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Programme Note

Composer note:

When I accepted the commission to write a short piece honoring the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the Harvard Glee Club, there was never a doubt as to what text I would choose. The story of the blessed Simeon, so rich in prophetic vision, has always been important to me. I wanted to pursue a line begun in my biblical narrative cantata Samuel Chapter, where episodes are ‘marked off’ by instrumental colors. Here the defining elements are the intervals sung by the two-part chorus: they illuminate the story, using a vocabulary defined by the piece itself. These intervals emphasize the ‘life-size’ elements in the story while the piano is concerned with the emblematic or monumental aspect.

I felt confirmed in these aims by my hearing of Jameson Marvin’s Harvard Glee Club, so intent are they on rhythmic focus, exact tuning, and blended sound. I felt a clear conjunction of purpose, which helped in shaping the piece.

For the archaeologists among us, it is worth noting the resuscitation of an ancient choral technique, what the Germans call Chor-einbau, at the moment where the traditional Nunc Dimittis text begins. This comes, no doubt, from my experience of many Bach cantatas which use it, but the grammar of the passage sets the connection at a sharp angle.

The piece was completed at Token Creek, Wisconsin in early January 1980.


---John Harbison