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The thin veil between life and death
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October 25, 2023Death is not an easy topic. Grief and mourning, as important as it is, don’t come easily to us, and whoever lost a loved one knows how deep pain and the love that transcends every separation alternate in the years that follow.
These sensations of loss, grief and love are the topics of The Sacred Veil, composed by American contemporary composer Eric Whitacre with lyrics of his friend Charles Anthony Silvestri and his wife Julia Lawrence Silvestri, who passed away at the age of 36 after a long battle with ovarian cancer. Music and lyrics express the same realities, telling the story of love and forming a family to the disturbing news, “I’m afraid we found something…”
Whitacre, a significant name in choral music, finds the melodies, harmonies, and dissonances to put the emotions into sound, accompanied by piano (Alex Oldroyd) and cello (Dr. Carrie Pierce).
The Pontifical Choir of the Cathedral opened the evening with the Gregorian chant “Requiem aeternam,” intertwining on several occasions the work of Whitacre/Silvestri with the Latin chants of the funeral Mass. The plain melodies, sung for centuries, added the conviction of faith in the resurrection to the experience of Silvestri, who sensed in those moments where the sacred veil between the worlds opens in moments of birth and death that no love is ever lost.
The 12 movements of Whitacre’s Sacred Veil were performed by the Corpus Christi Chorale together with the members of the Pontifical Chorale, conducted by Devin Davis. Around 200 people attended the beautiful concert, dedicated to all who lost their lives to cancer or are battling it. “We are not alone; in our heart, we have a great treasure,” said Fr. Pete Elizardo, Director of Divine Worship, who welcomed the audience.
During the Gregorian chant “Lux Eterna (Eternal light),” the audience was invited to light a candle in memory of those who passed away and bring it to the altar rail. A long line of light candles accompanied the rest of the performance.
Closing the evening, soprano Carolina Salinas performed Charles Gounod’s Ave Maria, accompanied by Alex Oldroyd and Carrie Pierce, a reminder that Mary accompanies our struggles on our earthly journey. The performance was a meaningful opening of this year’s concert season at the Cathedral, which will continue with the Cathedral Christmas on December 6.
