ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

This program pulls together all the different strands of my life. It uses my training as a singer, flute player, sound healer, my love of improvisation, the modes and medieval music, plus the different spiritual traditions that I have engaged in over the years. The program is a mixture of chants, prayers and improvisations in a variety of languages. The texts I chose are from different times and places but I feel they relate to each other on a deep level, and I have arranged the pieces to reflect this. I am thrilled to add two pieces by composer Gilda Lyons to this program (Prayer and Dost thou in a manger lie) and to be joined in singing them by Gilda and Elaine Valby. All the other music except for the Gregorian chants and Cantiga are either composed or improvised by me. I accompany myself on piano, medieval harp and shruti box (Indian drone instrument) and I also play the renaissance flute and recorder.

Scattered throughout the program are seven wonderfully evocative poem-prayers. The poems were written by my sister Elizabeth Cunningham and are from her book Small Bird, Poems and Prayers (“What if,” “Sky,” "Prayer", “Psalm,” “Wind,” “The River Stick,” “Healing Song”). Gilda Lyons set "Prayer" for three voices and the others I set to music with improvised piano accompaniment. I also improvise on several Latin Marian texts (Ave maris stella, O lillium convalium). I included several traditional Gregorian chants (Salve Regina, Alma redemptoris Mater) and a medieval Cantiga (Virgen Madre groriosa) to Mary as well as one Hildegard chant (O virtus Sapientie) in praise of wisdom. I’ve included three Sanskrit chants (Gayatri Mantra, Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra, Asato Ma Sad Gamaya) and I also sing one Gaelic text (Canam an achan o mo Bheal), a prayer from the Ceili De, a Celtic spiritual order. Near the center of the program is what I call a sound journey. This piece is improvised and will change with every performance. It is an intuitive musical response to the space and those gathered for each concert. As well as singing in the sound journey I often use a variety of instruments.

Though some of the pieces are set there is a very strong improvisational aspect to the entire program. It will never be the same twice. The sound journey especially can be very different at each performance. Music and sound profoundly affect the body and emotions of the people listening; it can transport you. I look at the whole experience of this concert as a journey; so when it is over, people have gone some place with me and I with them.
— Ruth Cunningham

TEXTS:

Canam an achan o mo Bheal (Prayer of the Ceile De)
Canam an achan o mo Bheal; Canam an achan o mo chridhe
I say the prayer from my mouth; I say the prayer from my heart
Canam an achan dhait fhein; Alla mara agus tire
I say the prayer to Thee Thyself; Wild Lord of sea and land
Alla greine agus gile; Alla nan riollachan alain
Wild Lord of sun and moon; Wild Lord of the beautiful stars

Gayatri Mantra
Om Bhur, Om Bhuvaha, Om Swaha, Om Maha,
Om Janaha, Om Tapaha, Om Satyam, Om Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi, Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayat
O self-effulgent light that has given birth to all the lokas, who is worthy of worship and appears
through the orbit of the sun, illumine our intellect.

Ave Maria
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et
in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour
of our death. Amen.
~~~~~~~~~~
Virgen Madre groriosa (Cantigas de Santa Maria 340)
Virgen Madre groriosa, de Deus filla e esposa,
santa, nobre, preciosa, quen te loar saberia ou podia?
Ca Deus que é lum’ e dia, segund’ a nossa natura
non viramos sa figura senon por ti, que fust’ alva.
Tu es alva que pareces ante Deus e escrareces
os ceos, e que mereces d’averes sa conpania. E querria
t’ eu ver con el, ca seria quito de maa ventura
e metudo na folgura u es con Deus, u es alva.
Glorious Virgin Mother, Daughter and Bride of God,
Holy, noble, precious, Who could know how or be able To praise you? For God is light and Day,
But because of our base nature
We could not see his face Except through you, who were the Dawn.
You are Dawn which stands before God and brightens
the heavens, and you deserve to be in his company I should like
to see you beside him for I should be freed from misfortune and put at ease where you are with God,
where you are the Dawn.
~~~~~~~~~

Flute Song
What if
What if my heart is an opening rose
and god is a honeybee gathering sweetness
what if my mind is the crown of a tree
and god is a wind raging there.
What if my soul is a deep root
and god is my dark food and drink.

Sky
I love the sky
nothing else is big enough.
I love how I forget it sometimes
take it for granted
like it was some big old ceiling
then it swoops down in a
grey swirl leaves spiraling
birds crossing to safety
winged boats to harbor.
I love how it draws me up
when I look
how sky blue can be brittle or soft
how it blooms in morning glories
in the last days before the first frost
I love how the stars
dim and sharpen
how the moon rolls around
and around losing and finding itself
in different quarters
different lights.
Somebody please
let me be a leaf
flying so high in the sky
I can’t see my self anymore.

