What is it about the moon? This mysterious light in our night sky has fascinated us as long ago as history has been recorded. It's been the object of everything from poetry to scientific exploration. Sometimes we like to attribute human characteristics to the moon. Remember this little verse from your childhood?
I see the moon and the moon sees me.
God bless the moon and God bless me.
Before you wonder what this blog is all about . . . no, the Glen Ellyn-Wheaton Chorale hasn't turned into an astronomy club! And yes . . . we're still rehearsing a concert of love songs—LOVE IS IN THE AIR. But I do want to tell you about one of those love songs, and it has a lot to do with the moon.
Z. Randall Stroope has written an exquisite piece that sets the text of little-known Czech poet Jaroslav Kvapil (1868-1950). This text was actually incorporated into Antonin Dvorak's opera Rusalka. Stroope—whose name you may remember from the Chorale's Christmas concerts as the composer of This Endris Night—has paraphrased Kvapil's text:
La luna, your light sees through endless time,
Tell, O tell me, where my love lies.
O moon, e'er you pass, wake my dreaming lover.
I am waiting, I am calling.
Tell him come. Tell him, O moon.
Moon, help him. Help him remember and dream of me.
Tell him, O tell him who is waiting, who is longing!
I am waiting, longing!
Tell him come. Tell him, O moon.
The setting of this poem is Stroope at his finest. To the choir and piano, he has added the longing sounds of flute and oboe. He adds to this the recurring phrase la luna, set to musical intervals that cause the listener to feel the sadness of a missing love.
Without doubt, Song to the Moon is one of the more challenging pieces to prepare. But the challenge is one that pays off in an evocative setting of a beautiful text. We think you'll agree!
Song to the Moon is just one of many selections you'll be treated to when you attend one of the Chorale's LOVE IS IN THE AIR concerts. And there's some lighter fare as well! Songs like Rainy Days and Mondays, Love Is Here to Stay, and others.
LOVE IS IN THE AIR will be performed twice: Friday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, May 12 at 3:00 p.m. Both concerts are at College Church in Wheaton. Please visit our Tickets page for more information.
Greg Wheatley
Music Director, Glen Ellyn-Wheaton Chorale