BIRDS OF THE PSALMS

Movement 1

Psalm 91 (You are My Refuge and My Stronghold)

You are my refuge and my stronghold, it is you in whom I put my trust;

You shall cover me with your pinions, and I shall find refuge under your wings.

 

Movement 2

Psalm 55 (My Heart Quakes) women

My heart quakes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

And I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”

Had it been an enemy who was against me I could have hidden from him,

But it was you, my own companion, my guide.

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”

 

Movement 3

Psalm 17 (Keep Me as the Apple of Your Eye)

Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings.

 

Movement 4

Psalm 104 (Birds of the Air) soli: Repetto, Simon

Beside your springs the birds of the air make their nests

And sing among the branches.

 

Movement 5

Psalm 57 (In te confidit anima mea / I Have Taken Refuge in You) men;

soli: Williamson, Blaisdell, Prapestis

In te confidit anima mea, et in umbra alarum tuarum sperabo

Donec transeat iniquitas

(I have taken refuge in you, in the shadow of your wings will I hope

Until this time of trouble has gone by.)

 

Movement 6

Psalm 63 (I Seek You)

I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, as in a barren and dry land,

For your loving kindness is better than life itself.

You have been my helper, and under the shelter of your wing I will rejoice.

 

Movement 7

Psalm 148 (Creeping Things and Winged Birds)

Halleluia! Halleluia! Sun and moon, all you shining stars

And heav’n of heav’ns praise you. Halleluia!

Fire and hail and snow and fog and wind praise you.

Wild, wild beasts, cows and sheep and little lambs,

Creeping things, and all winged birds praise you.

Halleluia. Amen.

 

Movement 8

Psalm 61 (I Will Dwell in Your House Forever)

I will dwell in your house forever, Protegar in velamento alarum tuarum

(I will be protected under the cover of your wings.) Amen.

 

Movement 9

Psalm 36 (How Priceless is Your Love)

How priceless is your love, I take refuge under the shadow of your wings.

 

Movement 10

Beauty Flew to Me - Text by Patricia Van Ness

In the green-clad, quiet twilight,

beauty flew to me,

and I awakened thrice:

to it, to love, to hope.

Deep, deep below,

a slow chant sings

as I breathe sweet air,

under the shelter of your wing.

 

 

Svete Tihiy–Kievan Chant (Gladsome Light)

Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

English: Vladimir Morosan

 

Alliluya, alliluya, alliluya,

slava Tebe, Bozhe.

Svete tihiy sviatiya sIav Bessmertnago, Ottsa Nebesnago,

Sviatago,

Blazhennago, Iisuse Hiriste.

Prishedshe na zapad solntsa,

videvshe svet vecherniy,

poyem Ottsa, Sina i

Sviatago Duha, Boga.

Dostoin yesi vo fsia vremena

pet biti glasi prepodobnimi,

Sine Bozhiy, zhivot dayay,

temzhe mir Tia slavit.

 

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia,

Glory to Thee, O God!

O gladsome light, Of the holy glory

Of the Immortal One,

The Heavenly Father,

Holy and blessed, O Jesus Christ!

Now that we have come to the

setting of the sun

And behold the light of evening,

We praise the Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit: God.

Thou art worthy at every moment

To be praised in hymns by reverent voices.

O Son of God, Thou art the Giver of Life;

Therefore all the world glorifies Thee.

 

 

Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda (Bless the Lord, O My Soul)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)

English: Leonard Ellinwood and Wayne Shirley; solo: Caroline Olsen

 

Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Ghospoda, blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi.

Ghospodi Bozhe moy, vozvelichilsia yesi zelo.

Blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi.

Vo ispovedaniye i v velelepotu

obleklsia yesi.

Blagosloven yesi, Ghospodi.

 

Na gorah stanut vodi.

Divna dela Tvoya, Ghospodi.

Posrede gor proydut vodi.

Divna dela Tvoya, Ghospodi.

Fsia premudrostiyu sotvoril yesi.

Slava Ti, Ghospodi, sotvorishemu fsia

 

 

Bless thou the Lord, O my soul.

Blessed art thou, O Lord my God.

O Lord my God, thou art become

exceedingly glorious.

Blessed art thou, O Lord my God.

Thou art clothed with majesty and honor.

Blessed art thou, O Lord my God.

 

The waters stood above the mountains;

Marvelous are thy works, O Lord.

Among the hills flow the waters;

Marvelous are thy works, O Lord.

In wisdom hast thou made them all.

Glory to thee, O Lord,

who has made them all.

 

 

Blazhen muzh (Blessed is the Man) - Sergei Rachmaninoff

English: Vladimir Morosan

 

Blazhen muzh, izhe ne ide na sovet nechestivih.

Alliluya, alliluya, alliluya.

Yako vest Ghospod put pravednih,

i put nechestivih pogibnet.

Alliluya...

Rabotayte Ghospodevi so strahom,

i raduytesia Yemu s trepetom.

Alliluya...

Blazheni fsi nadeyushchiisia nan.

Alliluya...

Voskresni, Ghospodi, spasi mia, Bozhe moy.

Alliluya...

Ghospodne yest spaseniye,

i na liudeh Tvoih blagosloveniye Tvoye.

Alliluya...

Slava Ottsu, i Sinu, i Sviatomu Duhu,

i nine i prisno i vo veki vekov.

Amin.

 

 

Blessed is the man, who walks not

in the counsel of the wicked.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the wicked will perish.

Alleluia...

Serve the Lord with fear

And rejoice in Him with trembling.

Alleluia...

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God!

Alleluia...

Salvation is of the Lord

And Thy blessing is upon Thy people.

Alleluia...

Glory to the Father and to the Son

And to the Holy Spirit,

Both now and ever and

unto ages of ages. Amen.

 

Hear My Prayer - Henry Purcell (1659–1695)

(Psalm 102, The Book of Common Prayer)

Hear my prayer, O Lord,

And let my crying come unto thee.

 

When David Heard - Thomas Weelkes (1576–1623)

2 Samuel 18:33

When David heard that Absalom was slain

He went up into his chamber over the gate and wept,

And thus he said: “My son, my son,

O Absalom, my son, would God I had died for thee!”

 

Leaving the Wealth of Her Family - Kassia (c. 810 - 867)

English Translation: Antonia Tripolitis

Leaving the wealth of her family

And longing sincerely for Christ,

The martyr found heavenly glory and riches,

And totally shielded with the armor of faith

And the weapons of the cross, trampled the oppressor.

Therefore angels, amazed at her struggles, said:

“The enemy has fallen, defeated by a woman;

The martyr, crowned, was lifted upward,

And Christ reigns as God to all eternity,

Who gives to the world His great mercy.”