World Premiere of "Herself a Rose" by Robert Convery written in honor or Acappellago's 15th season.. Based on a poem by Christina Rosetti. Sunday, December 4, 2016 Congregational Church of Batavia, IL

The Blue Bird poem by Mary Coleridge Music by Charles Villiers Stanford (also known under the pseudonym Karel Drofnatski!!) Performed (transposed down a bit) by the dwsChorale (one-man multitrack choir)

A setting for four equal voices of the parody by Rev George Strong on Longfellow's Hiawatha poem. The music is almost, but not quite, a canon... Versions are available in B flat mixolydian and in C mixolydian. (ie major with flattened 7th) When ...  moreA setting for four equal voices of the parody by Rev George Strong on Longfellow's Hiawatha poem. The music is almost, but not quite, a canon... Versions are available in B flat mixolydian and in C mixolydian. (ie major with flattened 7th) When he killed the Mudjokivis, Of the skin he made him mittens, Made them with the fur side inside, Made them with the skin side outside. He, to get the warm side inside, Put the inside skin side outside; He, to get the cold side outside, Put the warm side fur side inside. That's why he put the fur side inside, Why he put the skin side outside, Why he turned them inside outside  less

This is based on the anonymous English poem (with added 2nd verse by David Dunning) about a centipede who loses her concentration: Verse 1 A Centipede was happy quite Until a frog in fun said "Pray tell which leg comes after which?" (with a left r...  moreThis is based on the anonymous English poem (with added 2nd verse by David Dunning) about a centipede who loses her concentration: Verse 1 A Centipede was happy quite Until a frog in fun said "Pray tell which leg comes after which?" (with a left right right left right) This raised her mind to such a pitch she lay distracted in a ditch Considering how to run. Verse 2 She stopped and thought and, mystified, Soliloquized on this; Put right foot first and found it left Her left leg wrong right side This raised her mind to such a pitch she lay distracted in a ditch Considering how to run.  less

Music: © Copyright 2017 by Highgate Press, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing Group. www.ecspublishing.com All rights reserved. Words: from the Polish poem Zegar (The Clock) by Abramek Koplowicz. Translation by Sarah Lawson and Małgorzata Korasze...  moreMusic: © Copyright 2017 by Highgate Press, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing Group. www.ecspublishing.com All rights reserved. Words: from the Polish poem Zegar (The Clock) by Abramek Koplowicz. Translation by Sarah Lawson and Małgorzata Koraszewska. © Copyright 1993 by Eliazer “Lolek” Grynfeld. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Eliazer “Lolek” Grynfeld, Sarah Lawson and Małgorzata Koraszewska. Performance by the women of The Singers conducted by Mathew Culloton. Used by permission of ECS Publishing Group.  less

poem by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Video: Ritvars Bluka Style: Līga Banga Live Performance at Latvian National Museum of Arts "High Flight" Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve c...  morepoem by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Video: Ritvars Bluka Style: Līga Banga Live Performance at Latvian National Museum of Arts "High Flight" Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air . . . Up, up the long, delirious burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew — And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. www.latvianvoices.lv  less

"Maid in the Moor" is a setting of a medieval poem. Written, filmed and edited by Michael McGlynn and performed by Anúna. From the DVD "Invocations of Ireland" and CD "Sensation". Soloist Aideen Rickard.

Setting by D W Solomons of a poem by Marie Keyser, for two equal voices Elle est près du fleuve dormeur debout It stands by the sleepy river mais le saule incliné toucherait de sa cîme l'eau But the bending willow would touch the water with its very...  moreSetting by D W Solomons of a poem by Marie Keyser, for two equal voices Elle est près du fleuve dormeur debout It stands by the sleepy river mais le saule incliné toucherait de sa cîme l'eau But the bending willow would touch the water with its very top L'église vieille dit les heures de l'île où la nuit descend The church - an old church - tells the hours from the island where the night descends Je la vois encore son toit de gris dans le gris de l'eau. I can still see it, its grey roof in the grey of the water pressens dans la tour de bois ma demeure la folie I have a presentiment in the tower of wood of my dwelling place, of madness la folie le silence of madness, of silence clos clos vigilance Closed in, closed in but keeping watch Oh Ne pas altérer ce qui reste, et le doit. Oh never change what remains and should remain "Was bleibt aber stiften die Dichter." What remains, however, is the stuff of poetry.  less

Performed by mirabai, Sandra Snow, Artistic Director Leanne King, viola Judy Kabodian, piano

I NEVER SAW Davide Riva’s beautiful acapella setting for four-part mixed voices is set to the beloved poem by Emily Dickinson. The composition is divided into two repeated sections. In the first section, the choral texture is homo-rhythmic and in the se...  moreI NEVER SAW Davide Riva’s beautiful acapella setting for four-part mixed voices is set to the beloved poem by Emily Dickinson. The composition is divided into two repeated sections. In the first section, the choral texture is homo-rhythmic and in the second section, the voices are set into a simple counterpoint. “I Never Saw” closes on the dominant chord creating a feeling of suspension that enhances the concept of faith expressed by Dickinson.