Aphrodite, Greek goddess of beauty and love, was born fully grown from the foam of the sea. This piece, premiered in Northampton, MA at the Etchings Festival 2021, reifies her birth. It utilizes droning microtones and whispered incantation to create an ancient oceanic sound world. Aphrodite was performed by Emi Ferguson (flute) and Hassan Anderson (oboe).

Aphrodite

From my evening length monodrama, Canciones de Juana Borrero (Songs of Juana Borrero). Stephanie Susberich, voice; John McDonald, piano.
Poetry by Juana Borrero (1877-1896).

Apolo (Apollo)
Contra su pecho inmóvil, apretada
Adoré su belleza indiferente,
Y al quererla animar, desesperada…

Llevada por mi amante desvario,
Dejé mil besos de ternura ardiente
Allí apagados sobre el mármol frio!


Original Translation
Stephanie Susberich

Clutched against his unmovable chest, 
I adored his indifferent beauty, 
And longing to animate him, desperate, 

Carried away by my mad lover,
I left a thousand kisses, tender and burning,
Extinguished upon that cold stone!

Apolo (2)

From my evening length monodrama, Canciones de Juana Borrero (Songs of Juana Borrero). Stephanie Susberich, voice; John McDonald, piano.
Poetry by Juana Borrero (1877-1896).

Íntima  (Intimate)
Quieres sondear la noche de mi espíritu?
Allá en el fondo oscuro de mi alma
Hay un lugar donde jamás penetra
La clara luz del sol de la esperanza.

Pero no me preguntes lo que duerme 
Bajo el sudario de la sombra muda…

Detente allí junto al abismo, y llora,
Como se llora al borde de las tumbas!

Original Translation
Stephanie Susberich

Would you like to probe the night of my spirit?
There in the deep darkness of my soul
There is a place where the clear sun of hope never enters.

But do not ask me what sleeps beneath the shroud 
Of the mute shadow…

Stop there beside the abyss and cry,
As one cries when at the edge of tombs!

Íntima

From my evening length monodrama, Canciones de Juana Borrero (Songs of Juana Borrero). Stephanie Susberich, voice; John McDonald, piano.
Poetry by Juana Borrero (1877-1896).

...Por qué de mis sueños, por qué despertarme? (Why from my dreams, why wake me?)
...Por qué de mis sueños, por qué despertarme? 
Por qué sobre el mundo de nuevo arrojarme? 
Dejarme que sueñe, que sueñe con ellas, 
Las blancas y puras lejanas estrellas!
Las místicas flores de ignotas regiones, 
Que pueblan el éter radiantes y bellas... 
Dejadme que forje doradas visiones, 
Dejadme que sueñe, que sueñe con ellas!

Original Translation 
Stephanie Susberich
... Why, from my dreams, why wake me? 
Why throw me unto the world again? 
Let me dream, dream amongst them, 
The white and pure distant stars!
The mystical flowers of unknown regions, 
That populate the radiant, beautiful ether... 
Let me forge golden visions,
Let me dream, dream amongst them!

Por Que De Mis Sueños

From my evening length monodrama, Canciones de Juana Borrero (Songs of Juana Borrero). Stephanie Susberich, voice; John McDonald, piano.
Poetry by Juana Borrero (1877-1896).

Amargura (Despair)
Comprimen los sollozos mi garganta,		
De lágrimas se llenan mis pupilas			
Que del pecho doliente 				
La tristeza me arranca,				
La ansiedad infinita					
De mi espíritu enfermo — 			
La nostalgia y el anhelo vehemente 				
En que me incendia						     
Sin cesar la llama				
De esta pasión tan triste			
Y tan ardiente						
Que germinó en mi alma		
Como flor enfermiza,					
Al borde de una ruina solitaria.	

Original Translation
Stephanie Susberich
		
Sobs constrict my throat,
My pupils fill with tears
That from my suffering breast,
Sorrow rips the infinite anxiety
Of my sick spirit —
The nostalgia and vehement yearning
In which I burned,
In a ceaseless flame,
From this tragic
And ardent passion	
That germinated in my soul
Like a sickly flower
On the edge of a solitary ruin.

