Jake Runestad, composer

"Cello Songs." Jake Runestad, composer. Todd Boss, poet. Performed by St. Charles Singers. Jeff Hunt, conductor. Cameron Grimes, cello. Stephen Uhl, piano. More info: http://jakerunestad.com/store/cello-songs

On my living room wall, I have a letterpress broadside of the poem “Cello” by Dorianne Laux. Its central image is a dead tree, fallen into the arms of a living one. As years pass, it “…rubs its fallen body / against the living, building / its dead music / making its raw mark, / wearing the tough bough down / as it moans and bends, the deep / rosined bow sound of the living / shouldering the dead.”

Todd Boss, a frequent collaborator of mine, has created a new, four-movement text inspired by Dorianne’s poem. Intended as love songs, the texts use the seasons as a structure to examine how the cello might come to mean very different things to us as we progress through the beauty and complexity of our lives.

Cello Songs (choir, cello, piano)

"Alleluia" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the Salt Lake Vocal Artists at the 2014 Western ACDA Division Conference. Purchase scores: http://jakerunestad.com/store/alleluia

Alleluia (SATB choir)

"We Can Mend the Sky" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay. Dr. James Bass, conductor. Purchase scores: http://jakerunestad.com/store/we-can-mend-the-sky

Text:
Let My Dream Come True by Warda Mohamed (14-year-old poet and immigrant from Somalia)

In my dream I saw
a world free of
violence
hunger
suffering

a world
filled with
love 

Now awake in this world
I beg, let my dream come true.

Soo baxa. (Let's go.)					

Naftu orod bay kugu aamintaa.	(To save your life, run with all your might.)

If we come together, we can mend a crack in the sky. 

We Can Mend The Sky (SATB choir & percussion)

Nyon Nyon

"The Peace of Wild Things" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the University of Washington Chamber Singers. Geoffrey Boers, conductor. Purchase scores: http://jakerunestad.com/store/the-peace-of-wild-things           

Text:

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. 

I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Copyright © 2012 by Wendell Berry from New Collected Poems. Used by permission of Counterpoint Press.

The Peace of Wild Things (SATB choir & piano)

"Spirited Light" by Jake Runestad. Performed by The Singers. Matthew Culloton, conductor.

Purchase scores here: jakerunestad.com/store/spirited-light

Spirited Light (SATB choir)

"Let My Love Be Heard" by Jake Runestad. Recorded by the Bob Cole Chamber Choir at Cal State Long Beach. Jonathan Talberg, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/let-my-love-be-heard

Let My Love Be Heard (SATB choir) by Jake Runestad

"Dreams of the Fallen" by Jake Runestad. 5 excerpts from a performance by VocalEssence and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. More info: dreamsofthefallen.com

Dreams of the Fallen (5 Excerpts)(piano, chorus, orchestra)

"And So I Go On" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Choir. Jon Talberg, conductor. Original text by Todd Boss. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/and-so-i-go-on

About the work:

When Germán Aguilar passed away unexpectedly in the summer of 2014, it was a huge loss to our world. Germán had a warm, kind personality and a love for life, teaching, and the people around him - especially his fiancé Jon Talberg. After Germán's death, Jon was cleaning out Germán's wallet and found the only card inside was mine. I had given it to Germán when we met in January of 2014. Jon soon contacted me and asked if I would write a piece of music in memory of Germán - I was honored to do so.

I hope this music captures an element of Germán's life as an amazing man and lover of music. Also, I hope the music will serve as a form of healing to those who experience it and who continue to suffer from this immense loss. Todd Boss, the amazing poet who wrote an original text for this work, beautifully captured the message we want to leave with you: "And so I go on, always, wherever you are, my lovely one."

The work is scored for double choir.

And So I Go On (SSAAATTBB choir)

"The Hope of Loving" by Jake Runestad. Performed by Seraphic Fire and The Sebastians. Patrick Quigley, conductor.

More info: jakerunestad.com/store/the-hope-of-loving

I. Yield To Love (Rabia)
I know about love the way the fields know about light, the way the forest shelters us.
We are vulnerable like an infant.
We need each other’s care or we will suffer.
How will you ever find peace unless you yield to love?

