the main purpose of cultural diplomacy. We hope that through To Freedom project, the students at UW-Stout as well as residents of the greater Eau Claire-Menomonie, will learn about and relate to Ukrainian cultural heritage and its universal democratic values embraced and emphasized by Polish and Estonian cultures. We anticipate that the project participants will connect with the broader humanitarian and reconciliatory message that the work of Monika Weiss contributes to this project.
Program Notes
The Information Age makes it easy for us to learn of the news quickly, but often with flattened context, glossing over the actual people who are affected. Their livelihood, emotions, and suffering are subsumed in statistics, graphs, and sound bites. As artists and musicians, we have the means and the duty to express what’s left out, and in doing so, open the door for more people to ponder the issues at hand.
This concert, part of the comprehensive project To Freedom, focuses on Ukraine as well as neighboring Poland and Estonia. All three countries have had their long history to seek their cultural identities and their freedom. Through our music selection, we seek not to dwell on the misery caused by the Russian invasion in Ukraine, but to humanize those who live in the region.
We begin this concert with music depicting daily lives (I Will Take the Cup of Salvation; Shchedryk) and how they are devastated quickly by wars (Hej sokoły; Śpiew z mogiły). The beauty of nature (Akvarell) is taken over by terror and violence (Raua Needmine). We grieve privately (Plyve Kacha; Vox in Rama) and collectively (Kyrie eleison; Kodutee), and forcefully condemn the war (Ukrainale). In parting, we offer hope as we wish for a world built in human connection (Laulusild). – Jerry Hui, Director of Choral Activities, UW-Stout
Text and Translation
I Will Take the Cup of Salvation
Maxsim Berezovsky (1745-1777)
| I will take the cup of salvation: and call upon the name of the Lord. Alleluia. |
Щедрик (Shchedryk; Bountiful Evening)
Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921)
Sung in Ukrainian
| Ще́дрик, щедри́к, ще́дрівочка, При́летіла ла́стівочка, Ста́ла собі́ ще́бетати, Го́сподаря ви́кликати: «Ви́йди, вийди́, го́сподарю, По́дивися на кошару́ — Там овечки́ покотили́сь, А ягнички́ народили́сь. В те́бе това́р весь хороши́й, Бу́деш мати́ мі́рку гроше́й, В те́бе това́р весь хороши́й, Бу́деш мати́ мі́рку гроше́й, Хоч не гроші́, то полова́, В те́бе жінка́ чорноброва́.» Ще́дрик, щедри́к, ще́дрівочка, При́летіла ла́стівочка. | Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol; A little swallow flew into the household and started to twitter, to summon the master: "Come out, come out, O master, look at the sheep pen, there the ewes have given birth and the lambkins have been born Your goods [livestock] are great, you will have a lot of money, by selling them. Your goods [livestock] are great, you will have a lot of money, by selling them. If not money, then chaff from all the grain you will harvest you have a dark-eyebrowed beautiful wife." Bountiful evening, bountiful evening, a New Year's carol, A little swallow flew. |
Hej sokoły (Hey Falcons)
Traditional Polish, arr. Jerry Hui
Sung in Polish
Hej, tam gdzieś z nad czarnej wody Hej, hej, hej sokoły! | Lo, there, somewhere near black waters Hey, hey, hey falcons! |
| Wiele dziewcząt jest na świecie, Lecz najwięcej w Ukrainie. Tam me serce pozostało, Przy kochanej mej dziewczynie. | There are many girls in the world, But most of them are in Ukraine. There, I left my heart With my beloved girl. |