Amargura

From my evening length monodrama, Canciones de Juana Borrero (Songs of Juana Borrero). Stephanie Susberich, voice; John McDonald, piano.
Poetry by Juana Borrero (1877-1896).

Última Rima (Last Poem)
Yo he soñado en mis lúgubres noches,
En mis noches tristes de penas y lágrimas,
Con un beso de amor imposible, 		
Sin sed y sin fuego, sin fiebre y sin ansias. 		
Yo no quiero el deleite que enerva,
El deleite jadeante que abrasa,
Y me causan hastío infinito 		
Los labios sensuales que besan y manchan.

¡Oh, mi amado! mi amado imposible!,
Mi novio soñado de dulce mirada,
Cuando tú con tus labios me beses,
Bésame sin fuego, sin fiebre y sin ansias.

Dame el beso soñado en mis noches,
En mis noches tristes de penas y lágrimas,
Que me deje una estrella en los labios
Y un tenue perfume de nardo en el alma.

Original Translation
Stephanie Susberich

I have dreamed in my mournful nights, 
In my forlorn nights of sorrows and tears,
With a kiss of impossible love,
Without thirst and without fire, 
Without fever and without longing.			
 
I don’t want enervating delight,
Breathless and burning delight,
That kindles infinite weariness,
The sensual lips that kiss and bite.

Oh, my beloved! My impossible lover!
My dreamed groom of sweet glances,
When you with your lips kiss me,
Kiss me without fire, without fever and without longing.

Give me the kiss I’ve dreamed in my nights,
In my forlorn nights of sorrows and tears,
Leave a star upon my lips
And subtle perfume in my soul.

Ultima Rima

A piece for violin and soprano composed by Yasaman Ghodsi. Premiered at her master's thesis recital at Tufts University on March 28, 2022.
Sung in Persian
Composer: Yasaman Ghodsi
Vocalist: Stephanie Susberich
Violinist: Katianna Nardone

Poetry by Hafez
Translation:

I shared with the morning breeze the ancient lore of (my) longing
A voice replied: rely on God’s infinite grace
Morning prayers and late-night sighs are the key
to attain the relished treasure
Follow this path that you may reach the threshold of the beloved

*Hafez was a 14th century Persian poet who "lauded the joys of love and
wine, but also targeted religious hypocrisy."

Lore of Longing

The Origin of Life is a piece for string orchestra inspired by a field of science of the same name, which seeks to discover how life on Earth began. The piece reifies the primordial pre-life air, rock, and water in which chemistry, elements, compounds, and heat intermingled in wave-like motion on an alien Earth. After much fluctuation and striving, tenuous life at last emerges. (9 minutes)

The piece has three movements:

In Darkness. (Primordial soup of elements crashing together in pre-life Earth)
Dawn (Elements start to cook up into molecules and compounds)
Chemistry (Strands of RNA form and eventually yield DNA, life)
*This piece exploits the use of vibrato as a major technical and expressive device.

This recording is by the UMKC Symphony Orchestra from a reading of the piece performed on January 23, 2023 in White Hall, UMKC, Kansas City, MO.

The Origin of Life

Discretio Spirituum is a nine-minute piece for string quartet that takes its name after an ancient Catholic tradition known as spiritual discretion. Practiced by mystics, this tradition delves deep into the soul’s connection with herself, God, and the influences of evil.
 
Spiritual discretion is believed to be an infused gift of grace bestowed upon a soul from God. Discretion is therefore considered the mother of all virtues. It helps a soul discern the most hidden thoughts and intentions of human beings, of the self, and of events, in the spiritual struggle between good and evil. This piece has three three-minute movements that symbolize the discerning soul's journey from error to temperance, and finally, purity of heart.

Discretio Spirituum

From the Misadventures of Madam Boa. Circa 2008

Just Do It

I recorded Time To Say Goodbye in Spanish. The Spanish translation is my own and translates the song's original Italian lyrics.
Pianist: Yuefung Liu
Recorded at UMKC, August 2023.

