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About the Work: From the Composer: Nox Aurumque (Night and Gold) was written as a sort of 'companion piece' to my Lux Aurumque (Light and Gold). I used themes (textual and musical) taken from both Lrzx Aurumque, and my work for music theater, "Paradise Lost Shadows and'$Uinss." By my count this is my seventh collaboration with poet Charles Anthony Silvestri (Sleep, Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine, etc.) and it was by far our most challenging.
Here is a summation of our process together, recounted by the poet himselfi
lNotes on the Text by Charles Anthorry Silcrestri
The task of the \nicist is to provide for the composer a text which, on the one hand, gives the composer the material he or she needs to complete the piece, according to unique specifications; while on the other hand, could stand alone as a poem in its 'Writing own right. the Latin text for Nox Aurumque was a singular challenge. First, Eric had already composed much of the musical material; several distinct melodic motifs were already formed and essential to the structure of the piece. Any text I composed had to fit within the parameters of that structure. Eric was very specific about the number of syllables in this line, the necessary word-painting in that line, etc.
Second, Eric had strong ideas about the meaning of the text. He communicated impressionistic images of an angel, the emotions of that angel, and other evocative images, darker than usual for him. My text had to speak to those images in a mean. ingful way, consistent with Eric's intentions for the piece. It has a distinctly different sound than earlier -ot!t, and I wanted my text to be darker, and as different.
Third (and most challenging), the text had to flow effectively in Latin. The Latin had to communicate accurately the images Eric wished to evoke about this angel, all within the already-established framework of the piece. Latin affected the English, and English affected Latin, in a tug of war between meaning and grammar. It had to be singable, and employ the kind of vowels and consonants Eric likes to set. (We joked that not everyword could end in the lovely and mysterious -rrm sound Eric likes so much-Latin grammar just doesn't work that way, although I became intimately familiar with the many uses of the genitive plural!) And the Latin had to be correct-it had to conform to the rules of Latin grammar-to satisfy my need as a scholar. I had to settle at times for some Latin that strayed from what Cicero might have written, but which stayed certainly within the somewhat looser realm of Medieval usage. From my perspective as a poet, the Latin language is living, vibrant and malleable; I'm certainly not the first poet to take liberties with canonical rules. No doubt there will be quibblers who will question the choices I have made. I humbly ask these critics to consider the nodus triplexwith which I was presented, and see this poem for what it is-\'rics to a choral work, not a sequel to the Aeneid.
Nox Aurumque Gold, Thrnished and dark, Singing of night, Singing of death, Singing itself to sleep...
Aurum, Infuscatum et obscLLrLLm, Canens noctis, Canens mortis, Acquiescens canendo..
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And an angel dreams of dawnings,
Et angeLum somnit aurorarum et bellorum, * Saeculorum aurorum
and of war.
fundit
Lacrimas,
Lacrimas rerum b elLorum.
O Shieldl O gilded bladel You are too hear,ry to carry Too heavy for flight.
O arma! O Lamina Aurata! Gestw graues nimium,
Graues nimium
qt
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Aurum, Infuscdtum et torpidum Suscita! DiLabere ex armis in aLam! VoLemus iteru,m,
,\Lte supra murum; Angeli renascentes et exuLtantes ad AurorarbLm,
Auroruffi, Somno rlum.
Aurum, Canens alaruffi, Canens umbTaTL,Lm...
She weeps tears of the golden times Tears of the cost of war.
al"as
Gold, tarnished and weary, Awakenl Melt from weapon into wingl Let us soar again, High above this wall; Angels reborn and rejoicing With wings made Of dawn, Of gold, Of dream. Gold, Singing of wings, Singing of shadows...
@2009 by Charles Anthony Silvestri
Nox Aurumquewas commissioned by: VocalEssence (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Philip Brunelle, Artistic Director, with the world premiere presented on22 March 2009 at Orchestra Hall with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and the St. Olaf Choir (conducted by the composer); Coro Citti di
Roma, who gave the first performance in Italy conducted by Mauro Marchetti on 20th June 2009; Khorikos, New York, and Falu Kammarkor, Sweden.
Dedicated to Philip Brunelle
NOX ATJRIJMQIJE (Night and Gold) CHARLES ANTHONY SILVESTRI
ERIC WHITACRE
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About the Composer, Born in 1970, Eric \(/hitacre has become one of the leading voices in contemporary choral composition. His concert works are regularly performed throughout the world.
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