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Dale Trumbore
Dale Trumbore
Spiritus Mundi (SATB)
Here, lush poetry and rich harmonies unite in praise of nature.
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Spiritus Mundi
SSATTB a cappella
“Spiritus Mundi” was commissioned for Suzi Digby to premiere with The Golden Bridge Consort as a companion piece—a modern “reflection”—of Orlando de Lassus’s motet Timor et tremor.
Contemporary poet Amy Fleury’s text for this new work is secular but still spiritual, reflecting gratitude for the fruits of the earth in a language both pastoral and almost biblical. “All flesh is grass” evokes Peter 1:24, and the final sentence of Spiritus Mundi (“In sympathy, we shall shiver and bend…”) parallels the opening line of Timor et tremor (“Fear and trembling came over me…”). “Hear, O God, my prayer” is echoed in Fleury’s pleas to “listen” and “hear” what the land is saying.
Both pieces explore the idea of trust in something greater than oneself, whether that trust is in God or the natural world that surrounds us.
Composer’s Notes
Spiritus Mundi is a “reflection” of Orlando di Lassus’s Timor et tremor. While Timor et tremor is predominantly made up of triads in root position, they are masterfully constructed in a way that still sounds striking, even surprising, to a modern listener.
I wanted to capture that blend of the familiar and the unexpected in Spiritus Mundi, which employs
the same richly-voiced triads. Most notably, the opening and conclusion of Spiritus Mundi reflect the chord progressions from the beginning and ending of Timor et tremor.
The upper and lower voices divide to a total of no more than 6 parts throughout the piece. Singers may be split evenly in three parts (SSA or TTB) when the altos or basses divide.
— Dale Trumbore
Text
SPIRITUS MUNDI
Listen around to the long sentence the land is saying,
to the wind rumoring through the aggregate of grasses.
Hear the soft explosions of all that is tilled under,
a scumble of clods cleaved by the blade, the sheared leavings
of wheat, and memory, memory, a root system still
drilling down, searching out moisture, anything that’s useful,
anything dear. Do you recognize your own shy gestures
in the weft of the fields? Oh sisters and brothers,
let the gentle tether of our longing keep us here
among the undulant, amber barley and russet oats.
And if all flesh is grass, then let us live humbly, as grasses do.
In sympathy, we shall shiver and bend, pressing our knees
into the earth, turning our faces to the quavering sun.
— Amy Fleury
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