Compositions

Children Of Grace, for mixed chorus and organ, is inspired by a Tiffany stained glass window, "Christ blessing the little children," in the First Congregational Church, North Adams, Massachusetts, United Church of Christ. The window is known as the Sykes window after Thomas Sykes, great uncle to the commissioner, John Bond. Two of the four texts explicitly echo the idea, "Come," as in "Suffer the little children to come unto me." These are the 13th century hymn, "Veni, Sancte Spiritus" and words of 17th century poet George Herbert, "Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life." Contemporary poet, Penny Harter, suggested her poem "Children of Grace" to the composer, and the forth text, "Enrich, Lord," again by George Herbert, is from the 1913 Pilgrim Hymnal. The anthem freely weaves together the four texts in a single composition with an extended coda. – HT

The main body of the text consists of two verses excerpted from a much longer poem by seventeenth-century American poet, Anne Bradstreet, a Puritan with close connections to Harvard. The phrase “O happy Flood” is linked to Psalm 98, “Let the floods clap their hands,” in both Latin and English. Water images – stream, river, ocean, flood – shape the composition as each recitative-style “contemplation” concludes with a freer “out-pouring” section. – HT

Contemplations (21, 22) was commissioned by the Radcliffe Choral Society for its 2005-6 season.

Recording: Navona Records EXULTET TERRA: Choral Music of Hilary Tann

Contemplations (8, 9) was composed for Cappella Clausura's celebration of the 400th anniversary of poet Anne Bradstreet's birth.  Although the work can stand alone, it is intended to precede Contemplations (21, 22), commissioned from the composer by the Radcliffe Choral Society for its 2005-6 season. The main body of the text consists of two verses from a much longer poem by "America's first female poet" expanded by Psalm 148:2 in both Latin and English: "Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts." In this setting, creatures offering praise include Bradstreet's "merry grasshopper" and "black clad Cricket." – HT
First Performance: March 17, 2012, Newton, MA, by Cappella Clausura, conducted by Amelia LeClair.

Recording: Navona Records EXULTET TERRA: Choral Music of Hilary Tann

Exultet Terra is an extended song of praise for antiphonal choirs and double-reed quintet. The text of this five-movement work has been adapted by the composer from the Vulgate Bible and King James' Bible, and incorporates three poems by George Herbert (Welsh poet and priest, 1593-1633). The outer movements, Exultet Terra and Iubilate Domino, are joyful; the inner movement, In Sanctis Eius, is introspective and conjures an inner landscape: "My heart is smitten and withered like grass; I am like an owl of the desert." Two shorter instrumental trios are placed between the choral movements, a Trio of Descent (II) and Trio of Ascent (IV). The entire work is the composer's response to the text, "Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth in peace, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

Support for the commission of Exultet Terra was provided by the Hanson Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Exultet Terra was composed for the 2011 Women in Music Festival, Artistic Director Dr. Sylvie Beaudette. Premiere: Downtown Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY, March 21 2011 by Madrigalia and Musica Spei conducted by Lee Wright.

Recording: Navona Records EXULTET TERRA: Choral Music of Hilary Tann

Penny Harter’s contemporary poem, “Measuring the Distance” is framed by Latin numbers (10, 20, 30, 50 …) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Concord Chamber Singers. Musicians have a complex and personal relationship to time: the practical business of notating music; the experiential time of listening; the times of one’s life. In “Measuring the Distance,” temporal matters gradually give way to an unbounded sense of loving and being loved. The composition was commissioned by the Concord Chamber Singers in celebration of their 50th Anniversary and first performed April 22, 2017, at the Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, PA, conducted by music director, Jennifer Kelly.

George Herbert (1593-1633) was born in Montgomery Castle in mid-Wales. His beautiful poem, “Paradise”, has long appealed to readers both for its sentiment and for its successively “pruned” end-rhymes. When I learned that one of the root meanings of the word “paradise” is “walled garden” I knew this poem would be particularly appropriate for the 75th Anniversary of the Gregynog Festival. The straightforward (though “growing”) setting of Herbert’s poem is framed by phrases in Vulgate Latin that are gradually “pruned” to a bell-like echoing figure. – HT

Paradise was commissioned for Tenebrae with support from the Holst Foundation and Welsh Music Guild on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of Gŵyl Gregynog Festival, Artistic Director Rhian Davies, June 15 2008.

Small orchestra version of original organ accompaniment. An anthem whose trumpet fanfare and joyful character contributes to a festive feel. Singing Welsh translations are also provided in certain sections.

