Ave Generosa | SSA Chorus & Harp (or Piano) | 5'
Ave Generosa is dedicated to WomenSing (Martín Benvenuto, Artistic Director) on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
Because the 50th anniversary season of WomenSing celebrated not only the choir but also five notable women, including Hildegard of Bingen, I wanted to set a text that was universally inclusive and appropriate for WomenSing's December concert.
Erasure poetry, my inspiration for this particular adaptation of Hildegard's text, takes an original piece of text and omits or “erases” certain words to create a new poem. Here, a secular erasure of Hildegard's Ave Generosa text celebrates Hildegard herself and all women, regardless of their faith.
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AVE GENEROSA (Erasure)
I behold you, glorious, pure and whole
You are the sacred, the essence of sanctity,
You are a shining white lily,
O lovely and tender one,
with all the celestial symphony resounding through you,
like grass upon which the dew falls, infused with green life
Now all shines in joy, resounds in symphony because of you.
—Text by Hildegard of Bingen. Translation & erasure by the composer.