| Żal, żal, za dziewczyną, Za zieloną Ukrainą, Żal, żal, serce płacze, Już jej więcej nie zobaczę. | Sorrow, sorrow, for that girl, And for green Ukraine; Sorrow, sorrow, heart is stricken, I'll never see her again. |
| Wina, wina, wina dajcie! A jak umrę pochowajcie Na zielonej Ukrainie Przy kochanej mej dziewczynie | Wine, wine, give me wine! And when I die bury me In green Ukraine, By my dear girl. |
Śpiew z mogiły (Hymn from the Grave)
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Sung in Polish
Leci liście z drzewa, Nie było, nie było, Popalone sioła, Wszyscy poszli z domu, Kiedy pod Warszawą Bili zimę cała, Skończyły się boje, Jednych ziemia gniecie, Ni pomocy z nieba, O polska kraino, gdyby ci rodacy, Lecz wybić się siłą | Leaves are falling off Poland is in great sorrow. Burned hamlets, People have fled Brave men gathered to defend They fought through blizzard, The war is now over, Some are buried; No help from heaven, Oh Poland, If your sons, But now, freedom through |
Heruvimskaya pesn' (Cherubic Hymn)
Dmitri Bortniansky (1751-1825)
Sung in Church Slavonic
Иже Херувимы тайно образующе, Яко да Царя всѣх подымемъ, | We, who mystically represent the Cherubim, That we may receive the King of all, |
Akvarell III (Watercolor III)
Maria Kõrvits (b.1987)
Text: Sirje Kadalipp; translated by Jerry Hui
Sung in Estonian
| taevas ja meri on kaotanud eralduspiiri rahnuparv koos virvendava peedeldusega hõljumas taevamere taustal. | the sky and the ocean have lost their borders a boulder with shimmering reflection floating in the heaven-sea background. |
Raua Needmine (Curse Upon Iron)
Veljo Tormis (1930-2017)
Text: Kalevala, August Annist, Paul-Eerik Rummo and Jaan Kaplinski; translated by Eero Vihman, adapted by Kristin Kuutma
Sung in Estonian and English
Ohoi sinda, rauda raiska, liha sööja, luu pureja, Hurjuh sinda, rauda raiska! | Ohoy villain! Wretched iron! You flesh-eater, Gnawer of bones, Damn, you bastard! Wretched iron! |
| Käisid kolme ilmaneitsit, taeva tütarta tulista, lüpsid maale rindasida, soo pääle piimasida. Üks see lüpsis musta piima, sest sai rauda pehme’eda; teine valgeta valasi, sellest tehtud on teraksed; kolmas see veripunasta, sellest malmi ilma tulnud. | Once there walked three nature spirits, Three fiery daughters of the sky. They milked their swelling breast to earth, They squeezed their milk onto the fens. From the first maid spurted black iron, This turned into soft wrought iron. White milk squirted the second maid, This was the source of tempered steel. The third maid spouted blood-red milk, This gave birth to bog iron ore. |
| Ohoi sinda, rauda raiska, rauda raiska, rähka kurja! Ei sa siis veel suuri olnud, ei veel suuri, ei veel uhke, kui sind soosa solguteldi, vedelassa väntsuteldi. Hurjuh sinda, rauda raiska! Tean ma sündi su sõgeda, arvan algust su õela! | Ohoy villain! Wretched iron! Wretched iron! Cursed bog ore! Then you were not high and mighty, Not yet mighty, not yet haughty, When you sloshed in swamps and marshes, When in bogholes you were trampled. Damn, you bastard! Wretched iron! I know your birth, you purblind fool, I know well your source, you evil! |
