Lux & TUKS Camerata In Concert

Spiritus Mundi was composed 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.

In searching for a contemporary text that could pair with Timor et tremor, I was struck by Amy Fleury’s Spiritus Mundi. Fleury’s poem 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 Peter1:24, and at least to my ear, 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.

Though 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 same 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.

Much of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry is poignant and succinct, born out of first-hand experience of adversity. Many of his poems describe human emotion, and the lyrics often use contrasting language of hope and sadness. This setting of his three-verse poem, A Prayer, is like a reflective evening hymn in its use of a consistent, rhythmically simple melody, which has variations on the second and third verses. The style of writing requires a range of choral vocal colours — ranging from pure, straight tones to intentionally strong vibrato; from the sounds reminiscent of the middle-age organum style to passages requiring a contemporary vocal approach.

The opening introductory phrase sets the mood for prayer, with a quasi-monastic humming phrase built on parallel chords. The sense of weariness, and intense yearning for relief, is painted by the melancholic chromatically falling melodic line and harmonies, which contrast with the more comforting spacious harmonies. The sombre second verse is followed by a moment of hope in the third, where the setting takes a new direction, momentarily departing from the original key. The rippling effect of healing waters is reflected in the rising and falling bass and alto lines. The emotional intensity and the free, improvised character of Spirituals, Gospel, and Blues conveys the depth of pain in the second part of the third verse on the word ‘aching’, before returning to the solemn plea. The closing Amen carries the bitter-sweet mood of the setting.