The Walter L. Nollner Memorial Concert – Dream of Gerontius

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PART I

Intermission

PART 2

  

Gerontius: Anthony Dean Griffey

Angel: Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen ‘15

Priest / Angel of the Agony: Andrew Foster Williams

 

This concert is supported by two endowments which were established to support the work of the Princeton University Glee Club and Princeton University Orchestra. The Walter Nollner Memorial Fund, named for the 35-year Glee Club Director and Professor of Music, was created by several hundred Glee Club alumni to support the annual performance of choral orchestral masterworks. The Stuart B. Mindlin Endowment, named after the former Princeton University Orchestra student who supported several generations of students in PUO until his untimely death in 1989, was established by the Mindlin family to support the Orchestra’s year-end concerts. The musicians on stage tonight are immensely grateful for the generosity of friends and alumni whose gifts make such ambitious performance projects possible!

The Dream of Gerontius

A list of significant musical works created by British composers between 1700 and 1900 would be short, to say the least; and after the disastrous first performance of Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius in Birmingham UK, in October 1900, few thought that this ambitious oratorio would initiate a century of musical resurgence. But at the very end of the nineteenth century, first with the Enigma Variations and then with Gerontius – Edward Elgar found his voice. He was well into his forties, so the journey to success was a long one; and given the composer’s capacity for self-doubt and depression, it would have been arduous too. But his reward was one of the most imposing works of the late Romantic era, described by Michael Steinberg as the greatest work of choral music from the time that separates Verdi’s Requiem from Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. It is hugely influenced by, and reminiscent of the operas of Wagner, and indeed its first successful performances were given in Germany in 1901 and 1902. The second of those two performances saw the composer called to the stage 20 times to receive the audience’s applause.

The character of Gerontius was created by the English Theologian John Henry Newman (1801-1890). Newman was a prominent figure in the Oxford Movement – a religious community based at Oxford University that sought to maintain a connection to Rome and the Catholic Church, but within the Church of England. In his forties Newman was one of several members of the movement who became especially disaffected with the Church of England and broke from it completely. This exposed Newman to the prejudice that the Roman church continued to face in Britain, barely a hundred years after the last Catholic rebellion. (Late in life he was appointed Cardinal, and as recently as February 2019, was canonized by Pope Francis). For the Roman Catholics of 19th Century Britain, Newman was a revered figure, and indeed was a powerful influence on a young Edward Elgar. His epic religious poem The Dream of Gerontius, written in 1865, had a cult following and tapped into many popular seams in Victorian culture – most pertinently, a fascination with death, and the passage of the soul. The first words of Gerontius express this clearly enough:

“Tis this new feeling, never felt before, that I am going, that I am no more. Tis this strange innermost abandonment; this emptying out of each constituent, and natural force, by which I come to be.”

 ‘Gerontius’ is an intentionally generic name, derived simply from the ancient Greek word for ‘old man’, and this is appropriate for Newman’s story about an ordinary man on the ultimate journey. Newman’s poem was especially dear to Elgar and he had been preparing for an opportunity to set it for at least ten years before the official commission came from the Birmingham Music Festival of 1900. As for the premiere itself, by all accounts it was less than the poor composer hoped for. The chorus was not up to the job – apparently they dropped an entire semitone in the first few bars of their unaccompanied first entrance. The conductor – the great Hans Richter – was a loyal champion of Elgar’s music, and a note he wrote to the composer after the premiere says a great deal both about the piece and the quality of the performance: “Let drop the chorus; let drop everybody – but let not drop the wings of your original genius.” Elgar’s mood was especially self-pitying after the premiere, as this letter to his friend August Jaeger – the ’Nimrod’ of his Enigma Variations – reveals: “I have worked hard for forty years”, he moans, “and at the last, Providence denies me a decent hearing of my work!” But Elgar was soon to get a better reception when the work was aired for the first time in Germany, and the British ultimately followed suit. In particular the Three Choirs Festival, the longest-running annual music festival in the world, embraced the work and hosted no fewer than nineteen separate performances of it during Elgar’s lifetime. The piece continues to be a favorite of every ambitious choral society in every corner of the country.

Part One takes place at the bedside of a fearful, weakening Gerontius as he asks for divine help, while his friends hover around him and offer words of soothing comfort, and prayers for his soul. Gerontius summons his remaining strength for a defiant affirmation of his faith and character (Sanctus Fortis) as the chorus sings a Litany of Saints in the background – an overtly Catholic flourish which was the subject of consternation and censorship in Edwardian England.

The moment of death finally comes as the old man attempts to complete one of the ‘seven last words’ of Jesus Christ – “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” – after which a priest delivers the most noble of absolutions, and invites the soul of Gerontius to “Go forth” upon its journey.

The second and final part takes place quite literally in another world, as the soul of Gerontius awakens to the beauty and mystery around him: “I feel in me an inexpressive lightness, and a sense of freedom…”. Though he doesn’t immediately realize it, the soul is now under the care of a guardian angel. “Another marvel!” he sings. “Someone has me fast within his ample palm; a uniform and gentle pressure tells me that I am not self-moving, but borne forward on my way”. But it’s not all smooth sailing: The pair’s journey takes them past a fierce hubbub of demons, hungry, as the angel says, to “claim their property and gather souls for hell.” And the mocking cry comes from the demons: “Low born clods of brute earth, They aspire to become gods, by a new birth”. Elgar’s orchestration is especially colorful here, with strings col legno and with snapping pizzicato, clanging bells, flutes purring in a sinister low register crescendo, and the subterranean register of the bass clarinet to the fore – all to illuminate this hideous parade.

