VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, Carey Shunskis, soprano and Kristina Rodel Sorum, alto

I. Choeur du Peuple Criminel (Chorus of the Guilty People)
II. Vox Domini (The Voice of the Lord)

CANTATE DE LA GUERRE (CANTATA OF WAR)
Darius Milhaud (1940)

I. Choeur du Peuple Criminel (Chorus of the Guilty People)
Ah! Ah!
Out of the sky came a mighty voice saying: Woe!
Coming from the ranks of the foe who advance upon the ramparts,
Coming from deep within, from my heart, crying, “Ah, me!”
Now do I descend on thee–Accursed! O Cain!, thus saith the Lord.
I know thy works and where thou dwellest on Satan’s very throne!
When you are come to judge all nations, how can I escape thee?
Where can I lie hidden from the awful face of your wrath?
The thought of all my sins overwhelms me,
And here am I, ashamed and fearful at your feet.

A tremor has shaken the earth ‘neath the town of Dan.
The shouts of warriors has caused all of creation to tremble and shake.
And now are they come and their arms will utterly destroy all nations,
The cities and those within.
Now my wrath is turned on thee, unclean one!
Do you not know that my pronouncements are as living fire,
Even as the hammer shatters rock asunder?
I stand at the door and I knock but none answer.
From the awful face of thy dread wrath, where can I hide?
If I mount to the heights of heaven, thou art there!
Though I make my bed in hell, thy hand will not let me go!
All the princes of all nations shall be cast down from their glory,
The princes of the earth, coming before thee.

They will make reply and say to thee:
Then it is true! Not only us, but you have also been wounded.
Then are you even as ourselves.
All your arrogance and pride are cast down into hell,
And the worms of death shall feed on your body.

(Thus says the Voice of the Lord: Ego sum.)

II. Vox Domini (The Voice of the Lord)
O people, what have I done, tell me, why have ye turned from me?
For I knock at the door and would enter, but none answer!
Repent! People accursed, at the sight of the Lamb,
See now the Dove that stands before you.
He is come, who never was far away from you–
Open your hearts to receive him.

Learn from me, for I am good and humble of heart.
Know that the thing I did command of you
Was in no way too hard for you, nor too distant from you.
For it was close by your side, in your ear that you might hear it,
And in your heart so that you might know it.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart;
And as yourself–shall love your neighbor.
—Paul Claudel, 1940