We have all felt a sense of distance while traveling afar. Bern Herbolsheimer’s Love Letters sets four Tatar lovesongs from just such a traveler. Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s Canticum calamitatis maritimae, written to commemorate the 1994 sinking of a ferry in the Baltic Sea, is an elaborate and dramatic tone-poem for unaccompanied voices. We also highlight some special texts, including a speech by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and words of astronaut Russell Schweickart, as a reminder that we are all journeying together on this planet. Gustav Holst and William Billings tell stories of difficult journeys at sea that nevertheless end happily.

• Motherless Child, traditional spiritual
• The 21st Century, by Greg Bartholomew
• De omnibus apostolis, by David Hahn
• Love Letters, by Bern Herbolsheimer
• A Red, Red Rose, by Jeremy Kings (premiere)
• I love my love, by Gustav Holst
•     intermission
• Canticum calamitatis maritimae, by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
• Euroclydon: An Anthem for Mariners, by William Billings
• Island in Space, by Kirke Mechem

Full program notes.

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