Anthem of praise for the North American Welsh Choir. Hymn tunes woven into text. May be sung alone or combined with Psalms 86 and 136 to make concert set (136-86-104).

In commissioning this work, the Eastern NY Chapter of the American Guild of Organists asked for “an anthem of praise suitable for amateur church choirs”. The stimulus for setting the opening verses of Psalm 136 was the discovery of poet John Milton’s gloss on this psalm. Verses from the Milton version are used in the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal as Hymn 308, Monktown. The opening chords of Monktown led to the echoing of Nicea within this present setting. Above all, the work is inspired by the words of James I:17 (“… the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”). – HT

Psalm 86 (Incline thine ear) was commissioned by the Swansea Bach Choir to mark its 40th Anniversary, with additional funding from the Welsh Amateur Music Federation, which receives its funding from the Arts Council of Wales and the PRS Foundation. The piece is designed to be a slow movement between previously composed settings of Psalm 136 (Luminaria Magna) and Psalm 104 (Praise, my soul). As in the earlier compositions, the text is adapted by the composer from various sources (John Milton’s glosses on Psalms 85 and 86 and the Vulgate Latin of Psalm 85 (86)) and the music pays homage to two hymns (the Welsh melody, Bangor, and York, the Scottish Psalter melody harmonized by John Milton Sr.) – HT

That Jewel-Spirit was commissioned by Lick-Wilmerding High School to commemorate the life of former student Moe Christie Nakamura. Sacred Mount Haguro links the words of contemporary American poet Penny Harter and the Japanese haiku by Matsuo Bashô (tr. W. J. Higginson). Bashô's haiku was written at Mount Haguro as a memorial poem; Penny Harter wrote "At the Top of Mount Haguro, Japan" while she and her husband W. J. Higginson were part of an international party following the Dewa section of Bashô's "Narrow Road of the Interior." The connections between “Momo” (the nickname of the beloved student who was an accomplished singer in her own right), Japan, and the USA are many. – HT

That Jewel-Spirit was commissioned by Lick-Wilmerding High School to commemorate the life of former student Moe Christie Nakamura. Sacred Mount Haguro links the words of contemporary American poet Penny Harter and the Japanese haiku by Matsuo Bashô (tr. W. J. Higginson). Bashô's haiku was written at Mount Haguro as a memorial poem; Penny Harter wrote "At the Top of Mount Haguro, Japan" while she and her husband W. J. Higginson were part of an international party following the Dewa section of Bashô's "Narrow Road of the Interior." The connections between “Momo” (the nickname of the beloved student who was an accomplished singer in her own right), Japan, and the USA are many. – HT

Typically, moorland in Wales is to be found high on the central plateau. This is where the sky is close to the surface of the earth, and the surface consists of grasses, and mosses, and the occasional outcrop of lichen-covered granite. There is such a moor above the composer's home in Ferndale, South Wales. It is an ancient place of great bleakness and great beauty. The words of Welsh poet, R. S. Thomas, capture the hallowed quality of the Welsh moorland. Thomas' words directly inspired the piece and also suggested the use of additional text from the Vulgata. The Welsh hymn, "Rheidol", is echoed in the music and the piece ends with a quotation, in Welsh, from the words of the hymn. – HT

The Moor was composed during June 1997, in response to a commission from Mari Morgan and Eluned Jones of Tan-Y-Ddraig. Funding was provided by The Madog Center for Welsh Studies at the University of Rio Grande with the assistance of John Deaver and Elizabeth Gibson Drinko, and Evan E. and Elizabeth Davis.

Performed here by Cappella Clausura. (Audio excerpt is the beginning.)

Recording: Navona Records EXULTET TERRA: Choral Music of Hilary Tann

Wales, Our Land was composed during late summer 2002 in response to a commission from the Welsh Heritage Program at Green Mountain College, VT. The text, suggested by the then-Director of the program Dr. John Ellis, is by an unknown Welsh-American slate quarryman. It speaks of the poet’s love of his country of origin, perhaps, even, his longing to return. It is this sense of longing for the homeland (in Welsh, hiraeth) which infuses the composition. – HT

Wellspring was specially commissioned for the Female Choir Competition of the 2008 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. The text pays homage to William Williams Pantycelyn (the hymn, “Heddiw’r ffynnon a agorwyd”), and the music pays homage to the hymn tune, Bryntirion, by A. H. T. Lutteroth. – HT