An Evening of Music with 

 

 

Concordia Lutheran Church

4:30pm, Sunday, February 2nd, 2025

​

(Notes by Christa Berezowskyj)

Thank you so much for being here today - we’re so pleased to share this program celebrating female composers and songwriters (and performers!), especially as it benefits the important work that Interval House and MACC are doing in our area. 

 

If I Ain’t Got You - Alicia Keys

We start with a song from Alicia Keys, a singer/songwriter and pianist who wrote this song after the death of fellow R&B singer Aaliyah in 2001.  Keys says that Aaliyah’s death put everything into perspective for her, and helped teach her what is really important in life - not material belongings, but the relationships and love that you cultivate. 

 

Some people live for the fortune, some people live just for the fame.  Some people live for the power, 

some people live just to play the game. Some people think that the physical things define what's within.  I've been there before, but that life’s a bore: so full of the superficial.

Some people want it all, but I don't want nothing at all if it ain't you, baby, if I ain't got you, baby.

Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothing if I ain't got you. 

Some people search for a fountain, promising forever young. Some people need three dozen roses and that's the only way to prove you love them.  Hand me the world on a silver platter and what good would it be with no one to share, with no one who truly cares for me?

​

 

Landslide - Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac

Stevie Nicks is also thoughtful about navigating life transitions and priority shifts in our next selection, Landslide.  This beautiful tune was written by Stevie Nicks and is one of Fleetwood Mac’s most well-known singles.  The lyrics ponder “Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?” Please enjoy. 

 

I took my love and I took it down. I climbed a mountain and I turned around

and I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills, 'til the landslide brought me down. Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?  Can the child within my heart rise above? 

Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?  Can I handle the seasons of my life?  

Well, I've been 'fraid of changin' 'cause I've built my life around you…

but time makes you bolder, even children get older and I'm gettin' older, too…

 

Voodoo Dolls - Jessie Montgomery

Jessie Montgomery, born in 1981, is a Grammy award winning composer, performer, and educator.  In 2024, she completed a three year Composer In Residence appointment with the Chicago Symphony, where she launched the Young Composers Initiative, which supports high school aged musicians in creating and presenting their works.  In her own words, the piece we’ll be playing today, “Voodoo Dolls was commissioned in 2008 and choreographed by the JUMP! Dance Company of Rhode Island, a collaborative work among their faculty and students.  The choreography was a suite of dances, each one representing a different traditional children’s doll: Russian dolls, marionettes, rag dolls, Barbie, voodoo dolls… The piece is influenced by West African drumming patterns and lyrical chant motives, all of which feature highlights of improvisation within the ensemble.”  We’ve had a lot of fun preparing this exciting piece for you today.  

 

​

Five Folksongs in Counterpoint - Florence Price

Florence Price was a black American composer, born in Little Rock Arkansas in 1887.  She composed hundreds of compositions ranging from symphonies, chamber music, solo instrumental works, choral music, arrangements of spirituals, and beyond.  She is recognized as the first African-American woman to have success as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition, her first symphony, premiered by a major orchestra, the Chicago Symphony in 1933.  This collection of folksongs was written around 1950, and explores familiar folktunes in new and engaging ways.  In music, counterpoint is the relationship between multiple melodically and rhythmically independent lines of music.  The lines dance around each other and journey through sometimes unexpected harmonic settings.  We’ll be performing three of the five songs today, Oh my darlin clementine, Drink to me with thine own eyes, and Shortnin bread.  Please enjoy.  

   2. Oh My Darlin’ Clementine

   3. Drink to Me With Thine Own Eyes

   4. Shortnin’ Bread

​​

​

A Case of You - Joni Mitchell 

We’ll now take you to Joni Mitchell’s stunning song, “A Case of You” from the 1975 album Blue.  Joni Mitchell is a Canadian/American singer, songwriter, painter - regarded by some as one of the greatest song-writers of our time.  “A Case of You” is reflective, snarky, and a beautiful exploration of love and all its complexities. 

 

Just before our love got lost you said "I am as constant as a northern star" and I said, "Constantly in the darkness? Where's that at? If you want me I'll be in the bar…” 

On the back of a cartoon coaster in the blue TV screen light, I drew a map of Canada…Oh, Canada…with your face sketched on it twice.

Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine, you taste so bitter and so sweet. 

Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling… and I would still be on my feet,

oh, I would still be on my feet.

I am a lonely painter, I live in a box of paints. I'm frightened by the devil and I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid. 

I remember that time you told me, you said, "Love is touching souls.” 

Surely you touched mine 'cause part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time.

I met a woman, she had a mouth like yours. 

She knew your life, she knew your devils and your deeds, and she said,

"Go to him, stay with him if you can, but be prepared to bleed…”

Oh, but you are in my blood, you're my holy wine.  You're so bitter and so sweet,

oh, I could drink a case of you, darling…

Still I'd be on my feet, I would still be on my feet.
 

 

August - Taylor Swift

I’d be surprised if anyone in this room hasn’t heard the name Taylor Swift.  Whether she is your style or not, it is hard to deny deny her cultural impact, intimate song-writing, and impressive live performances. On this cold February evening, let’s reminisce about young, exciting summer romance with her song, “August.”   

 

Salt air, and the rust on your door, I never needed anything more.

Whispers of "Are you sure?", "Never have I ever before"…

but I can see us lost in the memory.

August slipped away into a moment in time, 'cause it was never mine. 

I can see us twisted in bedsheets, August sipped away like a bottle of wine,

‘cause you were never mine.

Your back beneath the sun, wishin' I could write my name on it. 

Will you call when you're back at school? I remember thinkin' “I had you, back when we were still changin' for the better.”

Wanting was enough. 

For me, it was enough to live for the hope of it all,

cancel plans just in case you'd call and say you’d meet me behind the mall. 

So much for summer love and saying, "Us”, 'cause you weren't mine to lose…

 

You Matter To Me - Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles is one of my personal favorite singer/songwriters.  She wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Waitress, from where our next selection originates.  The song “You Matter to Me” comes at a turning point in the musical, where the main character, Jenna, starts to be able to envision a new life for herself, feeling love, acceptance and hope in a new relationship.  The lyrics reflect that telling someone they matter to you is simple and plain, not much to ask of somebody - but nonetheless vital.  I think we all could use a dose of this message these days. Hear it yourself and share it with those around you.  You and all you have to offer matters, and can make a beautiful difference in the world.  

​

I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes. 

They've seen things that you never quite say, but I hear…

Come out of hiding, I'm right here beside you and I'll stay there as long as you let me.

Because you matter to me: simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody.

You matter to me: I promise you do, you matter to me.

It's addictive the minute you let yourself think, “the things that I say just might matter to someone.” 

All of this time I've been keeping my mind on the running away,

and for the first time I think I'd consider the stay.

Because you matter to me…

 

String Quartet No. 2 (Finale) - Florence Price

Our final selection today is the Finale from Florence Price’s second string quartet in A minor, which was published in 1935.  During her life, Florence Price was praised for the way she blended her traditional Western education with celebration of African American culture throughout her body of work.  We encourage you to seek out more music by this engaging composer!  The movement we’ll close with today is in Rondo form, meaning that we return repeatedly to the opening theme as we travel through tumultuous harmonic and emotional territory. 

 

Thank you again for joining us this afternoon, and thank you for your support of Interval House and MACC. Be kind, and have a good evening!