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Mari Esabel Valverde
Mari Esabel Valverde
Comfort and Joy
An original song in the spirit of a Christmas carol.
SATB chorus and piano
Though secular, “Comfort and Joy” is an original song in the spirit of a Christmas carol. With melancholic sweetness, its melody unfolds describing the world of the “eternal girl” in two realms — the outside and the inside of a snow globe. When the glass cracks open, it shatters illusions and exposes the universe within.
Composer’s Notes
Though secular, “Comfort and Joy” is an original song in the spirit of a Christmas carol. Charles Anthony Silvestri who authored the text was inspired by the momentous connection between a woman who never knew a girlhood and a girl who never knew a womanhood.
The musical narrative begins with a nod to Claude Debussy’s “La fille aux cheveux de lin,” and with melancholic sweetness, its melody unfolds describing the world of the “eternal girl” in two realms — the outside and the inside of a snow globe. The first two verses, sung in major mode, frame the perspective from outside the wintry scene. Then the glass cracks open, shattering the illusion of time and exposing the universe within. The final verses, sung in minor mode, offer a glimpse from the grounds of her most heartful memory. Ultimately, the story ends in a resounding question, for we can only imagine the magic of her dreams fulfilled.
This work was commissioned in 2020 by the Love Like Lily Foundation (www.LoveLikeLily.org) and premièred by the University of South Carolina Concert Choir under the direction of Dr. Alicia Walker for their in-person concerts titled “A Holiday Garland of Choirs” in December 2021.
-Mari Esabel Valverde
Text
In the little winter town, beneath the glass,
A child alone, in a pale blue coat,
Arms stretched out to greet the swirling snow,
Dances in comfort and joy.
The snow falls sure and steady here;
Ever new this bed of purest white.
All have fled inside, except the child
Dancing in comfort and joy.
What songs fill her fragile sphere?
What long dreaming do they tell?
The many paths she could have taken,
The women she could have become,
This forever girl, gazing upward,
Frozen in this snowy moment
All wrapped up in palest blue,
And dancing in comfort and joy…?
-Charles Anthony Silvestri
About the Poet
Poet, author, composer, and speaker Charles Anthony Silvestri has worked with other artists from all over the world to create texts tailor-made for their commissions and specific artistic needs. He enjoys the challenge of solving these creative problems and has provided custom choral texts, opera libretti, program notes and other writing for composers including Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, Kim Arnesen, and Dan Forrest, and for ensembles ranging from high schools to the Houston Grand Opera, from the King’s Singers to the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, from Westminster Choir College to Westminster Abbey.
As a clinician, Silvestri speaks to choirs, classes, and concert audiences about his works, the creative process, the marriage of words and music, and about his collaborative relationships with composers. He is the author of three books, including A Silver Thread (GIA 2019), a retrospective of almost 20 years of his lyric poetry. He teaches Ancient and Medieval History at Washburn University and lives in Lawrence, KS.
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