But Gerontius realizes that he is just a passive witness to these troubled spirits (in Newman’s original text, there’s a verse which Elgar omits, in which he mocks their impotence). Soon the two companions are proceeding serenely on their way, until Gerontius asks the Angel if he will be permitted to see the face of God himself. In one of the work’s most moving moments, the Angel warns Gerontius that “for one moment thou shalt see thy Lord, one moment; but thou knowest not, my child, what thou dost ask; that sight of the most fair will gladden thee, but it will pierce thee too”. Now Elgar really moves in to his dramatic stride: The soft prayers of the faithful on earth are joined by angelic alleluias from the angel and a cascade of seraphic trumpets, and every section of the orchestra pours forth an immensely-proportioned crescendo, until finally…

a brief silence…

then a huge crash, which Elgar describes as a ‘glimpse into the inexpressible’. It’s all too much for poor Gerontius, and he pleads to be taken away. Appropriately, we hear the same melody sung by the Angel when he warned Gerontius of the piercing effect of the sight of God. But now the Angel is on hand to provide comfort, in the form of a soothing lullaby (‘Soft and gentle’) as Gerontius is led away to purgatory, here represented as a vast and tranquil lake.

At first listening, this final sequence of events brings the narrative to a puzzling conclusion. After we spent so long anticipating the sight of the Divine, why does Gerontius recoil from it? And why is there such a sense of comfort in his ultimate destination? The answer lies in the name ‘Gerontius’, and in the character Newman created to add flesh and spirit to this meditation on the afterlife. Gerontius is an ordinary man – a sinner, not a saint. His self-inflated pronouncements of Part One (‘Sanctus Fortis’) reveal his all-too-human vanity, and the sight of God, which he anticipated as a sort of ‘reward’ for a relatively virtuous life, becomes a moment of blinding revelation. Gerontius is instantly humbled, yet grateful for the hard-earned wisdom that this moment has given; and the second baptism which he receives in the waters of purgatory begins a new path which will ultimately lead to a more profound sense of salvation. As the Angel concludes:

Swiftly shall pass they night of trial here, And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

-Gabriel Crouch, April 2024

 

 

PART I

 

Gerontius:

JESU, MARIA—I am near to death, And Thou art calling me; I know it now.

Not by the token of this faltering breath,

This chill at heart, this dampness on my brow, (Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for me!)

’Tis this new feeling, never felt before, (Be with me, Lord, in my extremity!) That I am going, that I am no more.

’Tis this strange innermost abandonment, (Lover of souls! great God! I look to Thee,) This emptying out of each constituent And natural force, by which I come to be. Pray for me, O my friends; a visitant

Is knocking his dire summons at my door, The like of whom, to scare me and to daunt, Has never, never come to me before;

Text

By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross, Rescue him from endless loss; By Thy death and burial,

Save him from a final fall;

By Thy rising from the tomb, By Thy mounting up above, By the Spirit’s gracious love, Save him in the day of doom.

 

Gerontius:

Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, De profundis oro te, Miserere, Judex meus, Parce mihi, Domine.

Firmly I believe and truly

God is three, and God is One; And I next acknowledge duly Manhood taken by the Son.

 

So pray for me, my friends, who have not strength to pray.

 

Assistants:

Kyrie eleison.

Holy Mary, pray for him.

All holy Angels, pray for him.

Choirs of the righteous, pray for him.

All Apostles, all Evangelists, pray for him. All holy Disciples of the Lord, pray for him. All holy Innocents, pray for him.

All holy Martyrs, all holy Confessors, All holy Hermits, all holy Virgins,

All ye Saints of God, pray for him.

 

Gerontius:

Rouse thee, my fainting soul, and play the man; And through such waning span

Of life and thought as still has to be trod, Prepare to meet thy God.

And while the storm of that bewilderment Is for a season spent,

And, ere afresh the ruin on me fall, Use well the interval.

 

Assistants:

Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord. Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him. From the sins that are past;

From Thy frown and Thine ire; From the perils of dying; From any complying

With sin, or denying His God, or relying On self, at the last;

From the nethermost fire; From all that is evil;

From power of the devil; Thy servant deliver,

For once and for ever.

And I trust and hope most fully In that Manhood crucified;

And each thought and deed unruly Do to death, as He has died.

 

Simply to His grace and wholly Light and life and strength belong, And I love, supremely, solely,

Him the holy, Him the strong.

 

Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, De profundis oro te, Miserere, Judex meus, Parce mihi, Domine.

 

And I hold in veneration, For the love of Him alone,

Holy Church, as His creation, And her teachings, as His own.

 

And I take with joy whatever Now besets me, pain or fear, And with a strong will I sever All the ties which bind me here.

 

Adoration aye be given,

With and through the angelic host, To the God of earth and heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

 

Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, De profundis oro te, Miserere, Judex meus, Mortis in discrimine.

 

Gerontius:

I can no more; for now it comes again,

That sense of ruin, which is worse than pain, That masterful negation and collapse

Of all that makes me man. And, crueller still, A fierce and restless fright begins to fill

The mansion of my soul. And, worse and worse, Some bodily form of ill

Floats on the wind, with many a loathsome curse Tainting the hallowed air, and laughs, and flaps Its hideous wings,

And makes me wild with horror and dismay. O Jesu, help! pray for me, Mary, pray!