Prayer
O Great mystery
take me to the deep place where the root drinks dark water.
Take me to the ocean floor where the currents sway sea forests.
Show me the high places, too, where the eagle rests on wind
and clouds tumble slowly in their hugeness.
O mother father mystery I am a fretful child
flailing in my smallness. Take me to your breast.
Let me ride the swells of your slow, deep breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Psalm
Meet me halfway
holy one
for I have been walking a long time
in dry places where the earth cracks and opens
onto nothing.
I have seen the shine of poison leaves
in dull noon glare
and I have been alone
not believing anymore in you.

Today I have been singing your names
your many names.
I have arced my spine
like a green stem
like a young tree.
I have said: cool water, flow here
healing water, come.
I have hollowed myself for you
I have made an empty place
for gladness, for shouts of joy

Come now, holy one.
I am here in the valley
under your mountain.
I am not afraid of death
or its shadow.
I only want to hear the bells of your goats
ringing ringing:
The holy one is coming
she who dwells in secret
whose face is more than moon
more than sun.
The holy one is coming
is welling within me
is here.
—Elizabeth Cunningham

What if; Sky; Prayer; Psalm
from Small Bird: Poems and Prayers
by Elizabeth Cunningham ©2000
used with permission

O virtus Sapientiae (Hildegard von Bingen)
O virtus Sapientiae, quae circuiens circuisti
comprehendendo omnia in una via, quae habet vitam,
tres alas habens, quarum una in altum volat,
et altera de terra sudat, et tertia undique volat.
Laus tibi sit, sicut te decet, O Sapientia.
O strength of Wisdom who, circling, circled,
enclosing all in one lifegiving path,
three wings you have: one soars to the heights,
one distills its essence upon the earth,
and the third is everywhere.
Praise to you, as is fitting, O Wisdom.

Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra
Om trayambakam yajaamahe sugandhim pushtivardhanam
Urvaarukamiva bandhanaan mrityor muksheeya maamritaat.
Shelter me O three-eyed Lord Shiva. Bless me with health and immortality and sever me from the
clutches of death, even as a cucumber is cut from its creeper.

~~~~~

Sound Journey
Improvisation created for this evening and this gathering of people.

~~~~~~
Spring Song: Pipes of Pan
Letabundus rediit avium concentus,
veriocundum prodiit, gaudeat iuventus
Estivant nunc Dryades, colle sub umbroso
prodeunt Oreades cetu glorioso,
Satyrorum concio Psallit cum tripudio
Tempe per amena; his alludens concinit,
cum iocundi meminit veris philomena.
The choir of birds is here again Elate in every feather,
New pleasure stirs the hearts of men In spring’s jocund weather.
Now dryads haunt the summer woods, And where the slopes are shaded
come forth the glorious sisterhoods
Of mountain nymphs unjaded;
Through lovely Tempe satyrs tramp,
The pipes re-echo as they stamp
The dance’s merry measures;
The nightingale more sweetly sings
A descant ot their caperings,
Remembering springtime pleasures.
—Text is a portion of a Medieval Latin song; Trans. George Whicher

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dost Thou in a manger lie
1. Dost thou in a manger lie, who has all created
stretching infant hands on high, Savior long awaited
If a monarch, where they state? Where thy court on thee to wait?
Royal purple where? Here no regal pomp we see;
Naught but need and penury. Why thus cradled here?

2 “ For the world a love supreme brought me to this stable;
all creation ot redeem I alone am able.
By this lowly birth of mine, sinner, riches shall be thine,
matchless gifts and free; willingly this yoke I take,
and this sacrifice I make, heaping joys for thee.”

3. Christ we praise with voices bold, laud and honor raising;
For these mercies manifold join the host in praising;
Father glory be to thee for the wondrous charity
of they son our lord. Better withness to thy worth,
purer praise than ours on earth, angels songs afford.
—text from Episcopal 1982 Hymnal # 97

Ave maris stella
Ave maris stella, dei mater alma,
atque semper virgo, felix caeli porta.
Sumens illud ave Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace, mutans evae nomen.
Monstra te esse matrem: sumat per te precem,
qui pro nobis natus, tulit esse tuus.
Sit laus deo patri, summo Christo decus,
spiritui sancto, tribus honor unus. Amen.
Hail star of the sea, dear mother of God
and ever a maiden, happy gate of heaven.
Accepting that “Ave” from Gabriel’s lips,
establish us in peace, transforming Eva’s name.
Show yourself as Mother, through you may He receive our prayers
Who was born for us as your own son.
Praise be to God the Father, to the Highest Christ Glory,
to the Holy Spirit Honor, One in Three. Amen.
—Trans. S. Hellauer

Alma Redemptoris Mater (gregorian chant)
Alma redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli porta manes,
et stella maris, succurre cadenti, surgere qui curat, populo:
tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem,
Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore, sumens illud Ave,
peccatorum miserere.
Kind Mother of the Redeemer, the open gateway to heaven
and star of the sea, help your fallen people who strive to rise again:
we pray you, who bore your holy Son, by a miracle of nature, a Virgin first and last, who received
God’s greeting from the mouth of Gabriel,
have mercy on us sinners.

