CFAMC LISTENING PAGE #33: Mark Hijleh

A monthly musical offering by a composer member of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers. Both your listening and comments are encouraged.

JULY 15, 2007

"O Ignis Spiritus" performed by Kelley Hijleh, soprano and Mark Hijleh, piano

PROGRAM NOTES

O Ignis Spiritus is a setting, in free English translation made by the composer, of a group of Latin prayers to the Holy Spirit by the medieval mystic, theologian and musician Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179):

O fiery Holy Spirit! Life force of all creation, You are holiness in living form.
You are a holy ointment for perilous injuries; Your holiness cleanses the stinking, festering wound.
O holy breath, O loving fire, O sweetness in the breast, You infuse the heart with the delicious fragrance of virtue.
O fountain of purity! We acknowledge that, through you, God makes strangers into friends, and saves the lost.
O robe of life! Hope for all our friends and family, You are a belt of honesty for blessed salvation.
You guard those imprisoned by enemies, and break free those saved by the divine will!
O path of strength! You penetrate everywhere: In the heavens and the earth, in all the abysses;
You call everyone to fellowship!
From you the clouds flow, and the precious stones receive their qualities!
By You the waters are guided in their paths, and the earth is made fresh and green!
You instruct us continually, through wise and joyful understanding.
Praise to You, who is the sound of praise, the joy of life, the hope of noble strength, and the highest light!

The text is divided into 10 songs, with #4-5 and 7-8 proceeding without pause. A polychordal "flourish motive" pervades the piano, while at other times quartal harmony is featured in varying degrees of subtlety. The accompaniment is also characterized by "hazy" or "washy" textures intended to capture the mystical nature of Hildegard's sentiments; an apt single-term description of the work's style might be "Neo-Impressionist". Nevertheless, the work is also intentionally eclectic, using everything from neo-tonal materials and octatonic structures to freely atonal and serial techniques and aleatoric rhythms, reflecting the wide range of Hildegard's emotions as well as the beautiful, loving and competent diversity of the character of God Himself.

O Ignis Spiritus was written and premiered in 2001. In 2002 the work was awarded first place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Arts Song Competition, and received its West Coast premiere in San Diego at the NATS convention. The work has since been performed at St. Olaf College and the Lake Placid Vocal Institute. In selecting “O Ignis Spiritus” for the NATS award, composer Libby Larson called it "...a stunning piece of work..."

STATEMENT OF FAITH BY THE COMPOSER

I cannot imagine my life, musically or otherwise, without Jesus Christ. Though not as much now as I pray it will eventually be, my identity is bound up in Him. I live or die by how much attention I give to the nurturing of my being in Christ. I don't mean to suggest that I have no struggles in this regard, for indeed my pitiful plea often mirrors that of the Apostle Paul: "What I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing ...What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death!" (Rom.7:19, 24). But also, "Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (v.25). I eagerly await the day when I will be fully free in Jesus, free to do and to enjoy real goodness. He promises this transformation when we cooperate with His purposes, and I cling to that promise. Not very long ago, even though I have been a Christian for more than 25 years, I honestly didn't believe there was any hope for sanctification and effectiveness in the Kingdom - I was willing to settle for a stunted and often unhappily grudging life in Christ. But within the last few years, He has shown me in myriad ways that abundance in Him is real. Two extraordinary books that the Lord has used recently to awaken me more fully to abundant life in Christ are "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard and "The Sacred Romance" by John Eldridge. For a long time I am ashamed to say I felt prayer was largely a waste of time when we should be "getting something done." But in recently committing myself to structured prayer, I have been astonished to discover that it is instead a real and tangible way to participate with Christ in the governance of the universe for His good purposes. As we grow up into Him who is the head, we have the delight of seeing and enjoying the unfolding of His redemption of all things, now and into eternity. And, as increasingly full participants in that enterprise, our musical lives become increasingly relevant too. What a privilege! Praise the Lord; He is faithful and good.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE COMPOSER

Mark Hijleh holds a DMA in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, an MM in conducting and composition from the Ithaca College School of Music, and a bachelor's degree in composition from William Jewell College. He is currently pursuing an MA in world music studies at the University of Sheffield (UK). His teachers included such noted artists as Karel Husa, Morris Moshe Cotel, Barney Childs, James Mobberly, and Thomas Benjamin. Hijleh has received composition awards from NATS, Kappa Gamma Psi, T.U.B.A., Loyola College of Maryland, and ASCAP. His works have been performed professionally by the Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestras, the Janus Orchestra, the Liberty Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Ensemble of Baltimore, at Washington's Kennedy Center, ResMusicAmerica in Baltimore, and Oxford University (UK), and by major ensembles of the Peabody Conservatory, Ithaca College, Houghton College, and William Jewell College.

Mark Hijleh lives with his wife, soprano Kelley Hijleh, daughter Hannah, and son Noah in Houghton, New York, where he serves as Professor of Composition and Conducting at the Houghton College Greatbatch School of Music. He is also founder and President of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers. 

- - -  SOLI DEO GLORIA!  - - -

For comments, e-mail Mark directly at: mark.hijleh@houghton.edu

Visit Mark's website at: http://www.markhijleh.com/

If you are a member composer interested in submitting a composition for an upcoming monthly CFAMC listening page, please contact Bill Vollinger at: WilliamVollinger@aol.com

For further information, to become a member of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, to renew your membership,
or to participate in the CFAMC e-mail discussion group, visit the CFAMC website at http://www.cfamc.org

For recent CFAMC Listening Pages, go to the following links:

June 2007: David Horace Davies
"A Minimally Conscious State"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1689

May 2007: Adam Sovkoplas
"Sorrow"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1685

April 2007: Larry Warkentin
from "Eleven Little Love Songs"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1682

March 2007: James R. Geiger
"Out of the Depths"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1679