Some Angel, Jesu! such as came to Thee In Thine own agony …

 

Mary, pray for me. Joseph, pray for me. Mary, pray for me.

 

Assistants:

Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil hour,

As of old so many by Thy gracious power: – Noe from the waters in a saving home; Amen.

Job from all his multiform and fell distress; Amen.

Text

PART II

Soul of Gerontius:

I went to sleep; and now I am refreshed. A strange refreshment: for I feel in me An inexpressive lightness, and a sense Of freedom, as I were at length myself, And ne’er had been before. How still it is! I hear no more the busy beat of time,

No, nor my fluttering breath, nor struggling pulse; Nor does one moment differ from the next.

This silence pours a solitariness Into the very essence of my soul;

And the deep rest, so soothing and so sweet, Hath something too of sternness and of pain. Another marvel: someone has me fast

Within his ample palm; A uniform

And gentle pressure tells me I am not

Self-moving, but borne forward on my way. And hark! I hear a singing; yet in sooth

I cannot of that music rightly say

Whether I hear, or touch, or taste the tones. Oh, what a heart-subduing melody!

 

Moses from the land of bondage and despair; Amen. David from Golia and the wrath of Saul; Amen.

– so, to show Thy power,

Rescue this Thy servant in his evil hour.

 

Gerontius:

Novissima hora est; and I fain would sleep, The pain has wearied me … Into Thy hands, O Lord, into Thy hands …

 

Priest & Assistants:

Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo! Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul!

Go from this world! Go, in the Name of God The Omnipotent Father, who created thee! Go, in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Son of the living God, who bled for thee!

Go, in the Name of the Holy Spirit, who Hath been poured out on thee!

Go, in the name

Of Angels and Archangels; in the name Of Thrones and Dominations; in the name

Of Princedoms and of Powers; and in the name Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go forth!

Go, in the name of Patriarchs and Prophets; And of Apostles and Evangelists,

Of Martyrs and Confessors; in the name Of holy Monks and Hermits; in the name Of Holy Virgins; and all Saints of God,

Both men and women, go! Go on thy course; And may thy place today be found in peace, And may thy dwelling be the Holy Mount

Of Sion: – through the Same, through Christ, our Lord.

Angel:

My work is done, My task is o’er, And so I come, Taking it home,

For the crown is won, Alleluia,

For evermore.

 

My Father gave In charge to me This child of earth

E’en from its birth, To serve and save, Alleluia,

And saved is he.

 

This child of clay To me was given, To rear and train By sorrow and pain In the narrow way, Alleluia,

From earth to heaven.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

It is a member of that family

Of wondrous beings, who, ere the worlds were made, Millions of ages back, have stood around

The throne of God.

I will address him. Mighty one, my Lord, My Guardian Spirit, all hail!

 

Angel:

All hail, my child!

My child and brother, hail! what wouldest thou?

 

Soul of Gerontius:

I would have nothing but to speak with thee For speaking’s sake. I wish to hold with thee

Conscious communion; though I fain would know A maze of things, were it but meet to ask,

And not a curiousness.

 

Angel:

You cannot now

Cherish a wish which ought not to be wished.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

Then I will speak. I ever had believed

That on the moment when the struggling soul Quitted its mortal case, forthwith it fell

Under the awful Presence of its God,

There to be judged and sent to its own place. What lets me now from going to my Lord?

 

Angel:

Thou art not let; but with extremest speed Art hurrying to the Just and Holy Judge.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

Dear Angel, say,

Why have I now no fear at meeting Him? Along my earthly life, the thought of death And judgment was to me most terrible.

 

Angel:

It is because

Then thou didst fear, that now thou dost not fear, Thou hast forestalled the agony, and so

For thee the bitterness of death is passed. Also, because already in thy soul

The judgment is begun.

 

A presage falls upon thee, as a ray

Straight from the Judge, expressive of thy lot. That calm and joy uprising in thy soul

Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense, And heaven begun.

Soul of Gerontius:

Now that the hour is come, my fear is fled; And at this balance of my destiny,

Now close upon me, I can forward look With a serenest joy.

 

But hark! upon my sense

Comes a fierce hubbub, which would make me fear Could I be frighted.

 

Angel:

We are now arrived

Close on the judgment-court; that sullen howl Is from the demons who assemble there, Hungry and wild, to claim their property,

And gather souls for hell. Hist to their cry.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

How sour and how uncouth a dissonance!

 

Demons:

Low-born clods Of brute earth They aspire

To become gods, By a new birth, And an extra grace,

And a score of merits. As if aught

Could stand in place Of the high thought, And the glance of fire Of the great spirits, The powers blest, The lords by right, The primal owners, Of the proud dwelling And realm of light,

 

Dispossessed, Aside thrust, Chucked down

By the sheer might Of a despot’s will, Of a tyrant’s frown, Who after expelling Their hosts, gave, Triumphant still, And still unjust, Each forfeit crown To psalm-droners,

And canting groaners, To every slave,

And pious cheat, And crawling knave, Who lick’d the dust Under his feet.

 

Angel:

It is the restless panting of their being;

Like beasts of prey, who, caged within their bars, In a deep hideous purring have their life,

And an incessant pacing to and fro.

