O Frondens Virga

Program Notes:

Composed for, and premiered by, Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo for her album Enargeia (Deutsche Grammophon).

Conductor Notes:

For mezzo-soprano, cello, and electronics.

Text:

O frondens virga,
in tua nobilitate stans
sicut aurora procedit:
nunc gaude et letare
et nos debiles dignare
a mala consuetudine liberare
atque manum tuam porrige
ad erigendum nos.

Translation:

O blooming branch,
you stand upright in your nobility,
as breaks the dawn on high:
rejoice now and be glad,
and deign to free us, frail and weakened,
from the wicked habits of our age;
stretch forth your hand
to lift us up aright.

Text Source

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)