Anonym. «The troubles of my heart»
The anonymous concert «The troubles of my heart» is based on selected verses from three psalms: 25:17 (beginning), 59:4 and 44:24, 27. The psalm verses are combined so as to produce kind of a dramatic composition: a sorrowful beginning («The troubles of my heart are enlarged»), the narration continues with a story of the enemies (temptations) («For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me»), ending with a prayful request for help («Arise for our help, and redeem us»). By its metric parameters, the concert also consists of three movements: the three-beat middle is flanked with the two-beat first and third movements. The composer brilliantly uses the dynamic capabilities of the large set of the chorus: gradual build-up of the choral mass in the imitational section illustrates the words «the mighty are gathered against me»; rhetoric exclamations «of my distresses», imposed on vocal duets, contrastly stress the content of the phrase «O bring thou me out of my distresses». Tonal abundance and meter-and- rhythm freedom, inherent in this anonymous piece, reveal its connection with the monophonic tradition of church singing.
English translation
The troubles of my heart are enlarged:
O bring thou me out of my distresses.
For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul:
the mighty are gathered against me;
not for my transgression, nor for my sin, o Lord.
Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?
Arise for our help, and redeem us
for thy name’s sake.
Original text
Скорби сердца моєго умножишася,
І от нужд моїх ізведи мя, Господи.
Яко се, уловиша душу мою
Нападоша на мя крѣпциі:
Ниже грѣх мой, ниже беззаконіє моє, Господи.
Востани, вскую спиши, Господи
Воскресни, помози нам і ізбави нас
імене Твоєго ради.
Track list
Press on the titles for further reading on the concerts