 

Demons:

The mind bold And independent, The purpose free, So we are told, Must not think

To have the ascendant. What’s a saint?

One whose breath Doth the air taint Before his death; Ha! ha!

A bundle of bones, Which fools adore, When life is o’er.

Ha! ha!

 

Virtue and vice,

A knave’s pretence, ’Tis all the same; Ha! ha!

Dread of hell-fire,

Of the venomous flame, A coward’s plea.

Give him his price, Saint though he be,

From shrewd good sense He’ll slave for hire

And does but aspire To the heaven above With sordid aim, And not from love.

Ha! ha!

 

Soul of Gerontius:

I see not those false spirits; shall I see

My dearest Master, when I reach His Throne?

 

Angel: Yes, – for one moment thou shalt see thy Lord. One moment; but thou knowest not, my child,

What thou dost ask: that sight of the Most Fair Will gladden thee, but it will pierce thee too.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

Thou speakest darkly, Angel; and an awe Falls on me, and a fear lest I be rash.

Angel:

There was a mortal, who is now above In the mid glory: he, when near to die,

Was given communion with the Crucified, –

Such, that the Master’s very wounds were stamped Upon his flesh; and, from the agony

Which thrilled through body and soul in that embrace, Learn that the flame of the Everlasting Love

Doth burn ere it transform …

 

Choir of Angelicals:

Praise to the Holiest in the height, And in the depth be praise:

In all His words most wonderful; Most sure in all His ways!

 

Angel: Hark to those sounds!

They come of tender beings angelical, Least and most childlike of the sons of God.

 

Choir of Angelicals:

To us His elder race He gave To battle and to win,

Without the chastisement of pain, Without the soil of sin.

 

The younger son He willed to be A marvel in His birth:

Spirit and flesh his parents were; His home was heaven and earth.

 

The Eternal blessed His child, and armed, And sent him hence afar,

To serve as champion in the field Of elemental war.

 

To be His Viceroy in the world Of matter, and of sense;

Upon the frontier, towards the foe A resolute defence.

 

Angel:

We now have passed the gate, and are within The House of Judgment.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

The sound is like the rushing of the wind, The summer wind among the lofty pines.

 

Choir of Angelicals:

Glory to Him, who evermore By truth and justice reigns;

Who tears the soul from out its case, And burns away its stains!

 

Angel:

They sing of thy approaching agony, Which thou so eagerly didst question of:

 

Soul of Gerontius:

My soul is in my hand: I have no fear. But hark! a grand, mysterious harmony:

It floods me, like the deep and solemn sound Of many waters.

 

Angel:

And now the threshold, as we traverse it, Utters aloud its glad responsive chant.

 

Choir of Angelicals:

Praise to the Holiest in the height And in the depth be praise:

In all His words most wonderful; Most sure in all His ways!

 

O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, A second Adam to the fight And to the rescue came.

 

O wisest love! that flesh and blood Which did in Adam fail,

Should strive afresh against the foe, Should strive and should prevail;

 

And that a higher gift than grace Should flesh and blood refine, God’s Presence and His very Self, And Essence all-divine.

 

O generous love! that He who smote In man for man the foe,

The double agony in man For man should undergo;

 

And in the garden secretly, And on the cross on high,

Should teach His brethren and inspire To suffer and to die.

 

Praise to the Holiest in the height And in the depth be praise:

In all His words most wonderful; Most sure in all His ways!

 

Angel:

Thy judgment now is near, for we are come Into the veiled presence of our God.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

I hear the voices that I left on earth.

Angel:

It is the voice of friends around thy bed, Who say the “Subvenite” with the priest. Hither the echoes come; before the Throne Stands the great Angel of the Agony,

The same who strengthened Him, what time He knelt Lone in that garden shade, bedewed with blood.

That Angel best can plead with Him for all Tormented souls, the dying and the dead.

 

Angel of the Agony:

Jesu! by that shuddering dread which fell on Thee; Jesu! by that cold dismay which sickened Thee; Jesu! by that pang of heart which thrilled in Thee; Jesu! by that mount of sins which crippled Thee; Jesu! by that sense of guilt which stifled Thee; Jesu! by that innocence which girdled Thee;

Jesu! by that sanctity which reigned in Thee; Jesu! by that Godhead which was one with Thee; Jesu! spare these souls which are so dear to Thee;

Souls, who in prison, calm and patient, wait for Thee; Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid them come to Thee,

To that glorious Home, where they shall ever gaze on Thee.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

I go before my Judge …

 

Voices on earth:

Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord. Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him.

 

Angel:

Praise to His Name!

O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe,

Consumed, yet quickened, by the glance of God. Alleluia.

 

Soul of Gerontius:

Take me away, and in the lowest deep There let me be,

And there in hope the lone night-watches keep, Told out for me.

There, motionless and happy in my pain, Lone, not forlorn, –

There will I sing my sad perpetual strain, Until the morn.

There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast, Which ne’er can cease

To throb, and pine, and languish, till possest Of its Sole Peace.

There will I sing my absent Lord and Love: – Take me away,

That sooner I may rise, and go above,

And see Him in the truth of everlasting day. Take me away, and in the lowest deep There let me be.

 

Souls in Purgatory:

Lord, Thou hast been our refuge:

in every generation;

Before the hills were born, and the world was: from age to age Thou art God.

 

Come back, O Lord! how long:

and be entreated for Thy servants.

