Fire in the Meadow: Pierce - CWU Chamber Choir

00:00 Living Fire
03:05 Resplendence
08:49 Rising and Setting
11:20 The Ecstasy of Air
15:40 Your Hidden Face

The Central Washington University Chamber Choir
Dr. Nicole C. Lamartine, Conductor
March 9, 2025 CWU Hertz Concert Hall (world premiere)
Fire in the Meadow: Five Visions of Hildegard von Bingen and Inayat Khan (2024) by Forrest Pierce


I. Living Fire
I am the ultimate fiery life
striking all living sparks
extinguishing none.
I see them as they are.
My upper wings ringing
earth’s circle with wisdom,
I set it spinning.

Kindle, Lord, fire in my heart,
that life may become clearer to me.
Raise my soul up
ss the rising of the flame.

II. Resplendence
Life’s fire burns
in the beauty of meadows
it shines in the waters
it blazes in the sun, moon, and stars.

This landscape in my heart
is a reflection of Your beauty.
Let my life becomes the spring of Your infinite life,
running eternally forever and ever.

III. Rising and Setting
When the waning moon sets,
the sun lights it new,
and it lives again.

Let my heart reflect Your light
as the moon reflects the sun.
Let my soul advance toward You
as the rising moon progresses towards fullness.

IV. The Ecstasy of Air
Through the breath of the air,
which sustains all,
invisible life
nurtures everything,
The breath lives in the green
and in flowers;
the waters flow as if alive,
the sun lives, too, by its light.

Speak, God, to me
through the air.
The air brings Thy message
and turns me into ecstasy.

V. Your Hidden Face
The stars also shine
in their own light
by being alive.

Let me receive Your divine message
as the stars receive light from Your hidden face.


PROGRAM NOTES:
Composer (Farhad) Forrest Pierce innovatively combines his Sufi Islamic traditions with a fresh voice in modern American choral music. He teaches Sufism in the Chishti tradition of Hazrat Inayat Khan and leads zikr in his community. A composer and poet originally from Washington state, he now teaches composition at the University of Kansas where he writes music “of meditative stillness and ecstatic virtuosity rooted in a deep connection to the natural world.” “Fire in the Meadow” was commissioned in 2024.

“Fire in the Meadow” is a six-movement work, each twinning intense passages from Hildegard von Bingen’s mystic texts and a series of resonant meditations by the great Sufi teacher Inayat Khan. Each movement unifies the Hildegard texts with contemplative phrases by Inayat Khan illustrating the mystical symbolism of the outside world. The Khan excerpts provide cyclical accompaniment patterns in each movement, drawn from Sufi practice.