Exquisite performance. I first heard/sang this piece at a high school district or regional chorus festival in 1977 or '78. The text grabbed me at the time and never left. When my mother died in 2000, I asked that the text of Rosetti's poem be read graveside at her burial. But even though it was only being read, in my mind, I was hearing this setting!
An exquisite, deeply sensitive, subtle and alive rendition of Rest by RVW, with an impressive range of very fine voices, captivating in their rich harmony, and perfect expression of those most moving and challenging words, made real, made sense of, by the sublime music, and not least a choir guided and raised to a pinnacle of achievement by Olga Spriggs.
TEXT (Christina Rossetti): O Earth, lie heavily upon her eyes; Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth; Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs. She hath no questions, she hath no replies, Hushed in and curtained with a blessed dearth Of all that irked her from the hour of birth; With stillness that is almost Paradise. Darkness more clear than noon-day holdeth her, Silence more musical than any song; Even her very heart has ceased to stir: Until the morning of Eternity Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be; And when she wakes she will not think it long.
Im in a mixed select choir at my school and we're doing this and this is the first time I'm hearing it in full because my teacher played it for the class a day I was not there and it is SO BEAUTIFUL im a tenor 2 for this.... basically just tenor though because there Is only like 1 split between tenor 1 & 2.