 

Bring us not, Lord, very low:

for Thou hast said, Come back again, ye sons of Adam.

 

Angel:

Softly and gently, dearly ransomed soul, In my most loving arms I now enfold thee, And, o’er the penal waters, as they roll,

I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee.

 

And carefully I dip thee in the lake,

And thou, without a sob or a resistance,

Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take, Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance.

 

Angels, to whom the willing task is given,

Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest; And Masses on the earth, and prayers in heaven,

Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest. Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear,

Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;

Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,

And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

 

Souls in Purgatory:

Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: etc. Amen.

 

Choir of Angelicals:

Praise to the Holiest in the height, etc. Amen.

American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has captured critical and popular acclaim on opera, concert and recital stages around the world. The combination of his beautiful and powerful lyric tenor voice, gift of dramatic interpretation and superb musicianship have earned him the highest praise from critics and audiences alike.

He recently returned to the Metropolitan Opera for the Met premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie, performed The Dream of Gerontius with the Indianapolis Symphony and Michael Francis, and was heard with pianist Warren Jones at the University of Notre Dame, at New York City’s Morgan Library for the George London Foundation for Singers, and the Toronto Summer Music Festival.

Mr. Griffey is particularly noted for his portrayal of the title role in Peter Grimes, which has won him international acclaim. He debuted the role at the Tanglewood Festival under the baton of Seiji Ozawa, and has since performed it all over the world, most recently in concert performances with the St. Louis Symphony in St. Louis and at Carnegie Hall as part of its Britten Centenary celebrations. He also appeared in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera that was broadcast live in the company’s Met: Live in HD series and subsequently released on DVD (EMI Classics) and in a production with Mark Wigglesworth at the Glyndebourne Festival, which was also released as a commercial recording.

A supporter of new works, Mr. Griffey has won critical acclaim for creating the role of Mitch in the world premiere of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire at the San Francisco Opera and for his performances of Lennie in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, for which he won a Helpmann award for Best Male Performer in an Opera when he performed the role at the Australia Opera. He also recently premiered Christopher Theofanidis’ The Gift with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Since the start of his career Mr. Griffey has taken an active role in many charitable efforts, advocating for arts programs in the Guilford County Public Schools, raising money for the Mental Health Association as well as giving benefit concerts for the “Open Door Shelter” for which Griffey has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the homeless in his hometown. He is also actively involved with the High Point Area Arts Council. Mr. Griffey holds degrees from Wingate University, the Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School and was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Program. He was awarded the Doctorate of Humane Letters from Wingate University in May 2012 and was also inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2011.

Since 2015 Griffey has held the position of Professor of Voice at the Eastman School of Music – University of Rochester.

Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen ‘15 brings his “ravishing…otherworldly” (Opera News) instrument to a broad range of repertoire spanning the Baroque to the contemporary. Acclaimed as both a “young star” and “complete artist” by the New York Times and as “extravagantly gifted… poised to redefine what’s possible for singers of this distinctive voice type” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Mr. Nussbaum Cohen’s passion for creating performances of great vocal beauty and dramatic intensity have earned him a reputation as “a redefining force in the countertenor field” (Limelight).

 

Mr. Nussbaum Cohen finds a close affinity between the ancient musical traditions of his Jewish heritage and the Baroque works composing much of his operatic repertoire. Equally content performing new works, Nussbaum Cohen’s first commercial recording project – the world premiere of Kenneth Fuchs’ Poems of Life performed with the London Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta – was honored with a GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Compendium in 2019; and his interpretation of the Refugee’s aria from Jonathan Dove’s Flight provided the centerpiece for his extensive catalogue of competition successes, including winning the Grand Prize at the 2017 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, taking top prize in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition and the Dallas Opera Guild Competition, and winning a George and Nora London Foundation Award. He counts among his career highlights his recent Metropolitan Opera debut as Rosencrantz in the U.S. premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet, and he looks forward to the upcoming world premiere of Mikael Karlsson’s Fanny and Alexander at La Monnaie de Munt.

In the 2023-24 season, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen returns to Glyndebourne to perform the title role of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto in Sir David McVicar’s acclaimed production, led by Maestro Laurence Cummings. He sings the role of Sesto in the same opera for his debut at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma under the baton of Rinaldo Alessandrini, and he debuts at Deutsche Oper Berlin in the company premiere of Sir George Benjamin’s Written on Skin as First Angel/The Boy in Katie Mitchell’s original production. His vibrant concert schedule includes a worldwide tour of Handel’s Rodelinda with The English Concert conducted by Harry Bicket – including debuts at Carnegie Hall, LA Opera, Cal Performances, and in South Korea and China – Carmina Burana with Hans Graf and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, “I Tre Controtenori” at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Bach’s Magnificat with Cantata Collective and Nicholas McGegan, and works by Bach with American Bach Soloists under Jeffrey Thomas and with Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire.

 

His growing discography includes a solo program of Gluck, Handel, and Vivaldi with Jeffrey Thomas and American Bach Soloists (2019), and the 2023 release of Bach’s St. John Passion with Nicholas McGegan and Cantata Collective, about which Early Music America wrote, “Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen… triumphs in the alto arias, with a voice of arresting beauty, singing with the utmost expressiveness and artistry.” Lending his countertenor voice to the Romantic repertoire, Nussbaum Cohen performs the music of Clara and Robert Schumann, Korngold, and Brahms on an album set for release in 2024 on AVIE Records.