II. Wild Forces (St. Francis of Assisi) 
There are beautiful, wild forces within us.
Let them turn millstones inside 
filling bushels that reach to the sky.

III. Wondrous Creatures (Hafiz)
O wondrous creatures, 
by what strange miracle do you so often not smile?

IV. The Heart’s Veil (string quartet)

V. My Soul Is A Candle (St. John of the Cross)
My soul is a candle that burned away the veil; 
only the glorious duties of light I now have.
The soul is a candle that will burn away the darkness; 
only the glorious duties of love we will have.
Tenderly, I now touch all things, knowing one day we will part.

VI. The Hope of Loving (Meister Eckhart)
What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure? 
It is the hope of loving, of being loved.
We weep when light does not reach our hearts. 
We wither like fields if someone close
does not rain their kindness upon us.
My soul has a purpose, it is to love.

The Hope Of Loving (SATB, soloists, & string quartet)

"Come to the Woods" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the Georgia State University Singers. Deanna Joseph, conductor. Purchase scores: jakerunestad.com/store/come-to-the-woods

Famed Scottish-American naturalist and conservationist John Muir had a giddy, child-like excitement for the natural world. After a youth spent in Scotland and Wisconsin, he found himself transformed by his first visit, around age 30, to California’s Yosemite Valley. With the vast mountainous landscape and the surreal size of the sequoia and redwood trees, these woods captured him and became his playground, his classroom, and his sanctuary.

Muir was an avid “saunterer” and a profound thinker who would venture into the woods for days with a bit of food and a book of Emerson poetry in hand. Inspired by the beauty of the wilderness and a lifelong love for words, Muir penned a vast collection of eloquent and vivid writings. In one quintessentially Muirian account, he is so fascinated by a storm that he climbs up a tall Douglas Fir to experience it more intensely.

“Come to the Woods” explores Muir’s inspirations and the transporting peace found in the natural world. Using a collage of fragments from Muir’s writings, the work ventures from the boisterous joy of a “glorious day,” to the quiet whispering of wind, to the rejuvenating power of a storm, to the calming “amber light” when the clouds begin to clear. I hope it captures the self-discovery and sustenance one encounters while exploring the outdoors and its vital importance in our lives. As Muir writes, “I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”

Come To The Woods (SATB & piano, Georgia State)

"Reflections" by Jake Runestad. World premiere performance by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Joshua Habermann, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/reflections

American Voices

Reflections (SATB & piano)

"Climb" -- music by Jake Runestad, text by Todd Boss. Performed by the Larimer Chorale & Orchestra. Jake Runestad, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/climb


CLIMB
by Todd Boss

So lowly are we born, 
torn from mud and blood and pain, 

and when we die 
we are so lowly laid to rest, 
ash to ash and dust to dust, 

we may see only lowliness—
no grade, no slope, no hope of a view, 
the body laden, 
the soul a burden, 
the heart unheard in sorrows deep, 

but we are asleep. 
We must awaken. 

Just as Earth in faulted fountains
draws itself up into mountains
so are we, in lowly places
soaring into godly spaces. 

Climb, then! Climb!—

Where we are broken 
let us rise to the sublime!—

Let us lift our weary gazes to the skies. 

The sweep of the ocean 
and curve of the earth
and all of the glories of being alive
shall fill our eyes 
when we climb to where our faults give rise!—


Music © 2017 Jake Runestad. Text © 2017 Todd Boss. All rights reserved.

Climb (choir & orchestra)

"Ave Verum." Music by Jake Runestad, text by Todd Boss. Performed by the Choral Arts Society of Washington D.C. Scott Tucker, conductor. More info and purchase scores: http://jakerunestad.com/store/ave-verum

TEXT:

Mozart Closes His Eyes and Begins Hearing "Ave Verum Corpus"
by Todd Boss

Fill a bath now,
lay the body in.
Gently now, softly now.
Mind him. Tend
him. Red
runs the water
around him, and yet
o warmth, o softness,
with my music let
me kiss him, bless
him, ease him away
at last, at last …
ave, ave …

ABOUT:

The exaltation of composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart often places them in the realm of gods or saints, and at times we forget their humanness. When artistic director Scott Tucker and I discussed the theme for this commissioned work, his desire was to pair the work with Mozart’s "Ave Verum Corpus." Attempting to create a work to be presented alongside one of Mozart's is an intimidating endeavor. However, I began to consider Mozart’s humanness and wonder what he might have been thinking and feeling as he wrote "Ave Verum Corpus" (as well as his "Requiem") — how did his own experiences and complexities participate in his inner monologue for this iconic music? After considering various traditional Latin texts, I asked my good friend and frequent collaborator, Todd Boss, to create a text that explores this question.

