As February comes to a close my role as a choir director starts to ramp up. The 2024-2025 choral season as I like to call it is quickly approaching. But how does that affect me? It simply just means that I need to start finding music! This article will give a little preview of what’s to come for my first Music Sunday in May as the Director of Music Ministries. It will be titled: Rise Up! Music by Women Composers. Below I’ve highlighted some of my favorite pieces and why I picked them.
O Quante Volte in Van Cor Mio Ti Chiamo- Vittoria Aleotti (1574-1646):
During the time that Aleotti was alive, women were not allowed to compose music. She was well known as an organist, composer and nun during her time. Aleotti, in this piece, talks about unrequited love. The love interest is described as a “sweet bait, and sweet hook” that she ultimately ended up falling for. The voices and the entire piece sounds like we are continuing to chase after this love that hurt us so bad. This will be the opener of our Music Sunday!
TaReKiTa-Reena Esmail (1983):
Composed for the Urban Voices Project in LA, Esmail described TaReKiTa as a “vibrant and joyful piece.” This piece uses an Indian Classical framework titled jog; it includes major and minor modalities while the voices mimic the sounds produced by Indian Instruments. This piece is easy on the easy but has some tricky spots for the choir! It’s a great way to introduce us to forms of music from different cultures.
To Sit and Dream-Rosephanye Powell (1962):
With a text by Langston Hughes, Powell pulls out all the emotional stops with this piece. Hughes begs us to dream of a better world where peace, justice and equity reign. Powell is influenced by Jazz and Blues harmonies in this piece, creating cluster chords among the voices and piano. The middle section is almost yearning in nature as Hughes writes “I reach out my hand to you.” Powell creates this beautiful ostinato between all the voices almost as if our hands are reaching out and almost grabbing the better world that we dream to be in one day. This will be our closer for our Music Sunday!
Jakob Swetland was Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's Director of Music Ministries from October 2023-April 2025.