Sounds in the Sanctuary - The Sacred Veil

Halcyon Chorale | Conductor: Lucas Weiss | Sandra Sprecher, piano | Alex Ellsworth, cello

Back row: (l to r). TENOR: Daniel Johnstone, Andrew Hudson-Sabens, Mike Errikson, Micah Weiss
BASS:Marc Lamontagne, Alan Rowe, Alden Weiss, Neil Netherly

Front row:  SOPRANO: Betsy Kane, Erin Dempsey, Sophia Montague, Jenny Mackenzie, Lila Mackenzie, Anna Quinn, Robyn Greenstone ALTO: Amanda Cashin, Elly Barksdale, Claudia Canuto, Elia Desjardins, Grace Cashin, Ceirra Manassa-Curnin

Contributed by Shep Holcombe 

Thanks to Halcyon Chorale and the organizers of Sounds in the Sanctuary for last Friday’s deeply moving performance of the “The Sacred Veil” with a score by Eric Whitacre and a libretto based on writings of Charles Silvestri, Julia Silvestri and the composer. The suite was performed as part of the 2025 Sounds in the Sanctuary series on Friday, August 1.

Those who were fortunate enough to attend heard an unforgettable work of beautifully integrated music and text, a piece that is unsparing and direct in its emotional power and richly contemporary in its dense and complex score.  The poems and prose are, at turns, personal, universally profound and coolly scientific.

The libretto briefly chronicles the illness and death of Julia Lawrence Silvestri and the emotional progress of her struggle.  The words are set to a vocally complex but clear and refined score, melodic and meditative.  The musical lines are tightly compacted and it is a credit to the sophistication and experience of the chorus and director that the performance was cohesive, balanced and stable.

To have heard this work, both secular and spiritual, is a quieting experience, requiring time to contemplate.  One may feel immediately almost devastated by the words and music, but also left the performance with a sense of gratitude and wonderment.

Read the full libretto here