Life, Death, and Everything In Between

Saturday, May 9, 2026, 4:00 p.m.
Northbrae Community Church
941 The Alameda, Berkeley CA 94707

Tickets at the door. $20 suggested donation, sliding scale.
Reception following performance.

Our May concert will feature excerpts from Mozart’s Requiem, plus a selection of short pieces, including Duruflé’s “Ubi Caritas,” Mendelssohn’s “Psalm 43,” and “David’s Lamentation” from The Singing Master’s Assistant by William Billings (considered by some to be the father of American choral music). Other works include “This Marriage” by Eric Whitacre, “Agnus Dei” by Lithuanian composer Kristina Vasiliauskaite, Gwyneth Walker’s “The Rose, the Briar, and the Bicycle,” “Carol of the Stranger” by Abbie Betinis (with words by poet Michael Dennis Browne), and “Crystal Spheres” by Cecilia McDowall, set to Milton’s 1629 ode “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity.”

• Program Notes

  Abbie Burt Betinis is an American composer from Wisconsin. She earned degrees from St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota, and also studied harmony and counterpoint at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France. The grandniece of famed Christmas carol composer Alfred Burt, she is the third generation of the Burt family to compose and send an original carol to family and friends as part of an annual Christmas card tradition. “Carol of the Stranger” is one of these carols, a collaboration with poet Michael Dennis Browne. The poem takes its first line from a plaque that hangs above the poet’s doorway and was inspired by the teachings of Zen Buddhist teacher Charlotte Joko Beck.

  Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic era. Mendelssohn’s compositions include symphonies, concertos, piano music, organ music and chamber music. “Richte mich, Gott” (Psalm 43) was composed in 1844, during a period marked by his exploration of sacred choral music. It opens with a plaintive plea, “Richte mich, Gott” (Judge me, O God), setting the tone for a deeply introspective and emotive composition. Mendelssohn’s adept use of choral textures, dynamic contrasts, and expressive harmonies conveys a sense of spiritual urgency and supplication. The alternating moments of contemplative tranquillity and fervent invocation reveal Mendelssohn’s nuanced approach to text painting.

  Maurice Duruflé was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher, known for a select handful of exquisitely crafted works. Active in post-Impressionist Paris, his music is steeped in lush, Ravelian harmonies and deeply rooted in the plainchant of his beloved Catholic Church. “Ubi caritas” is the first of a set of four motets written in 1960, based on motifs of Gregorian plainsong. Its text is attributed to Paulinus of Aquileia (c. 796 AD), and the traditional melody likely also dates from the late eighth century.

  Cecilia McDowall is a British composer, particularly known for her choral compositions. Her distinctive style fuses fluent melodic lines with occasional dissonant harmonies and rhythmic exuberance. “Crystal Spheres” is an energetic sacred anthem which sets a verse from John Milton’s 1629 ode, “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity.” McDowall has mirrored the imagery of the text with bell-like melodic shapes and ebullient rhythms.

  William Billings was the foremost composer of the early American primitive style, whose works have become an integral part of the American folk tradition. An itinerant singing master, he traveled the young country, teaching music. He rejected conventions that had dominated the Anglo-American Psalm tradition. His tunes feature dance-like rhythms drawn from the popular music of the colonies, such as the Irish Jig; his melodies are borrowed from traditional Anglo-Irish folk songs such as “Greensleeves”; and his texts are more secular than literary. “David’s Lamentation” (from The Singing Master’s Assistant) is a dramatic story of King David and his son Absalom, a powerful depiction of love and grief.

  W.A. Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age resulted in more than 800 works representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time. Many of these compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of the symphonic, concertante, chamber, opera, and choral repertoires. Mozart is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music. Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K.626, stands as one of the most profound and haunting works in choral repertoire—a composer’s final statement left tantalizingly incomplete at his death in 1791. This masterwork combines Mozart’s unparalleled melodic genius with the solemnity of the Latin funeral mass, creating music of extraordinary emotional depth that has captivated audiences for over two centuries. Here we present three excerpts: “Dies Irae,” “Lacrimosa,” and “Hostias,” from this iconic work.

  Kristina Vasiliuauskaite was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, into a large family of musicians. She studied musicology and composition at the Lithuanian Academy of Music, and currently teaches at the Ciurlionis Art School in Vilnius. Her principal compositions include orchestral and organ music, chamber music, and a short Mass for children’s voices, in addition to the Agnus Dei we are singing today.

  Eric Whitacre is an American composer and conductor, best known for his choral music. He earned a master’s degree in Composition at the Juilliard School, and at age 23, wrote his first piece for wind orchestra, “Ghost Train,” which has been recorded more than 40 times. “This Marriage,” which sets a beautiful love poem by the 13th-century Persian poet, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, was commissioned in 2004 as a gift to a friend, Michelle Jensen, and her chorus.

  Gwyneth Walker, a former faculty member of Oberlin College Conservatory, resigned from academic employment to pursue composing full-time. The Rose, the Briar, and the Bicycle is a contemporary adaptation of familiar ballads and love songs. The intent is to expand upon the originals, especially with the addition of the oboe, a primary agent for color and character.

• Translations

  Psalm 43
  (King James version)

  Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

  For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

  O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

  Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

  Agnus Dei
  from Missa Brevis

  Agnus Dei, qui tollis
  peccata mundi,
  miserere nobis.

  Lamb of God, who taketh
  away the sins of the world,
  have mercy upon us.

  Ubi Caritas

  Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
  Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
  Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur.
  Timeamus et amebas Deum vivim. Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

  Where there is charity and love, God is there.
  The love of Christ has gathered us as one.
  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
  Let us honor and love the living God.
  And from a sincere heart let us love one another.

  Excerpts from Mozart’s Requiem
  (translations courtesy of Oakland Symphony)
  
  1. Dies Irae

  Dies irae, dies illa
  Solvet saeclum in favilla,
  teste David cum Sibylla.
  Quantus tremor est futurus,
  quando judex est venturus,
  cuncta stricte discussurus!

  Day of wrath, day of anger
  will dissolve the world in ashes,
  as foretold by David and the Sibyl.
  Great trembling there will be
  when the Judge descends from heaven
  to examine all things closely.

  2. Lacrimosa

  Lacrimosa dies illa,
  qua resurget ex favilla
  judicandus homo reus.
  Huic ergo parce, Deus,
  pie Jesu Domine,
  dona eis requiem. Amen.

  That day of tears and mourning,
  when from the ashes shall arise,
  all humanity to be judged.
  Spare us by your mercy, Lord,
  gentle Lord Jesus,
  grant them eternal rest. Amen.

  3. Hostias

  Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,
  laudis offerimus.
  Tu sucipe pro animabus illis,
  quaram hodie memoriam facimus.
  Fac eas, Domine,
  de morte transire ad vitam,
  Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
  et semini ejus.

  Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord,
  we offer to You.
  Receive them in behalf of those souls
  we commemorate today.
  And let them, Lord,
  pass from death to life,
  which was promised to Abraham
  and his descendants.

• Guest Singer Program

  Opportunities to join Bella Musica as a guest singer for the May 9 program are now closed. If you would like to learn more and join us for a future concert, please visit our Guest Singer Program page.