Noche Serena

The current setting of Noche Serena (ZRS) uses only a fragment of the entire sixteen-stanza (five lines per stanza) poem by Fray Luis de León, and seeks to capture only a small part of the total essence of the poem. The theologian-poet describes the (traditional) view of earth to heaven in the first part of the poem, with a sense of expansiveness and beauty. Then, Fray Luis de León “looks to earth from heaven” and sees a world in desolation, the absence of a “pilot on rough seas,” and a planet without religious conviction or belief. In other words, when the poet looked at the serene star-lit night from earth's standpoint, he saw grandiosity and beauty. But when he looked from the sky to earth, he saw a confined (“like a jail”) people and a world in chaos.

There is a brief reference to “Loarte” (Diego de) in measures 46-47, who was a dear friend of Fray Luis de León's. Some printings of the poem have other text here (“la lengua dice”), but the composer chose to include the version with Loarte's name “the eyes, like founts beyond control, Loarte, and I finally say with painful voice...”. Fray Luis de León also dedicated the poem to Loarte.

ZRS

About the composer...

Z. Randall Stroope is one of the most active choral conductors and composers working today, with recent conducting engagements at the Berliner Dom, Canterbury Cathedral, Vatican, American School in Singapore, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.), Carnegie Hall and other venues. In addition, he is the Artistic Director of two summer European music festivals. He has conducted over 35 all-state choirs in the United States. Dr. Stroope's principal composition teachers were Normand Lockwood and Cecil Effinger, both students of Nadia Boulanger, the famous French teacher (and student of Gabriel Fauré). Recordings of his music can be heard on his web site www.zrstroope.com or on Passages; The Choral Music of Z. Randall Stroope, vols. I, II & III.

recorded performance by Allen High School Concert Choir
Plano, Texas
Brian McKinney, conductor

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