| Susi jooksis sooda mööda, karu kõmberdas rabassa, soo tõusis soe jalusta, raba karu käpa alta. Kasvid raudased orased, soe jalgade jälile, karu käppade kohale. Ohoi rauda, laukalapsi, rabarooste, pehme piima! Kes su küll vihalle käskis, kes pani pahalle tööle? | A wolf then ran across the fen, A shambling bear walked in the moor. And the swamp rose from the wolf tracks, And the moor from under the bear’s paws. And there sprouted iron seedlings In traces of the wolf’s claws, In the hollows of the bear tracks. Ohoy, iron! Child of boghole! Swamp’s red rust and gentle smooth milk! Tell me, who made you so baleful! Who decreed your works mischief? |
| (Surma sõitis sooda mööda, taudi talveteeda mööda, leidis soost terakse taime, raua rooste lauka’alta.) | Death was riding through the marshes, Plague was on a winter journey. Seedling steel it found in swampland, Rusty iron in a boghole. |
| Nii kõneles suuri surma, taudi tappaja tähendas: mäe alla männikussa, põllulla küla päralla, talu aitade tagana: siin saab surma sepipada, siia ahju ma asetan, siia tõstan lõõtsad laiad, hakkan rauda keetamaie, raua roostet lõõtsumaie, rauda tampima tigedaks. Rauda, vaene mees, värises, jo värises, jo võbises, kuulis kui tule nimeda, tule kurja kutsumista. | The great dead then began to talk, The killer plague then spoke and said; In a pine grove on a hillside, In a field behind the village, Far beyond the farmers’ granges, Right here will be the forge of death. Here I’ll build the forge’s furnace, Here I’ll place the widest bellows, Here I’ll start to boil the iron, Fan and blast the rust-red bog ore, Hammer anger into iron. Iron, poor man, shivered, trembled, Shivered, trembled, shuddered, quavered, When he heard fire being called by name, Heard the plea for wicked fire. |
Ohoi sinda, rauda raiska! Rauda rasvana venikse, Taat see ahjulta ärises, | Ohoy villain! Wretched iron! Iron stretches, like blubber, Scolded the old man from upon the oven, |
| (Uued ajad. Uued jumalad. Kahurid, lennukid, tankid, kuulipildujad. Uus raud ja teras, uhiuued targad, täpsed, vägevad tapjad, automaatsete sihtimisseadmetega tuumalaengut kandvad, tõrjerelvadele kättesaamatud raketid. Noad, odad, kirved, taprid, saablid, lingud, tomahawkid, bumerangid, ammud, nooled, kivid, kaikad, küuned, hambad, liiv ja sool, tuhk ja tõrv, napalm ja süsi. Uus ja kõige kaasaegsem tehnika, elektroonika viimane sõna, valmis liikuma igasse punkti, kõrvalekaldumatult sihti tabama, peatama, rivist välja lööma, hävitama, võitlusvõimetuks tegema, haavama, teadmata kaotama, tapma, tapma, raua, terase, kroomi, titaani, uraani, plutooniumi ja paljude teiste elementidega.) | New eras. New gods. And cannons and airplanes And tanks, and machine guns. New iron and steel. Brand-new, intelligent, Precise powerful killers, Equipped with automated guiding devices, Armed with nuclear warheads. Missiles invulnerable to defensive rocketry. Knives and spears, Axes, halberds, sabres, And slings and tomahawks and boomerangs, Bows and arrows, rocks and warclubs, And claws and teeth, sand and salt, Dust and tar, napalm and coal. Brand-new and up-to-date technology, The ultimate word in electronics, Ready to fly in any direction, Stay undeflected on its course, hit the target, Paralyse, and knock of action, Obliterate, Disable, Wound, list missing, And kill, kill with iron and steel, With chromium, titanium, uranium, plutonium, And with multitude of other elements. |
