The San Antonio Chamber Choir will be performing a beautiful piece of music in memory of lost loved ones this Saturday, May 4th at 7:30 p.m. at Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, and on Sunday, May 5th, at 3 p.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower. The oratorio-length work, “The Sacred Veil,” was written by Eric Whitacre in 2018 in tribute to poet Charles Silvestri’s late wife, Julie. I recently had the opportunity to speak with the San Antonio Chamber Choir’s artistic director, Rick Bjella, who gave us some background on the upcoming performance, which also includes older choral works.
Rick Bjella: We're starting with a very short piece by Josquin, which was written as a memorial for Josquin's teacher, who was Johann Ockeghem. And it's a very beautiful sort of chanson/motet kind of piece, sort of a secular and sacred thing. He actually is using a poem by Moline, and then, is inserting some of his own words as well. But it includes a Gregorian chant in the middle of it. And it actually, sets up “The Sacred Veil" by Whitacre beautifully, because it's about five minutes long. And then the work that everybody's talking about around the country is this piece called "The Sacred Veil." The genesis of the work is really quite stunning. In 2005, Eric Whitacre's poet [friend], Charles Silvestri, lost his wife to cancer. And for many years, Charles Silvestri could not write about his wife's death, could not write about cancer, could not write about any of the things that a lot of people around the world have suffered with. And then his very close aunt died, and he wrote a eulogy for her ceremony, and he had left it on the piano. And Eric was visiting, and within about a half an hour, he had figured out that what this was about, and probably the genesis of this going all the way back to a tribute to his wife. And that's the start of “The Sacred Veil,” a 55-minute oratorio length piece for cello and piano and choir, no soloists. And it starts with these words "Whenever there is birth or death, the sacred veil between the worlds grows thin and opens slightly up just long enough for love to slip silent, either in or out of this fragile, fleeting world." Whitacre makes it almost a liturgical testament. And so he's repeating each line or partial line three times to give it a liturgical presence. What he says is that we repeat it three times, and then it feels like motion is stopped, and it's asking the listener to listen very carefully to what has been said and reflect on it.
Ardis Saunders: The collaboration between Whitacre and Silvestri continued. The work ranges from the first meeting between Silvestri and his wife Julie, to warm moments with their children, to Julie's diagnosis with cancer, to her death and finally beyond.
Rick Bjella: The final movement is called “Child of Wonder,” which Eric wrote, both the poetry and the music. And he did it for his hero, who is in his opinion, Charles Silvestri, who has raised two children alone, essentially after his wife's death. And, it's one of the most beautiful choral tunes that I've ever run into. It's just starts with choir a cappella, "a child of wonder, child of sky… time to end your voyage. Time to die. Silent slumber calls you dark and deep. Child of surrender. Child of sleep." And the last verse reads, "stretched on ocean waves of endless foam, welcome home, my child. Welcome home." And Charles said when he heard this movement, he finally grieved fully for his wife some 15 years later.
Ardis Saunders: Following the 55 minute oratorio is a piece in collaboration with several for local choirs and churches that Rick Bjella, commissioned by friend and colleague Kyle Pederson and poet Brian Newhouse.
Rick Bjella: So he wrote a song that we are actually having nine different choirs come to help us with this, including members of the Uvalde High School choir are coming and it's called "You Are Here." And, so thinking about coming out of the "welcome home" line, "shadows long for light and silence craves music. The willow waits for rain as his heart looks for you. You are gone, you are home, you are here." And this idea of being reborn, rebirthed and, living still in the present is something that we are really affirming in this community sing. There's even a line where the whole audience will be singing in the concert from this last piece.
Ardis Saunders: The concert will hold space for listeners to light a candle for those that they have lost in their life. The first piece by Josquin and the last piece, "You Are Here," accent the emotional narrative expanded on in "The Sacred Veil." Here's some more from Rick Bjella on the moving impact of the program and what lies in store for the audience.
Rick Bjella: The oratorio work is a complete life story from the very first time they met to thinking about each other after death. Every rehearsal that we've had, singers are crying in different movements or they have to leave the room because it's so hard to sing this, and it's so good to sing this. It's so deep and so rich. And, I just hope everybody will come with an open heart and will be moved. I know they will be moved.
Ardis Saunders: There’s so much to look forward to and to feel in this emotionally expansive concert. Musical collaborators will also include cellist David Bjella and pianist Eric Thompson. The San Antonio Chamber Choir will be performing The Sacred Veil this Saturday, May 4th at 7:30 p.m. at Alamo Heights United Methodist Church and Sunday, May 5th at 3 p.m. at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower.