Andrew Foster-Williams possesses a vocal versatility that allows him to present repertoire ranging from the classics of Bach, Gluck, Handel and Mozart through to more recent masters such as Britten, Debussy, Wagner and Stravinsky on both the opera stage and concert platforms alike.

Andrew Foster-Williams’ career, initially built on his strong Baroque credentials, has in recent seasons moved towards more dramatic repertoire with successes as Pizarro (Fidelio) at Theater an der Wien and Philharmonie de Paris, and an unanimously praised debut as Telramund in Wagner’s Lohengrin under esteemed conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the Festival de Lanaudière. A subsequent portrayal of Captain Balstrode in Christoph Loy’s divisive production of Peter Grimes at Theater an der Wien, alongside acclaimed performances as Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress) and Gunther (Götterdämmerung) have further enhanced an already highly regarded operatic profile. Other recent role debuts as Lysiart in Christof Loy’s staging of Euryanthe at Theater an der Wien under Constantin Trinks and as Kurnewal in Tristan und Isolde at La Monnaie under Alain Altinoglu highlight a dramatic capacity that has earned the respect of many stage directors as he “holds the attention of the audience with the energy of someone who has great experience, and with sensational vocal ability, which he uses with total freedom…” (Opéra). Opera performances in the current season include his role debut as Mr Flint (Billy Budd) at the George Enescu Festival under Hannu Lintu, and Donner (Das Rheingold) conducted by Alain Altinoglu in the first installment of Roman Castelluci’s new presentation of Der Ring des Nibelungen at La Monnaie.

 

Praised for his facility in the French operatic repertoire, recent roles include Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande) and specially curated performances at Opéra National de Bordeaux to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Cervantes featuring music from Ravel’s Don Quichotte à Dulcinée and Massenet’s Don Quichotte under Marc Minkowski. Andrew Foster-Williams made his house debut at Opernhaus Zürich in 2021 as the Four Villains in Andreas Homoki’s setting of Les contes d’Hoffmann under Antonino Fogliani, roles he since has reprised in a new production at Gothenburg Opera and in Barrie Kosky’s fantastical staging at Komische Oper Berlin.

An impressive line-up of concert invitations has taken Andrew Foster-Williams to some of the most celebrated orchestras and conductors of our day. These include the Cleveland Orchestra/ Franz Welser-Möst, Salzburg Mozarteum/Ivor Bolton, San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/ Richard Egarr, Hong Kong Philharmonic/Edo de Waart, Gulbenkian Orchestra/Lorenzo Viotti and the Sibelius Festival/Dalia Stasevska. Foster-Williams offers a concert repertoire as diverse as it is broad which includes Bach’s St John Passion, Britten’s War Requiem, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. Concert highlights this season include Messiah with Orquesta Sinfonica de Castille y Leon (Egarr), Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Houston Symphony Orchestra (Valčuha), St Matthew Passion with Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (Bolton) and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Stasevska).

Gabriel Crouch is Director of Choral Activities and Professor of the Practice in Music at Princeton University. He began his musical career as an eight-year-old in the choir of Westminster Abbey, where his solo credits included a Royal Wedding, and performances which placed him on the solo stage with Jessye Norman and Sir Laurence Olivier. After completing a choral scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was offered a place in the renowned a cappella group The King’s Singers in 1996. In the next eight years, he made a dozen recordings on the BMG label (including a Grammy nomination), and gave more than 900 performances in almost every major concert venue in the world. Since moving to the USA in 2005, he has built an international profile as a conductor and director, with recent engagements in Indonesia, Hawaii and Australia as well as Europe and the continental United States. In 2008 he was appointed musical director of the British early music ensemble Gallicantus, with whom he has released six recordings under the Signum label to rapturous reviews, garnering multiple ‘Editor’s Choice’ awards in Gramophone Magazine, Choir and Organ Magazine and Early Music Review, and, for the 2012 release ‘The Word Unspoken’, a place on BBC Radio’s CD Review list of the top nine classical releases of the year. His recording of Lagrime di San Pietro by Orlando di Lasso was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award in 2014, and his follow-up recording – Sibylla (featuring music by Orlandus Lassus and Dmitri Tymoczko) was named ’star recording’ by Choir and Organ magazine in the summer of 2018. His most recent release is Mass for the Endangered, a new composition by Sarah Kirkland Snider released on the Nonesuch/New Amsterdam labels, which has garnered high acclaim from The New York Times, Boston Globe, NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’ and elsewhere.

 

Ulysses S. Grant was President and Verdi’s Requiem had just premiered when the Princeton University Glee Club was founded by Andrew Fleming West, the first Dean of the Graduate College, in 1874. Since that time, the ensemble has established itself as the largest choral body on Princeton’s campus, and has distinguished itself both nationally and overseas. Nowadays the Glee Club performs frequently on Princeton’s campus, enjoying the wonderful acoustic and aesthetic of Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall. In the last few years performances have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions and Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Requiem, MacMillan’s Seven Last Words and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered. In 2014 the Glee Club was the first collegiate choir to perform Wynton Marsalis’ Abyssinian Mass, and in 2018 gave the United States premiere of John Tavener’s Total Eclipse, alongside the world premiere of Shruthi Rajasekar’s Gaanam. The performing arts series ‘Glee Club Presents’ was founded in 2014 to bring professional vocal and choral artists to Princeton to work with and perform alongside the Glee Club. Since then the Glee Club has shared the Richardson stage with artists of the caliber of Tenebrae, Roomful of Teeth and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The choir embraces a vast array of repertoire, from Renaissance motets and madrigals, Romantic partsongs, and 21st century choral commissions to the more traditional Glee Club fare of folk music and college songs. The spectrum of Glee Club members is every bit as broad as its repertoire: undergraduates and graduate students, scientists and poets, philosophers and economists – all walks of academic life represented in students from all over the world, knit together by a simple belief in the joy of singing together.

