Prayers from the Ashes 2: We Hung Our Harps

Cynthia Skelly Wohlschlager, voice; Ralitsa Georgieva-Smith, piano; Jessica Mazza, flute; Kelcey Lauer, flute; Brian Peters, trumpet; Jordan Morrison, percussion; Jesse Ayers, conductor

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Other movements:   1. Deep Waters      3. I Waited    4. My Soul Thirsts
Click movement titles to hear excerpts and read song texts

Text:

We hung our harps on willow trees. 
We hung our harps on willow trees and we sat down and wept,
When we remembered, remembered Zion. 
We hung our harps on willow trees when we remembered Zion.      

How can we sing? O how can we sing in this strange and foreign land?    
How can we sing the Lord's song?  Sing in this strange and for-eign land?

Remember O Lord, remember O Lord those who said,
"Raze it!  Raze it!  Raze Jerusalem!  Raze Jerusalem to its foundations!" 
O daughters of Babylon, O daughters of Babylon,
How happy is the man, happy is the man who takes your babies,
and dashes them against the rocks!

We hung our harps on willow trees. 
We hung our harps on willow trees and we sat down and wept.

PROGRAM NOTES

The title Prayers from the Ashes, suggested by dear friend Alexandra Gomez Robbins, refers to both the mourning of sackcloth  and ashes but also renewed hope signified by the phoenix rising from the ashes.  The texts are from the book of Psalms, beginning with lines in which the psalmist cries out in distress ("Deep Waters") and then dejection ("We Hung Our Harps"). The psalmist then resolves to wait upon the Lord ("I Waited") (a practice almost unknown in our own culture).  The last song ends in hope, with the psalmist declaring  "I sing for joy in the shadow of Thy wings" and "Thus I behold Thee, Thy power, Thy glory, my lips will sing praise unto Thee!"

The musical materials are derived from an ascending pattern consisting of two perfect fifths separated by a minor sixth: F-C-Db-Ab. This can be heard most readily in the "harp" motive in the opening of the second song, but is present in one form or another in all four movements.