Lee Hyla (b. 1952)

At Suma Beach (2003)

I. Suma Beach
II. Lamentation
III. The Pine Tree
IV. Itoma moshite

Lives of the Saints (2000)

PART I
I. From Canto III, Paradiso
II. Saint Jerome
III. Saint Teresa

PART II
I. Saint Lawrence
II. Saint Francis
III. From Canto XXII, Paradiso

Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano
Boston Modern Orchestra Project
Gil Rose

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I think of the pieces on this disc as my two religious epics, one Catholic and one Buddhist. Lives of the Saints is a cycle of interconnected pieces for mezzo-soprano and eight players. The texts are selections from a diverse group of writings including passages from Dante's Paradiso, a portion of The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself, bits of The Golden Legend from the 13th Century, and selections from the Considerations of the Stigmata of St. Francis. The piece is intended as more of a set of pyschological character studies rather than a meditation on saintliness itself.

At Suma Beach is based on the Noh play Matsukaze. The piece is in four movements, each taken from a scene in Matsukaze. The final three are conceived as a continuous set from the last stages of the play.

- Lee Hyla