What better instrument to express man's deepest hopes and aspirations than the human voice itself?

The Biblical book of Lamentations comprises several poetic recitations that bemoan the fall Jerusalem to the neo-Babylonians in 586 B.C. Its tone and imagery convey deep grief, guilt for past sins, and longing to return again to God's favor. It is thought that this poetry was recited each subsequent year in commemoration of the catastrophe. Probably the author was not actually Jeremiah the prophet but rather, one or more worship leaders who remained in Judah during the years following Jerusalem's destruction.

Whether the Lamentations were sung in that early era is not known, but certainly some of the same sentiments and vocabulary are contained in various Psalms; verses from Lamentations as well as the Psalms became part of early Christian sung liturgy, thought to have been derived from Jewish cantillation.

As a liturgy for the Christian year evolved, it became customory to sing the Lamentations on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Holy Week, at first in Gegorian or other single-voiced chant; later, around the middle of the fifteenth century, in polyphony.

A peculiar tradition in polyphonic settings of the Lamentations is that of setting music to the Hebrew alphabet letters which stand at the head of each verse. In fact, composers vied with one another to lavish theire most intricate counterpoint on these Hebrew letters (Aleph, Beth, Heth, Jod, etc.) as if decorating an illuminated manuscript.

Because of their connection to the Romany Holy Week liturgy, Byrd's Lamentations were not suitable during his lifetime to be sung in the parish churches and collegiate chapels of the new Anglican religious establishment. Therefore they were not published, but survived in manuscript from which a performing version was reconstructed and published in 1928. An Italian contempory of Byrd summed up the technique and style of composing music for the Lamentations: "All the parts proceed with gravity and modesty, nearly always singing together.... The composer makes use of dissonances, suspensions and harsh passages to make his work more doleful and mornful, as the sense of the words and the significance of the season demand."

The Anglicans were not to be outdone in the penitence department, as demonstrated in many beautiful anthems, like Weelkes' Give Ear, O Lord.

As the sixteenth century drew to a close, Italian composers experimented with expressive musical devices that led to the first operas and to, among other choral forms, madrigals that were a far cry from the cheerful "Fa-la-la" type. Monteverdi was prolific in output of these dramatic madrigals.

In the early 1600's the young German Heinrich Schütz visited Italy, to study with masters of these new trends in choral music. He was mainly interested in the techniques of Gabrieli's church music, with multiple choirs and instrumental ensembles. But while there he published a book of Italian secular madrigals, influenced by Monteverdi and others. Then in 1625 there appeared Schütz's "Cantiones Sacrae", a book of four-part motets originally intended to be unaccompanied. The words of these compositions are in Latin and mystic in nature, close theologically to Catholicism despite Schütz lifelong Lutheran affiliation. Among these motets are the set called Passion motets, of which Quo, nate dei and Calicem salutaris accipiam are the final two. The Italian madrigalists' influence is apparent in the musical style of these motets.

Haydn wrote his Missa Brevis in G when he was a very young man, mainly self-taught at the time. In fact, in his later years he scarcely remembered having written it, but scholarship has fairly conclusively proven that it is his work. This mass is exuberant, with very lively string playing, but ends with an Agnus Dei that sounds a dignified, serious note.

It was not unusual for composers to tighten the mass text by assigning different phrases to be sung simultaneously by the various voice parts, so that the entire Mass would not be very long. [Sometimes this was the preference of an individual cleric, or was called for on a particular liturgical occasion.]

Il Mondo Della Luna is one of some twenty-eight works Haydn wrote for the musical stage. Composed in 1771, it is a drama giocoso (opera buffa) set to the libretto of one of the most celebrated librettists of his time, Carlo Goldoni. This aria is sung by Lisetta, the maidservant of the wealthy Buonafede. She is also his mistress, only because of the comforts his money offers. Lisetta is secretly in love with a servant in another household, but Buonafede refuses to allow their marriage because he wants her for himself. She participates in a fantastic plot of "moon travel" to trick Buonafede and succeeds at finally winning her way and permission to marry!

Clara Schumann, wife of Robert Schumann, was a fine pianist and composer in her own right.

Bizet published only a few songs during his lifetime and many of his early songs were written as excercises in composition and not intended for performance. Ouvre ton Coeur was part of a dramatic piece the Bizet composed as a student in Rome, known as the ode-symphony Vasco de Gamma. The song features bolero rhythm that Bizet was so fond of, which provides energy and color. It has a Spanish flair which foreshadows Bizet's best known work, the opera Carmen.

Mahler's early song cycle, Lieder eines fahrende Gesellen, was written as a personal response to unrequired love, as Mahler turns to his own lyrics in the composition to help resolve emotional loss and despair. These songs are referred to in Einglish as Songs of the Wayfarer. The message is that the man who has found only sadness in love goes forth into the world as a wanderer. Mahler's love of nature is threaded throughout the lyrics and in his masterful treatment of the voice and accompaniment imitating nature, love, anger, death, and resolve. In Ging Heut Morgen Über's Feld, the traveler seems almost to have convinced himself that fortune will soon smile on him, but he draws back, alas, once again, from the possibility.

Patricia Hussey recently completed her Master's Degree in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy from George Mason University. She has sung in more than 600 performances of 70 professional opera productions, including roles with Washington National Opera as Grimgerde in Die Walkure, Julie in Dangerous Liaisons, Samantha in The Ballad of Baby Doe, and the Page in Rigoletto. She performs frequently with the choruses of the Washington National Opera, the Washington Concert Opera, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company.

Solo appearances include concerts at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, the National Theater, the Folger Shakespeare Theater, the Smithsonian, and the White House.

Upcoming performances with the Washington National Opera this spring in clude Hamlet, and she will sing the role of the Principessa in GMU's spring production of Puccini's Soeur Angelica.

Pat has just started a new career as a voice teacher, opening SingerPatH Voice Studio in Falls Church. For more information, see her website www.singerpath.com.

Louise Lee is a graduate of Smith College and Indiana University, where she received a Master of Music degree in organ performance, studying with Oswald Ragatz. Ms. Lee performs frequently as a piano accompanist. She is organist at Arlington Forest United Methodist Church. Ms. Lee has directed the Ad Hoc Singers since she founded the group in 1975.

The Ad Hoc Singers, an amateur chamber chorus devoted to traditional choral literature from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries, has been in existence under the direction of Louise Lee since 1975. They perform regularly at churches and other locations throughout the area. Good sight readers interested in joining the group should call 703-538-2557 to set up an audition, or speak with Ms. Lee after the concert.

Thanks to Jean Arnold for the program, Jenny Bland for some of the translations, and Michael Donaldson for his contribution to the program notes.

Thanks also to the great staff at Welsh Printing in Falls Church, Virginia, and to Graham Road United Methodist Church for the use of their sanctuary and facilities for this concert.