Gathering Roses in Winter - Madison Youth Choirs

HOLSTRandal Swiggum, conductorFreedom is ComingSouth African Freedom SongMany vigorous freedom songs are associated with the apartheid era in South Africaand “Freedom is Coming”is still one of the most famous.Should Fancy Cease Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987)from Three Canons for Voices, op. 31We have talked about the many ways that our mind can sustain us—especiallythrough difficult times. Persichetti sets the Sanskrit line, “Should fancy cease, theworld would be a desert, dead and dry”with hollow, open harmonies and moments ofvery little rhythmic motion to depict how barren the world would be without thepower of imagination.Miri it is(sung in Middle English)Anonymous, 13 th centuryMerry it is while summer lasts, with bird’s song.But now draws near winter’s blast and harsh weather.Ah! How long this night is!And I, most unjustly, must sorrow and mourn and fast.Being one of only a handful of pieces which have survived from the 13 th century, thissong is justly famous, and typical of medieval pieces which complain about winterweather. The original manuscript—now in the Oxford library—is only a single melodyline. Our “arrangement” includes some vocal drones and the Holst members singingin both their treble and bass ranges.El Grillo(The Cricket) Josquin Des Prez (1440-1521)(sung in Italian)The cricket is a good singer, who can hold a long note.Go ahead, drink and sing, cricket,But don’t be like the other birds who, after they’ve sung a little bit,take off for somewhere else.The cricket always stands firm.When it is hottest, he sings only for love.