The 2023-2024 season marks 46 years since Michael Pratt came to Princeton to conduct the Princeton University Orchestra— a relationship that has resulted in the ensemble’s reputation as one of the finest university orchestras in the United States.

He is credited by his colleagues and generations of students in being the architect of one of the finest music programs in the country, Princeton’s certificate Program in Music Performance (now the Music Minor in Performance), Pratt has served as its director since its inception in 1991. The international reputation the program has earned has resulted in Princeton becoming a major destination for talented and academically gifted students. Pratt also established a partnership between Princeton and the Royal College of Music that every year sends Princeton students to study in London. He is also co-founder of the Richardson Chamber Players, which affords opportunities for tops students to perform with the performance faculty in chamber music concerts.

Over the years, Pratt has guided many generations of Princeton students through a remarkable variety of orchestral and operatic literature, from early Baroque Italian opera through symphonies of Mahler to the latest compositions by students and faculty. He has led the Princeton University Orchestra on eleven European tours. Under Pratt the PU Orchestra has also participated in major campus collaborations with the Theater and Dance programs in such works as the premieres of Prokofiev’s Le Pas d’Acier and Boris Godunov, a revival of Richard Strauss’s setting of the Molière classic, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, and a full production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with all of Mendelssohn’s incidental music.

Pratt was educated at the Eastman School of Music and Tanglewood, and his teachers and mentors have included Gunther Schuller, Leonard Bernstein, Gustav Meier, and Otto Werner Mueller.

In March 2018 Michael Pratt was awarded an honorary membership to the Royal College of Music, London (HonRCM) by HRH The Prince of Wales. At Princeton’s Commencement 2019 he was awarded the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by President Christopher Eisgruber.

In October 2023 he published his first novel, The Copyists.

The Princeton University Orchestra (PUO) has been the flagship symphony orchestra of Princeton University since 1896 and is one of the most prestigious and highly-acclaimed collegiate orchestras in the country. At over one hundred and twenty undergraduate musicians strong, the orchestra performs eight annual performances in Alexander Hall and tours internationally every other year. Since 1977, Maestro Michael Pratt has served as its Music Director. For more information about PUO, visit orchestra.princeton.edu.

The Department of Music at Princeton University provides its undergraduates—whether they major or minor in Music—the opportunity to learn from a world-renowned faculty of scholars and composers. Performance opportunities include student-led and departmental ensembles like symphony orchestras, multi-genre choruses, jazz, contemporary music, African music, steel band, laptop orchestra, and much more, and students have access to private instrumental and voice lessons from eminent performing artists. The graduate program offers two distinct and prestigious PhD programs in composition or musicology; graduate students receive fully-funded, immersive experiences conducting research, advancing their craft, and collaborating with faculty within Princeton University’s inspiring, interdisciplinary campus.

For more information about the Department of Music and other upcoming events, and to sign-up for our mailing list, please visit music.princeton.edu.

Gabriel Crouch, director

Michael McCormick, choral specialist

 

SOPRANO 1

 Tuba Ahmed ’26

Hannah Bein ‘22 Emily Della Pietra+ ‘24 Anna Ferris ‘26

Ada Frederick ‘27

Natalie Hahn ‘26

Caitlin Hodge ‘27

Sophia Huellstrunk+ ’25

Laurel Jarecki ’27 Sanjana Kamath GS Madeline Kushan+ GS Saumya Malik ’24

Lena Molyneux ’25

Reese Owen+ ’24 Samantha Sasaki GS Allison Spann ‘20

Sasha Villefranche ’26

Chloe Webster ’25

 

SOPRANO 2

Madison Anderson+ ‘27 Margaret Bergmark Katherine Buzard ‘14

Sydney Eck+ ’24

Sophia Girand ‘25 Yujia Huang+

Amelia Kauffmann+ ’24 Noël McCormick Eleanor Monroe ’25

Grace Morris ’24

Madeleine Murnick+ ’26

Navani Rachumallu ’26

Laura Robertson ’24

Sara Shiff+ ’25

Anastasia Shmytova+ GS

 

ALTO 1

 

Claire Dignazio+ ‘25

Laurie Drayton+ ’26

Anna Eaton+ ‘24 Julia Granacher PD Sarah Lekaj ‘25 Kelsey Lewis

Jenia Marquez+ ’25

Priya Naphade+ ’24

Natalie Oh ‘26

Emma Schrier ‘27

Alison Sildorff+ ’25 Lisa Stein

Molly Trueman+ ’24 Giao Vu Dinh+ ’24

 

ALTO 2

 

Karlo Andrei Antalan ’25 Isabella Bustos ‘27

Skye Duplessis ‘27

Katya Grygorenko ‘27

Seryn Kim ‘27 Bonnie Ko GS Lale Kurtulush ‘27

Alexandra Meakem Sophie Miller ’27

Vanessa Rivkin ’25

Allison Rodrigues ’26 Sarah Sensenig Emma Simmons+ GS Samantha Spector ’24 Kathryn Whitaker