Mozart’s serene music seems a disjunct pairing with the crucifixion image of the Ave Verum text, and Todd’s poem so beautifully captures a possible reason for Mozart’s intent. To deepen the connection to Mozart, my work is built on musical fragments from two works written in the final year of his life: "Ave Verum Corpus" and "Requiem." I hope that this new work might contextualize Mozart’s humanness and illuminate the personal meaning behind one of his most beloved works.   - Jake Runestad, composer.

Ave Verum (SATB & string orchestra)

"Into the Light" by Jake Runestad. Valparaiso University Chorale, Bach Chorale, & Orchestra. Christopher Cock, conductor. More info: http://jakerunestad.com/store/into-the-light

Text:

I. THE UNIVERSE OF LIGHT
Come out into the universe of light.
Everything in the universe is yours,
stretch out your arms and embrace it with love.
(Swami Vivekananda)

You are a product of your thoughts. What you think, you become.
(Gandhi)


II. THE LIGHTLESS DARK
The only lightless dark is the night of ignorance.
We differ from one another, not in our senses,
but in the use we make of them.
(Helen Keller)


III. THE WARM FOGS OF FEAR
The ice under us is very thin, and is made weak by the warm fogs of fear.
(Frederick Douglass)

We are driven by love or by fear.
I fear you, for I do not know you.
(After Martin Luther King Jr.)

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.
(John the Evangelist)


IV. FLOWER INTO KINDNESS
The soul is made of love and must ever return to love.
There is nothing so wise,
nor so beautiful,
nor so strong as love.
(Mechthild von Magdeburg)

Above all, love.
(Peter the Apostle)

I shed my words on the earth
as the tree sheds its leaves.
Let my thoughts unspoken
flower into kindness.
(Rabindranath Tagore, adapt. Runestad)


V. INTO THE LIGHT
We are not yet what we shall be,
but we are growing toward it.
(Martin Luther)

Come out into the universe of light.
Everything in the universe is yours,
stretch out your arms and embrace it with love.
(Swami Vivekananda)

Into the Light

Into The Light - Jake Runestad (Chorus & Orchestra)

"Let My Love Be Heard" by Jake Runestad, for wind band. University of Colorado Symphonic Band. Dr. Matthew Roeder, conductor.

More info & purchase: jakerunestad.com/store/let-my-love-be-heard-winds

About the piece:

Though originally written for Choral Arts Northwest, this work has taken on a new life in light of the many atrocities in our world. Jonathan Talberg, the conductor of the choir at Cal State Long Beach, led his singers in a performance during the memorial vigil for Nohemi Gonzalez, a Long Beach student who was killed in the 2015 Paris attacks. The day after the vigil, the choir was supposed to begin rehearsing holiday music; however, Jonathan felt that was not appropriate and wanted time for the singers to grieve this loss. At the beginning of rehearsal, he passed out a brand new piece of music (“Let My Love Be Heard”), rehearsed it, and then recorded it. The recording was shared with the Long Beach community in memory of Nohemi and as a plea for peace. Their musical offering is a powerful outpouring of grief but also a glimmer of light. I am honored that this piece, “Let My Love Be Heard,” has helped to provide hope in the darkness of our world. Originally composed for SATB choir, this work is based on the following poem:

A Prayer
by Alfred Noyes

Angels, where you soar
     Up to God’s own light,
Take my own lost bird
     On your hearts tonight;
And as grief once more
     Mounts to heaven and sings,
Let my love be heard
     Whispering in your wings.