Spanish Translation (sung)
Cuando estoy sola sueño en el horizonte   
Se que no hay luz en una habitación cuando no hay sol   
Si no estas conmigo aqui   
En las ventanas muestrales mi corazón que encendiste    
Cierra dentro de mi la luz que encontraste en la calle    
Me iré contigo a países que nunca he visto e vivido con ti   
Ahorra los viviré  
Me ire contigo    
En barcos por mares que yo se no   
No ya no existen   
Contigo los viviré    
Quando estas lejos sueño en el horizonte y las palabras fallan   
Y se que estas conmigo   
Tu mi luna estas conmigo   Mi sol tu estas conmigo    
Me ire contigo a países que nunca he visto e vivido con ti   
Ahorra los viviré  
Me ire contigo    
En barcos por mares que yo se no   
No ya no existen   
Contigo los viviré 
Me ire contigo!
En barcos por mares que yo se no  
No ya no existen   
Contigo los viviré   
Me ire contigo    
Tu y Yo   

English translation of the Italian lyrics:    
When I'm alone I dream on the horizon  
I know there is no light in a room when there is no sun  
If you are not here with me   
From the windows show them my heart that you lit    
Close within me the light that you found on the street      
I will go with you to countries that I have never seen and lived with you    Now I will see them, I’ll go with you    
On ships over seas that I know,    
That I know no longer exist    
With you I will live them     
When you are far away I dream on the horizon and words fail    
And I know that you are with me     
You, my moon, are with me   
My sun, you are with me      
I will go with you to countries that I have never seen and lived with you.    Now I will see them, I’ll go with you   
 On ships over seas that I know that I know no longer exist.    
With you I will live them        
I'll go with you! 
On ships over seas that I know  
That I know no longer exist    
With you I will live them     
You and Me

Con Te Partiro (I'll Go With You)

Ave Maria, by Franz Schubert (1825)
Vocalist: Stephanie Susberich
Pianist: Yuefeng Liu

Lyrics:
Ave maria
Gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus
Et benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tuae, jesus.
Ave maria
Ave maria
Mater dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Ora pro nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria


Hail Mary, full of grace,
Mary, full of grace,
Mary, full of grace,
Hail, Hail, the Lord.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed,
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Thy womb, Jesus.
Hail Mary!

Hail Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Pray, pray for us;
Pray, pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death,
The hour of our death
The hour of our death,
The hour of our death
Hail Mary.

Ave Maria

Scored for cello, piano, and oboe, Woodscrossing won the Radius Ensemble's Eighth Annual Pappalardo Composition Competition. It premiered March 9, 2019 at Longy School of Music's Pickman Hall. The name appeared to me in a dream, so ardently burned across my mind's eye that I woke up and wrote it down. Six months later it had become this work of music. Woodscrossing starts with the fundamental A0, the lowest note on the piano, and utilizes partials, many of which are quarter tones, of the starting pitch up to 166. Each partial coincides with a year of my life and events in the music reflect pivotal moments lived, making this a kind of musical autobiography. Partials that exceed my age are projections of what I hope to live or leave behind in this life. 
Oboe: Jennifer Montbach
Piano: Sarah Bob
Cello: Miriam Bolkosky

WOODSCROSSING

I sing Hildegard's Spiritus Sanctus.

Translation:
The Holy Spirit, living and life-giving
The Holy Spirit: living and life-giving,
the life that’s all things moving,
the root in all created being:
of filth and muck it washes all things clean—
out-scrubbing guilty staining, its balm our wounds constraining—
and so its life with praise is shining,
rousing and reviving all.
https://lyricstranslate.com

Spiritus Sanctus

I'm a composer and vocalist from New York. I’m pursuing my doctorate in music composition in Kansas City and enjoying meeting new people everywhere. Enjoy your listening excursion!

www.stephaniesusberich.com

Stephanie Susberich

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