Songs for a Winter’s Night – Winter 2023

Stream

Accord Ensemble

Erin Craig, Artistic Director
Talesa Mandin, Collaborative Pianist

* denotes Accord Ensemble Board Member

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Program

Days of Love

Be Like The Bird
Abbie Betinis (2012)

Dawn
Jacob Narverud (2023)

If Love Were What The Rose Is
Victor C. Johnson (2023)

Don’t Be Afraid
Allyson Reigh, arr. Jennifer McMillan (2014)
Katie Tran and Jindra McIntosh, solos

Nights of Warmth

Anang (A Star)
Andrew Balfour (2023)

A Clear Midnight
Pax Ressler (2011)

The Frost
Erin Propp (2013), arr. Absalon Figueroa (2017)
Meaghan Ray Peters, violin

Song for a Winter’s Night
Gordon Lightfoot (1965), arr. Michael Hanawalt and Justine Sasanfar (2023)

Talve öö (Winter Night)
Pårt Uusberg (2020)

Texts and Translations

Be Like The Bird
Victor Hugo

Be like the bird that, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and sings, and sings, and sings, knowing she hath wings.

Dawn
From “Last Songs” by Francis Ledwidge, additional text by Jacob Narverud

Quiet miles of golden sky,
And in my heart a sudden flower.
I want to clap my hands and cry
For Beauty in her secret bower.

Quiet golden miles of dawn—
Smiling all the East along;
And in my heart nigh fully blown,
A little rose-bud of a song.

Dawn, radiant dawn!
When morning comes my fears are gone.
Daylight breaks, my soul awakes,
And songs of Love sing on.

If Love Were What The Rose Is
From “A Match” by Algernon Swinburne

If love were what the rose is,
And I were like the leaf,
Our lives would grow together
In sad or singing weather,
Blown fields or flowerful closes
Green pleasure or grey grief;
If love were what the rose is,
And I were like the leaf.

If I were what the words are,
And love were like the tune,
[…]
With kisses glad as birds are
That feel sweet rain at noon;
If I were what the words are,
And love were like the tune.

Don’t Be Afraid
Allyson Reigh

Dark is the night, when you’re feeling all alone.
Weak is the light, when you’re feeling far from home.
Warm is the heart that loves true, real is the love that holds you.

I have no fear that I’ve been hiding from the truth,
I have no question in my heart when I think of you
And all this time, they told me we were wrong,
All this time, my heart did not have a song.

So I will sing, I will sing and be brave.
I will sing: don’t be afraid.

There are mountains here along the way,
There is darkness now, before the day,
As long as you are here, all I can say:

Shine all your light, stand tall!
Shine all your light, be brave!
Don’t let anybody make you feel small.
Shine all your light: don’t be afraid.

Anang (A Star)
Andrew Balfour

A Clear Midnight
Walt Whitman

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

The Frost
Erin Propp

The frost beckoned me out of my bed, the damp night had ushered it in.
I threw my woolen sheets down to the floor, and I welcomed the winter song in,
And I welcomed the winter song in.

The snowshoes buckled upon my feet, I waded the snow-sea to sing.
And it all came clear inside of my mind, that the summer had been colder than spring,
That the summer had been colder than spring.

You came out of the woods when I called you,
You came out of the woods when I called you.

The summer had melted my pride and my will, and hardened my heart like a stone,
Now this winter it blew with the north wind a chill, and awakened a love from of old,
And awakened a love from of old.

I said, “What am I, Lord, to see such a frost? Not a good deed since I’d left my bed.”
And I trod along just a-singing this song, and the frost made a crown for my head,
The frost made a crown for my head.

You came out of the woods when I called you,
You came out of the woods when I called you.

You saved my soul, you saved my soul, Hallelujah, you saved my soul!
The frost came down, my hair was a crown, Hallelujah, you saved my soul!

You came out of the woods when I called you,
You came out of the woods when I called you.

Song for a Winter’s Night
Gordon Lightfoot

The lamp is burnin’ low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still in the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
My glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon the page
The words of love you sent me

If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

The firе is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
The shades of night are lifting
Thе morning light steals across my window pane
Where webs of snow are drifting

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

Talve öö (Winter Night)

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Accord Ensemble will be welcoming new members for the second half of our season starting in January 2024. If you are interested in auditioning or would like to learn more, contact accordensemble1@gmail.com

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Acknowledgements

Accord Ensemble would like to thank:

• St. Paul’s Anglican staff and congregation for the use of their facilities for our rehearsals and performances;
• Isabella Xavier for our poster and art design;
• Evan Adnams for running our livestream;
• Our front-of-house volunteers for their gift of time;
• Our board of directors for all the behind-the-scenes work to make this concert happen.

We would also like to thank the Edmonton Arts Council and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for their financial support.