Let My Love Be Heard (wind ensemble)

"Proud Music of the Storm" by Jake Runestad for chorus & orchestra. Performed by the Dallas Symphony Chorus & Orchestra. Joshua Habermann, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/proud-music-of-the-storm

Text:

Proud Music of the Storm
by Walt Whitman

Proud music of the storm!
Blast that careers so free, whistling across the prairies!
Strong hum of forest tree-tops! Wind of the mountains!
Blending, with Nature’s rhythmus, all the tongues of nations;
You undertone of rivers, roar of pouring cataracts;
Trooping tumultuous, filling the midnight late, bending me powerless,
Entering my lonesome slumber-chamber–Why have you seiz’d me?

Ah, from a little child,
Thou knowest, Soul, how to me all sounds became music;
My mother’s voice, in lullaby;
The solemn hymns and masses, rousing adoration,
All passionate heart-chants, sorrowful appeals,
Song of lost love–the torch of youth and life quench’d in despair,

The measureless sweet vocalists of ages,
Of winds and woods and mighty ocean waves;

Give me to hold all sounds,
Fill me with all the voices of the universe,
The tempests, waters, winds—operas and chants—marches and dances,
pour in–for I would take them all.

Then I woke softly,
And pausing, questioning the music of my dream,
I said to my silent, curious Soul,
Go forth,
Cheerfully tallying life, walking the world, the real,
What thou hast heard, O Soul, was not the sound of winds,
Nor dream of raging storm,
But, to a new rhythmus fitted for thee,
Poems, bridging the way from Life to Death,
vaguely wafted in night air, uncaught, unwritten,
Which, let us go forth in the bold day, and write.

Proud Music of the Storm (Choir & Orchestra)

"The Secret of the Sea" by Jake Runestad. Commissioned by Craig Hella Johnson and KI Concerts for a premiere at the Sydney Opera House (Australia). This recording features a live performance by Kantorei (Denver, CO) under the direction of Joel Rinsema.

More info: jakerunestad.com/store/the-secret-of-the-sea

Texts:

I. The Unbounded Sea

Lo, the unbounded sea!
On its breast a ship starting, spreading all sails,
the pennant is flying aloft as it speeds,
        below emulous waves press forward,
they surround the ship with shining curving motions and foam.
        – Walt Whitman

My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea.
        – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

II. Crash On Crash

Crash on crash of the sea,
raging against the world,
furious, the deep roar hailing you,
the very gods,
rearing their mighty length
on the unharvested sea.
        – H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)

III. The Light that Fills the World

The great sea
moves me, sets me free.
The winds of the earth
carry me away,
and my soul is filled with joy.
When I drifted out
and thought myself in danger,
my fears captured me —
all the things I had to get and to reach.
but there is only one great thing, 
the only thing:
to live to see the light that fills the world.
        – Uvavnuk, Iglulik Eskimo

The Secret of the Sea

"Rivers of Air" by Jake Runestad. Performed live by the Capital University Symphonic Winds. Dr. Jeffrey Gershman, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/rivers-of-air

Capital University

Rivers of Air (wind ensemble)

"Give Me Hunger" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the Iowa State Singers at the 2019 National ACDA Conference. Dr. James Rodde, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/give-me-hunger

Text:

AT A WINDOW
by Carl Sandburg

Give me hunger,
O you gods that sit and give
The world its orders.
Give me hunger, pain and want,
Shut me out with shame and failure
From your doors of gold and fame,
Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger!
But leave me a little love,
A voice to speak to me in the day end,
A hand to touch me in the dark room
Breaking the long loneliness.
In the dusk of day-shapes
Blurring the sunset,
One little wandering, western star
Thrust out from the changing shores of shadow.
Let me go to the window,
Watch the day-shapes of dusk
And wait and know the coming
Of a little love.

Give Me Hunger

Official Website:

http://jakerunestad.com


About Jake:

Award-winning composer Jake Runestad (b. 1986) is noted for his versatility and wide range of expressive capabilities with music driven by soaring melodies, driving rhythms, and lush textures. Considered “highly imaginative…with big ideas” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald), Jake has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles such as Seraphic Fire, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, VocalEssence, the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Cantus (Minnesota), and the Rockford Symphony Orchestra.

Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts. He has also studied extensively with acclaimed composer Libby Larsen. Mr. Runestad currently lives in Minneapolis, MN and his music is published by Boosey & Hawkes and JR Music. Find out more at jakerunestad.com