Dan Forrest's Jubilate Deo

Dan Forrest's Jubilate Deo was performed by Canterbury and Coventry Choirs on June 4, 2023, at their Spring Concert at All Saints Church, Pasadena. 00:27 Ⅰ. Jubilate Deo... 09:43 Ⅱ. Ve adthdor vador (From age to age) 18:34 Ⅲ. Ta cao chang de yang (The sheep of his pasture) 26:51 Ⅳ. Ngokujabula! (With great rejoicing!) 32:24 Ⅴ. Bendecid su nombre (Bless his name) 39:09 Ⅵ. Song of the Earth 44:46 Ⅶ. ...Omnis Terra! Jubilate Deo portrays the global aspect of the traditional Psalm 100 text, “O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands,” by setting it in seven different languages and drawing from a wide spectrum of musical influences. Each movement combines some characteristics of its language-group’s musical culture with the composer’s own musical language. The opening movement sets the ancient liturgical Latin translation of the Psalm in a rather American musical idiom and introduces key musical motives for the work. The second movement sets the “from age to age” portion of the text in Hebrew and Arabic, evoking ancient cultures from the Middle East. The music intentionally intertwines the two languages in a symbolic gesture of unity between these cultures. Movement three, in Mandarin Chinese, is a tranquil setting of the shepherd-sheep metaphor from Psalm 100 and quotes “the Lord is my shepherd” from Psalm 23. The orchestra evokes the sounds of traditional Asian instruments. The fourth movement sets celebratory portions of the text in Zulu and draws from African vocal and drumming traditions. Movement five represents Latin America, setting Spanish text to a folk-song style melody and blending traditional folk instrumental sounds with imitative textures. The sixth movement, “Song of the Earth,” portrays the Earth itself singing—first wordlessly, but eventually finding its own voice— and leads seamlessly into the final movement. The finale unites many of the key themes and cultures from previous movements with other material, both old and new, as all the earth sings as one, “omnis terra, jubilate!” Conductor: Weicheng Zhao. Organist: Grace Chung. Soloists: Kyla McCarrel, Lydia Brown, Michal Connor. Section Leaders: Elizabeth Tatum (Canterbury Soprano), Kyla McCarrel (Coventry Soprano), Ruth Ballenger (Canterbury Alto), Lydia Brown (Coventry Alto), Stephen McDonough (Canterbury Tenor), Daniel Ramon (Coventry Tenor), Michal Connor (Canterbury Bass), Elliot Z. Levine (Coventry Bass). Audio Engineer: Manuel Carrillo. Recording Engineer: Ed Johnson. Librarian: Ken Gruberman, Harry Prince. Video Director: Keith Holeman. Translation: Ⅰ. Jubilate Deo... O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and speak good of his name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth from generation to generation. (Psalm 100, Latin Vulgate) Ⅱ. Ve adthdor vador (From age to age) Bless his name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures from age to age. (From Psalm 100:4-5, Hebrew and Arabic) Ⅲ. Ta cao chang de yang (The sheep of his pasture) It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (From Psalms 100:3 and 23:1, Mandarin Chinese) Ⅳ. Ngokujabula! (With great rejoicing!) Shout with triumph to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with joy, come before his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God! (From Psalm 100:1-3, Zulu) Ⅴ. Bendecid su nombre (Bless his name) Bendecid su nombre (Bless his name) Ⅵ. Song of the Earth Alleluia. (Praise Jehovah - nearly universal transliteration) Ⅶ. ...Omnis Terra! Sing for joy, dance in gladness, shout for joy, all the earth! (Adapted from various English translations)