 

TENOR 1

 

Braiden Aaronson+ ‘25

Rafael Collado+ ‘24 Arturo Cruz Urrutia ‘27 Akash Jim ’26

Joshua John Michael Martin Clarence Rowley ‘95 Kev Schneider

Gary Sun+ ’26

Morgan Taylor ‘27

William Yang+ ’25

Yuyu Yasuda ’25 Hans Yu GS

 

TENOR 2

 

Michael Cheng ‘25

Logan Emmert+ ‘25 Christopher Hodson Nicholas Hu+ ‘26

Daniel Liu ‘26 Michael McCormick+ Jacob Nelson

Kalu Obasi ’25

Khoa Sands ’26

Tal Schaeffer ’24

Stanley Stoutamire, Jr. ’27 Josh Warner ’26

Hunter York+ GS

 

BASS 1

 

Samuel Duffey ‘19

Zach Gardner ’26

Henry Hsiao+ ’26

Romit Kundagrami ‘26 Josef Lawrence GS Jacob Neis+ GS Francois Praum+ ‘26

Mark Rosario ’24 Peter Schertz Timmy Seiferth ’26

Evan Shidler ’27 Samuel Stephenson Otto Trueman ‘27

Theo Wells-Spackman ’25

Zach Williamson+ ’26

 

BASS 2

 

Charles Ambach ‘26

Thomas Buckley ‘26

Henry Laufenberg ’26

Tim Manley+ ’24 Matthew Marinelli Robert Mohan ‘26

Rupert Peacock+ ‘24

Kevin Williams ‘22

 

+ Denotes Chamber Choir

Princeton University Glee Club Officer Board 

President –Jenia Marquez ’25

Manager –Robert Mohan ‘26

Concert Manager –Tuba Ahmed ‘26

Tour Managers –Karlo Andrei Antalan ‘25, Allison Rodrigues ‘26

Publicity Chairs –Madison Anderson ‘27, Yuri Lee ‘27

Social Chairs –Charles Ambach ‘26, Sophia Girand ‘25

Technology Chair –Sophie Miller ‘27

Alumni Liaison- Caitlin Hodge ‘27

Archivist- Evan Shidler ‘27

DEI Liason – Sasha Villefranche ‘26

 

Michael Pratt, conductor

Adrian Rogers, assistant conductor

Violin I

Melody Choi*

Haram Kim* ‘24

Soonyoung Kwon ‘24

Nina Shih ‘24

Shannon Ma Abigail

Stafford Isabelle

Tseng Yuri Lee

Elinor Detmer

Eleanor Clemans-Cope

Kodai Speich

Evan Zhou ‘24

Andrew Park

Violin II

Kelly Kim+

Katherine Monroe

Andi Grene ‘24

Kyle Foster

David Opong ‘24

Isabella Khan

Andrew Chi

Amy Baskurt

Grace Opong

Miriam Waldvogel

Sam Hanson ‘24

Viola

Albert Zhou + ‘24

Georgia Post

Dorothy Junginger

Hannah Su ‘24

Alena Zhang

Jason Seo

Dhyana Mishra

Myles McKnight

Angelica She

Callia Liang

Violoncello

Aster Zhang+ ‘24

Matthew Kendall ‘24

Rachel Chen ‘24

Will Robles

Roger Brooks

Elliot Wells

Contrabass

Tendekai Mawokomatanda +

Cara Turnbull

Bernie Levinson

Jack Hill

Flute and Piccolo

Heidi Gubser

Anna Solzhenitsyn+

Alessandro Troncoso +

Kate Park

Audrey Yang

Albert Zhou

Oboe

Anya Anand

Daniel Choi +

Sarah Choi ‘24

Claire Kho

Abigail Kim+

Clarinet

Daniel Kim+

D.K. Lee +

Naomi Farkas ‘24

Kevin Mo ‘24

Kyle Tsai

Bass Clarinet

Nirel Amoyaw

Jacob Jackson

Bassoon

Eleanor Ha +

Christopher Li +

Dirk Wels

 

French Horn

Spencer Bauman +

Clara Conatser +

Ian Kim

Sophia Varughese

Trumpet

Matt Cline +

Nicholas Lorenzen +

Charlie Barber

Trombone

Artha Abeysinghe +

Chris Cheong

Lars Wendt

Tuba

Wesley Sanders +

Timpani

Shivam Kak

Andrew Tao+ ‘24

Percussion

Ian Chang

Louis Larsen+ ‘24

John Wallar

Jake Klimek ‘24

Kerri Liang

Malik Resheidat

Milo Salvucci

Harp

Leila Hudson ‘24

Chloe Lau

Orchestra Manager/Librarian

Dan Hudson

Orchestra Committee

Co-Presidents

Chris Li

Daniel Kim

Treasurer

Artha Abeysinghe

Social Chair

Eleanor Ha

Tendekai Mawokomatanda

Publicity Chairs

Heidi Gubser

Matt Cline

Tour Committee

Amy Baskurt

Spencer Bauman

Audrey Yang

Tienne Yu

Members at Large

Nirel Amoyaw

Georgia Post

Isabelle Tseng

Alumni Chair

Kelly Kim

Webmaster

James Han

Gear Chair

Chloe Lau

Video Chair

Yuri Lee