| Ohoi sinda, rauda kurja, mõõka sõja sünnitaja, rauda rähka, kulda kilpi, sina teras, nurja tõugu! Hurjuh sinda, rauda raiska, Oleme ühesta soosta, ühest seemnest me siginud, sina maasta, mina maasta, musta mulda me mõlemad, ühe maa pääl me elame, ühe maa sees kokku saame, maad meil küllalt siis mõlemal. | Ohoy villain! Evil iron! Blade of the sword, mother of war! Boghole ore’s golden shield, You, steel, of vile breed! Damn you, bastard! Wretched Iron! We are kinsmen, of the same breed, Of the same seed we have sprouted, You are earth-born, I am earth-born, We are both black soil For we both live on the same Earth And in that earth we two will merge. Then there will be land enough for both. |
Plyve Kacha
Traditional Ukrainian, arr. Pikkardiyska Tertsiya
Sung in Ukrainian
| Гей, пливе кача по Тисині, Пливе кача по Тисині. Мамко ж моя, не лай мені, Мамко ж моя, не лай мені. | Oh, duckling floats on Tisyna Duckling floats on Tisyna. My mother, don’t scold me. My mother, don’t scold me. |
| Гей, залаєш ми в злу годину, Залаєш ми в злу годину. Сам не знаю де погину, Сам не знаю де погину. | Oh, if you will scold me at dark hour, If you will scold me at dark hour. I don't know where I'll die, I don't know where I'll die. |
| Гей, погину я в чужім краю, Погину я в чужім краю. Хто ж ми буде брати яму? Хто ж ми буде брати яму? | Oh, I'll die on foreign lands I will die on foreign lands. Who will prepare a grave for me? Who will prepare a grave for me? |
| Гей, виберут ми чужі люди, Виберут ми чужі люди. Ци не жаль ти, мамко, буде? Ци не жаль ти, мамко, буде? | Oh, strangers will prepare, Strangers will prepare. Won't you regret, mother? Won't you regret, mother? |
| Гей, якби ж мені, синку, не жаль? Якби ж мені, синку, не жаль? Ти ж на моїм серцю лежав, Ти ж на моїм серцю лежав. | Oh, my son, how could I not regret? My son, how could I not regret? You were laying on my heart, You were laying on my heart. |
| Гей, пливе кача по Тисині, Пливе кача по Тисині. | Oh, duckling floats on Tisyna Duckling floats on Tisyna. |
Kyrie Eleison
Traditional Ukrainian, arr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra
Sung in Latin
Kyrie eleison. Dona nobis pacem. | Lord, have mercy. Grant us peace. |
Vox in Rama (A voice is heard in Ramah)
Mikolaj Zielenski (1575?-1625?)
Sung in Latin
| Vox in Rama audita est ploratus et ululatus, Rachel plorans filios suos, Et noluit consolari, quia non sunt. | A voice is heard in Ramah of weeping and lamentation. Rachel is weeping for her children, and will not be comforted because they are no more. |
Ukrainale (For Ukraine)
Erkki-Sven Tüür (b.1959)
Го́ре тому́, Бо́же, Україну храни́! Го́ре тим, Бо́ же, Україну храни́ ! Го́ре то́бі, Коли́ скінчи́ ш пусто́шити, Го́споди, поми́луй нас! Ми на те́бе упова́ємо. Го́споди, поми́луй нас! | Woe to him, God, save Ukraine! Woe to those, God, save Ukraine! Woe to you, When you have finished your work of destroying, Lord, be gracious to us. For we wait for you, Lord, be gracious to us. |
Kodutee (Journey Home)
Pärt Uusberg (b.1986)
Text: Kristjan Üksküla (b. 1987)
Laskub öö ja hingab paati, Hälli ees on jäänud ema Isa seisab kaevu ääres, Meenub kevad, kõige algus, Mõni tund ja tõuseb tuli, Minu armsa pilgus paistab | Night falls and breathes into a boat, The mother by the cradle The father stands by the well, I remember the spring, the beginning, Hours pass and there is light, There, in the eyes of the one I love, |
Laulusild
Veljo Tormis (1930-2017)
Sung in Finnish and Estonian
Mielen minun tekevi, Veli kulta, veikkoseni, Lyökämme käsi kätehen, (In Finnish) | I have a good mind Brother dear, little brother Let's strike hand to hand |
Kui ma hakkan laulemaie, Laulemaie, laskemaie, (In Estonian) | When I start to sing, To sing, to spin a yarn... |