Hoson zês, phainou, mêden holôs su lupou;
pros oligon esti to zên, to telos ho chronos apaitei.

[For as long as you live, be happy and do not be distressed in any way.  
Life exists for a short while, and Time demands its due.]

Ancient Greek text from the Epitaph of Seikilos, ca. 1st century C.E.
English translation by Randall McNeil


Seikilos

o shining light
o light
o star-shine gold

jewel of the star-hall
heaven’s sparkling gem
shimmering flower of the field of angels
celestial fire
luminous, radiant, bright

lux lucens in tenebris
loquitur animae stella					
[light shining in darkness
the star that speaks to the soul]

oh, shine in light
o shine

Shining Light

Quivi è la rosa in che’l verbo divino
carne si fece; quivi son li gigli
al cui odor si prese il buon cammino.

[Here is that rose through whom the Divine Word
was made into flesh; here too those lilies
by whose fragrance was taken the just road.]


Dante Aligheri, Paradiso, Canto XXIII, 73-75
English translation by Christopher Lyndon-Gee


Il nome del bel fior - 02. Quivi è la rosa

Multitracked extended voices performed by Joanne Metcalf

the waters of speech are silent

Singer Pur
Mainzer Musiksommer, Seminarkirche
21 August 2016
Recorded live by Radio Südwestrundfunk 2

it is enough
it is after the end
it's done

it all came to nothing
the strong overcame the weak
as it was in the beginning, it was not in the end

it is enough
that was the last one
it's over
the last one
it's done
and you lost

close the door
shut off the world
without end

it all came to nothing
the strong overcame the weak
as it was...

no tears
no sighs
not the memory of an angel

it is not enough
 
you, the outcast
you, the forgotten
you, the sick at heart
you, on the sidelines
shut in, shut out
bitter, yet silent
you're going from noplace to nowhere

it is not enough

©2016 Joanne Metcalf

It Is Enough (live - SWR2 Radio)

I am a lightning thorn
I am that bitter fire
I am the star-lit sword
I am broken shards of color
Showy, radiant, bright

I am the halo that burns
I am the day of harsh wonders
I am the poison that kills, the poison that heals
I am the darkening of the light

You are shattered, unheard
Silver-white and pale
I am the cold breath that wakes you from sleep
The one at the back of your mind
You are forgotten, uncounted
Fading, fallen
I am the word you don't want to hear
A phantom thought, made of wind

I am the darkening of the light

I am the halo that burns
I am the day of harsh wonders
I am the cold breath that wakes you from sleep
I am the word you don't want to hear
I am the darkening of the light

An unopened letter waits for you
The promise of more
The hope for less
Ever in shadow
I wait here for you
I am the darkening of the light

Darkening of the Light (sopr cl va pno pc)

Il nome del bel fior - 04. Il nome del bel fior

Il nome del bel fior (excerpts)
Italian text from Dante's Paradiso, Canto XXIII

6: Io sono amore angelico
7: Maria IV

Il nome del bel fior – 06. Io sono amore angelico & 07. Maria IV

Ego dilecto meo

The Vast Unknowable (2018)
Joseph Connor, soprano saxophone

The Vast Unknowable

The Undreamt-of Center (2019)
Michael Mizrahi, piano

I. Undreaming
II. Celestial Clockwork
III. Infinite Aftertime

The Undreamt-of Center

The music of Joanne Metcalf, critically acclaimed as “music of great beauty” (Klassik-Heute) and “extraordinarily beautiful” (International Record Review), is known for its evocative lyricism, rhythmic extravagance, and “beautiful use of vocal colours and texture” (Glasgow Herald). Ms. Metcalf has received commissions from the Hilliard Ensemble; Singer Pur, Germany’s pre-eminent vocal ensemble; Cappella Nova; and Canty, Scotland’s premiere vocal quartet. Her choral compositions have been performed by Variant 6, the Gothic Voices, The Crossing, and the Dresden Chamber Choir.

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