Utopia by Moira Smiley - Lilia Ensemble
Moira Smiley (1993), Utopia (text by Joseph Swain)
November 17, 2024 at First Baptist Church of Glendale (Glendale, CA)
Lilia Ensemble https://www.liliaensemble.org
Soo Bin Kwon, soprano @soobinkwonsoprano
Elizabeth Laughton, mezzo soprano
Rebecca Russell, mezzo soprano
Audio/Video: Jose Daniel Ruiz
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O thou in whose presence my soul takes delight,
on whom in affliction I call,
my comfort by day my song in the night,
my hope my salvation my all.
Where dost thou at noon time resort with thy sheep,
to feed on the pastures of love?
Say why in the valley of death should I weep,
or alone in the wilderness rove?
O why should I wander an alien from thee,
and cry in the desert for bread?
My foes will rejoice when my sorrows they see,
and smile at the tears I have shed.
Ye daughters of Zion, declare have you seen,
the star that on Israel shone.
Say if in your tents my beloved has been,
and where with his flocks he is gone.
His voice as the sound of a dulcimer sweet
is heard through the shadows of death.
The cedars of Lebanon bow at his feet,
the air is perfumed with his breath.
Where dost thou at noon time resort with thy sheep,
to feed on the pastures of love?
Say why in the valley of death should I weep,
or alone in the wilderness rove?