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The Exultet for the Easter Vigil Service. Remote-recorded for Easter 2021, post-production by Gregory Merklin.
April of 2021 marked the second Easter in a row with no in-person services. The Exultet is sung during the Easter Vigil service on the night before Easter. Performed by a single unaccompanied voice in a darkened church by only the light from the Paschal candle, it is one of the most beautifully hopeful moments of the whole church year. I thought that if I missed it so much, others might as well, so I decided to record it so it could be sent out by the church the night the vigil would normally take place.
O spectabilis viri, Hildegard von Bingen. With Barbara Hill and Catherine Stein, voices, and Jaya Lakshminarayanan, harp. Recorded live at Church of the Good Shepherd in Watertown, MA on December 5, 2017.
I transcribed this song from a facsimile of a medieval manuscript for Meravelha’s concert program Conserva Nos in Tempore–Music for Advent. The text is rife with evocative language and cryptic symbolism, a compelling depiction of prophets and prophecy by a woman who herself had visions. Hildegard’s melody soars over a full two octaves–more adventurous and florid than much of what was heard at the time.
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Virgam Virtutis tuae from Dixit Dominus, G.F. Handel. With Frances Fitch, Harpsichord; Luke Damrosch, Sound Engineer. Recorded at St. John’s Church, Beverly, MA on Feb 20, 2022.
A psalm setting that uses the Latin text of Psalm 110 (Vulgate 109). Lively, cheerful, and fun to sing!
Erbarme dich, mein Gott from the St. Matthew Passion, J.S. Bach. With Amy Sims, Violin and Frances Fitch, Harpsichord; Luke Damrosch, Sound Engineer. Recorded at St. John’s Church, Beverly, MA on Feb 20, 2022.
After Jesus’ arrest, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times–as Jesus had foretold. Hearing the cock crow, Peter remembers Jesus’s words and is overcome by sorrow and shame.
Non es meravelha s’eu chan, Bernard de Ventadorn. With Karen Burciaga, vielle, Jaya Lakshminarayanan, harp, and Catherine Stein, psaltery. Recorded live at the Chapel at West Parish, Andover, MA on July 31, 2019.
This is the song that made me fall in love with medieval music and move 400 miles to study Early Music at the Longy School of Music (http://longy NULL.edu). This song is the inspiration for not only Meravelha’s (http://www NULL.meravelha NULL.com) name, but the entire existence of the group itself.
Where Shall I Fly? from Act III of Hercules, George Frideric Handel. With Alexander Johnson, harpsichord. Recorded at First Church in Cambridge, MA on September 24, 2018.
Believing her husband has been unfaithful to her, Hercules’ wife, Dejanira, sends him a gift–a cloak she believes will restore his fidelity to her. Unfortunately, the cloak’s original owner had deceived her, and far from being a love charm, the cloak was actually infused with a deadly poison. Dejanira sings this aria as she sinks into grief and madness after hearing of her husband’s fate.
Vergnügte Ruh, from Cantata BWV 170, Johann Sebastian Bach. With Alexander Johnson, harpsichord. Recorded at First Church in Cambridge, MA on September 24, 2018.
The first aria of this five-part cantata, Vergnügte Ruh is a gentle, lullaby-like expression of quiet, personal joy and contentment–the celebration of a moment of true peace in the midst of a chaotic, sinful world.