Voices of Women: Courage

Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow,

A herb most bruised is woman.

– Euripides, Medea

With music drawing on the writings of Malala Yousafzai, Helen Keller, Victor Hugo, Christina Rossetti, and Victor Hugo, and others, the Pittsburgh Girls Choir Chamber Choir offers its voices in tribute to the courage of women.

The program begins with Abbie Betinis’ arrangement of Jerusalem luminosa by Thomas á Kempis (d. 1471).  Thomas “of Kempen” (in the German Rhineland) was a priest and canon-regular best-known for his Imitation of Christ, one of medieval Europe’s most influential devotional works. With Jerusalem luminosa, Betinis has taken the text of one of Thomas’ hymns, in which the city stands as the metaphorical expression of an eternal human yearning: Jerusalem, city of light, Vision of true peace.

The poetry of Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) occupies an important place in this performance.  The author of seven volumes of poetry in her lifetime, Teasdale received public admiration for her well-crafted lyrical work centered on a woman’s changing perspectives on life, beauty, love, and death. She won the first Columbia Poetry Prize in 1918, later to be renamed the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

The centerpiece of the program is Linda Tutas Haugen’s vividly moving work Anne Frank: A Living Voice.  Based on excerpts from The Diary of Anne Frank, the piece portrays “a psychological progression from fear and despair to strength and hope”, a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit even in confrontation with malevolent violence.

Concluding with Hebrew Rounds arranged by Nancy Grundahl, Pittsburgh Girls Choir presents with this performance a testament to the indomitable courage of women: those who have faced the consuming fires of mass tragedy, and those who have contended with the quiet trials of private lives.