Abbie Betinis: Cedit Hyems

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Works → Choral Music → Mixed Chorus / Women's Chorus → Cedit, Hyems

Cedit, Hyems (Be Gone, Winter!)

Voicing: SATB div., flute
or SSAA div., flute
Text: Prudentius & Carmina Burana ms.
Language: Latin
Duration: 3 min.
Commissioned by: The Dale Warland Singers (SATB)
Cantamus at Iowa State University (SSAA)
Premiere date: December 6, 2003 in Minneapolis, MN.
Premiered by: The Dale Warland Singers (Dale Warland, cond.); Linda Chatterton, flute
Published by: G. Schirmer: Dale Warland Choral Series (SATB: #50486492)
G. Schirmer: Dale Warland Choral Series (SSAA: #50490336)
Score Sample: PREVIEW THE SATB SCORE - or - PREVIEW THE SSAA SCORE

REVIEWS (Click to view/hide)

"Abbie Betinis' music is always interesting, always adventuresome, and, most importantly, always effective."
- Dale Warland, editor of G. Schirmer's Dale Warland Choral Series

"Debussys Yver, vous nestes quun villain (Winter, youre only a scoundrel) was paired with Abbie Betiniss Cedit, Hyems! (Begone, Winter!) . . . Betinis punctuated bright, high quailing with an arhythmic flute obbligato (nicely played by Vanessa Holroyd).
- Janice Weber, The Boston Musical Intelligencer (Robert Levin, editor)

"This challenging work for SSAA choir and solo flute was the highpoint for me of our 2010 Christmas concert. It is a revoicing of a work originally written for the Dale Warland Singers. . . Whispering and singing in quick alternation were at first a challenge for the singers to coordinate but once the basics were solid I could feel them enjoying this crisp and invigorating piece. The audience reacted with a gasp at the end of both performances, followed by enthusiastic applause. A very good, mature youth choir could perform this, but I expect it will mostly be taken up by adult women's choirs. You need the best professional flute player you can find if you want to perform the piece anywhere close to the stated tempo. I look forward to hearing from other conductors who do this piece. I know Elektra will be performing it again soon, probably not waiting for the Christmas season since I feel the text is suitable for any time of year.
- Morna Edmundson, artistic director, Elektra Womens Choir

LISTEN:

Cedit, Hyems (SATB version): mp3, 3:00, 2.8 MB
Performed live by The Dale Warland Singers; Linda Chatterton, flute. Dale Warland, conductor.

Cedit, Hyems (SSAA version): mp3, 3:00, 2.8 MB
Performed live by Cantamus at North Central ACDA in Minneapolis, 2010. Kathleen Rodde, conductor.

PROGRAM NOTE

Cedit, Hyems (Be Gone, Winter!), written in September 2003 on commission from the Dale Warland Singers, depicts the coming of Christ into a troubled, confused world. The opening flute is meant to sound lonely as it wanders through unpredictable chords. The chorus entrance also shifts uneasily, as if waiting for something. The flute realizes first the potential of Christs coming, encouraging the chorus in faster rhythms, louder dynamics, and soon the voices are attempting to drive the worlds coldness away in preparation for Christ. At first, because they are so physically and emotionally cold, the voices can only whisper the Latin word "cedit" (be gone), but the harsh whispering begins to subside as Christ's love begins to envelope them. With a sweeping melody, and a rhythmic propulsion, the chorus is finally able to shoo out the desolation of winter with the newly acquired strength that only love can bring: "Christ comes! Depart!"

- Abbie Betinis, 2003

TEXT

Cedit, Hyems

Nox, et tenebrae, et nubila
confusa mundi et turbida,
lux intrat, albescit polus,
Christus venit, discedite!

Hymnus Matutinus (lines 1-4) from Cathemerinon II
by Prudentius (348-ca.410). Public domain.

Cedit, hyems, tua durities,
frigor abiit; rigor et glacies
brumalis et feritas, rabies,
torpor et improba segnities,
pallor et ira, dolor et macies.

Nunc amor aureus advenies,
indomitos tibi subjicies,
tendo manus...

Anonymous, ms of Benedictbeuern (Carmina Burana).
Public domain.

Be Gone, Winter!

Night -- confused, disordered,
Disturbed darkness of the world --
Light breaks in, the heavens grow bright,
Christ has come! Depart!

Morning Hymn (lines 1-4)
Trans. by Stephen Self. Used by permission.

Now, Winter, yieldeth all they dreariness,
The cold is over, all they frozenness,
All frost and fog, and winds untowardness.
All sullenness, uncomely sluggishness,
Paleness and anger, grief and haggardness.

Now Love, all golden, comest thou to me,
Bowing the tameless neath thine empery.
I stretch my hands...

Trans. by Helen Waddell (1929).
Used by permission of Constable & Robinson Publishing Co., London.

Performed by:

Canadian Mennonite University Women's Chorus (Janet Brenneman), Manitoba, CANADA
Cantamus Womens Choir (Kathleen Rodde), Iowa (ALSO: 2013 ACDA National Conference, Dallas, TX)
The Dale Warland Singers (Dale Warland), Saint Paul, Minnesota
Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble (Tim McMillin), Des Moines, Iowa
East Carolina University Chamber Singers (Daniel Bara), North Carolina
Elektra Women's Choir (Morna Edmundson), Vancouver BC, CANADA
Kennesaw Mountain High School Chamber Chorus, Georgia (listen on YouTube)
La Crosse Chamber Chorale (Paul Rusterholz), Wisconsin
Lorelei Ensemble, Boston, Massachusetts
Mastersingers by the Sea (Dr. David MacKenzie), Wareham, Massachusetts
Monmouth Civic Chorus (Mark Shapiro), New Jersey
Mount Holyoke Glee Club (Lindsay Pope), South Hadley, Massachusetts
New Amsterdam Singers (Clara Longstreth), New York
NorthWest Women's Chorale (Joy A. Lingerfelt), Port Angeles, Washington
Paris Singing Adventure & EAMA Chorale (Mark Shapiro), Paris, FRANCE
The Oriana Consort (Walter Chapin), Massachusetts
USC Thornton Chamber Singers (Jo-Michael Scheibe), Los Angeles, California

(Have you performed this piece? Add your performance!)