Of Heloise: The Songs of Abelard  

Commissioned and Premiered By 
Justin Montigne, countertenor; Aaron Westman, viola; Songs of Heloise, St. Stephen’s Church, San Francisco, 2010

Text: Judith Infante
I confess you made night glorious day

And each dawn I left your bed was dark falling…

Notes
These three song settings are part of a larger work “Of Heloise” – settings of  Judith Infante’s Love: A Suspect Form, Heloise and Abelard, a collection of fifty-four poems. Abelard: Confession, to Heloise and Silence Perpetual present us with the conflicts for Abelard after he left Heloise but continued writing to her for the remainder of his life. As a monk, he was entirely committed to his vision of God and Church. However, he wrote that conscientious and informed reasoning lead to a more complete understanding of God:  “By doubting we come to inquiry and by inquiry we come to the truth.” Condemned twice in his life as a heretic, he died traveling to Rome to appeal his case to the Pope. Since Abelard was also a musician and poet (most of his music has been lost),  the composer included his words Chant: In Parasceve Domini for the third setting.

Score available from American Composers Edition  
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