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We Beheld Once Again the Stars
Riveder le Stella
Composed by Z. Randall Stroope Voicing: SATB/SATB Instrumentation: a cappella Catalog number: AMP 0525 Price: $2.20 ABOUT THE POET AND POETRY Dante's journey began at night, and a full twenty-four hours have passed before he reaches the portal which opens to the light (and stars of heaven). He has seen and experienced everything in the realm of evil (Inferno), and he must quickly rise to the stars and safety, or remain forever in sin and death (“Vexilla regis prodeunt infemi!” -the banners [wings] of hell's monarch [Lucifer] are closing in! Move quickly!) .Dante has successfully struggled to reach a portal or opening which will lead him to the “supreme light.” Realizing that he has found the Way, a calm comes over Dante, and he says:
PERFORMANCE NOTES The composer prefers that the two SATB choirs are not mixed together, but two separate units. Further, the two groups need to be relatively close together so that the interplay of musical ideas can pass easily from one group to the other.The text is in Italian, except for the brief encounter with the monarch of the Inferno (“Vexilla regis prodeun tinferni!”), which is set in Latin. The “correct” syllabic accentuation of the Latin has, in some sections, been purposely aborted in favor of the “color” and effect of the language in a dramatic context. Lastly, the translation above is not word for word but paraphrased to provide the reader a more general sense of the drama at hand.
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