O lilium convallium
O lilium convallium, flos virginum, stirps regia,
spes omnium fidelium, lux luminum, o filia:
Eve matri contraria, Ave matris de gratia nos redimens per filium.
Ave, ave remedium nos eximens miseria.
O lily of the valley, flower of virgins, royal branch,hope of all the faithful, light of lights, o
daughter:mother Eve’s antithesis, by grace you redeem us from woe, mother, through your son. Hail,
hail, o healer who cures us of our grief.
—Trans. S. Hellauer
~~~~~~~~~~~

Wind
Sometimes the way I know god loves me is the wind.
I’ll be sitting outside praying why how what
and a big wind will come up come right up in my face
lift the hairs on my scalp count them maybe
or maybe not maybe it’s just loving like when
someone tousles your hair or a dog licks your face.
And I say, oh, you are there and god says yes
didn’t you know?

The River Stick
I sit in a nest of tidal roots under leaves lit by light on water,
their dapple changing with ripple and wind
A long, curving stick rests lightly
in the same crux that cradles me.
Here take it, says the river. Oh, no thank you (I am polite)
it looks so lovely where it is. It’s not as if it will stay here,
reasons the river, take it to remember me by
the way I meander the grain of my flow
the peace you know when you’re with me.

Peace prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
— A prayer attributed to St. Francis

Asato Ma Sad Gamaya (Sanskrit Mantra)
Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
O Lord, lead us from untruth to truth,
lead us from darkness to light,
lead us from death to immortality,
let there be peace peace peace. (Rig Veda)

Universal Prayer For Peace
Lead me from death to life, From falsehood to truth.
Lead me from despair to hope, From fear to trust.
Lead me from hate to love, From war to peace.
Let peace fill our hearts, Our world, our universe.
Peace, Peace, Peace.
—From Satish Kumar

Healing Song
At your feet, the earth
In your womb, the sea
In your belly, the fire
At your center, the sun
In your heart, the flower
In your throat, the sky
On your brow, the moon
At your crown, the star
In your hands, the earth.
—Elizabeth Cunningham

Wind; The River Stick; Healing Song
from Small Bird: Poems and Prayers
by Elizabeth Cunningham ©2000
used with permission

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Ruth Cunningham (www.ruthcunningham.com) is a classically trained musician and a sound healing practitioner. She combines these skills to improvise music that connects people to the healing and spiritual power of music. She specializes in improvisational sacred music from varied spiritual traditions in both in liturgical and concert settings.

Ruth was a member of the acclaimed women’s vocal quartet Anonymous 4 for ten years. With them, she performed in concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Europe and the Far East and made ten recordings—nine of medieval chant and polyphony for harmonia mundi and one, Voices of Light by contemporary composer Richard Einhorn, for Sony Classical. Ruth rejoined Anonymous 4 in 2007 and will once again be performing and recording with them. In 2006 Ruth released her recording of Light and Shadow and also an improvisational voice and harp CD, Harpmodes. In 2005 she released HARC: Inside Chants, a recording of multi-faith chants with Ana Hernandez. Among her other recordings are Sacred Light with harpist Diana Stork on the At Peace Music label and Ancient Beginnings which is part of the Open Ear Center’s music for healing series. She is featured on Invoking the Muse a CD with Frame Drummer Layne Redmond released on the SoundsTrue label. She has been part of the women’s ensemble of Early Music NY and participated in their CD Music of Medieval Love. She has also performed and recorded with the Renaissance vocal ensemble Pomerium. She is a regular member of the professional choir at St Mary the Virgin in New York City.

As a sound healing practitioner Ruth works with individuals and groups on using the voice and music as tools for healing and transformation. She collaborates with other healers and musicians in a variety of settings. Ruth plays regularly and teaches a sound healing class for the Integrative Stress Management Program at St Vincent’s Hospital in New York.

In 2001-2002 she was among the musicians who offered their services at St. Paul’s Chapel, which served as a refuge for the workers at Ground Zero.

Ruth received a B. Mus. in Performance of Early Music from the New England Conservatory of Music and taught recorder and renaissance flute at the Amherst Early Music Workshops for sixteen years. She is certified as a cross cultural music healing practitioner (CCMHP) by the Open Ear Center where she studied with Pat Moffitt Cook.

Gilda Lyons is a member of the Phoenix Players. To read her biography, please click [here].

Elaine Valby is a member of the Phoenix Players. To read her biography, please click [here].

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