Thank you so much for joining us at tonight’s performance of The Five Canticles of Benjamin Britten. It has been a true joy to create this new, immersive, and multi-disciplinary work! Britten wrote these pieces over thirty years, setting to music poetry that spans five centuries and using a different instrumentation for each song. Because of this, each canticle presents itself as a unique piece, and there is no apparent connection between them regarding structure and musical material. These variations and differences are what inspired our multidisciplinary approach. The usage of dance, film, projections, visual art, and theatrical staging is meant to highlight the individuality of each piece and aid in its specific storytelling.
Nevertheless in performing all five canticles the question of how we could connect these disparate pieces arose. In other words, we needed to ask ourselves, what type of work are the Britten Canticles as a whole? These pieces can be understood as a collection (rather than a song cycle) united not by musical devices but by a philosophical thread that involves both theology and a wider theme of spirituality. The theme that connects them is the desire, or the will, for a transcendent spiritual experience: whether through pilgrimage, as in “Canticle IV” where the Three Wise Men journey to meet Jesus; or through atonement in “Canticle II”, when Abraham trusts in God as he obediently journeys to sacrifice his son Isaac; or through the struggle between vice and virtue in “Canticle V” when St. Narcissus fights with bouts of pride and lust. These texts direct us towards the search for spiritual enlightenment. To showcase this connectivity we have created interludes in between each canticle using the choral piece “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” by Elizabeth Poston. Based on a Christmas carol, the text of this piece uses the apple tree as a metaphor for one who desires spiritual food from the eternal fountain, the evergreen and always-giving place that Jesus has in the Christian faith. We have used this hymn to make apparent the invisible spiritual thread in Britten’s Five Canticles.
The centerpiece of this presentation is the beautiful Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. This building acts not only as a magnificent acoustical space but inspires us, and the audience to experience these pieces as genuinely spiritual. We are a diverse group of performers and all have different beliefs, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Nevertheless, we share a desire to create spiritually uplifting art. This show is created and dedicated to everyone and anyone who seeks a higher calling in their own lives.
