LOVE, LOSS, LONGING

Saturday, February 17, 2024
One performance *4pm
Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral
19 S 38th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104

In February we present, LOVE, LOSS, LONGING: an intimate afternoon at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral with three song cycles that span centuries, continents, and cultures, unified by universal desire to connect with one another.

Brahms’ beloved Liebeslieder Waltzes, for chorus and piano four hands, exudes the vitality and vulnerability of its pining romantic texts and the distinctive Ländler folk dances on which the songs are based.

Two shorter song cycles, Abbie Betinis’ From Behind the Caravan: Songs of Hâfez, performed by the sopranos and altos of Mendelssohn Chorus, and Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs are set to poems from Persian and Israeli poets respectively. With solo violin and percussion, each evokes the poet’s language and culture with atmospheric tenderness and rhythmic exuberance. With the addition of riq (and Iranian goblet drum) Betinis imbues Hafez’s Farsi text with her study of Persian speech, scales and modes, evoking a distant memory of her own Greek heritage. Whitacre’s Love Songs were inspired by a vacation in the Swiss alps with his then lover, and author of the text, Hila Pittman, a deservedly oft-performed work that is lush, romantic, and captivating.

Additional works performed by Jennifer Higdon, Morten Lauridsen, Reginal Wright, and the premiere of Dominick DiOrio's A Bright Morning Dawns set to a newly commissioned poem by Philadelphia playwrite Jaqueline Goldfinger. 

Join us on this February afternoon to connect in ways myriad and magical with a collection of songs that are hopeful, heartfelt, and human.

This concert is sponsored in part by Roberta Rote and Martin Levitas.