Who Loves Bending Heaven Light?

Choral piece inspired by 1923 Annie Powell photo of boys on a flooded bridge

Last week, Jonathan Richter, who directs the UMass Lowell choral program, asked me to meet with the women’s choir to discuss my piece, Who Loves Bending Heaven Light? The more they know about it, he said, the better they will perform it at its world premiere next Tuesday.

Before meeting me in rehearsal room 113 of Moloney Performing Arts Center, they had already chosen to get in character by singing in front of the beautiful photo that inspired my words and music.

I asked the singers to relive the moment the shutter was snapped over 100 years ago, as I did when writing the words and music from Annie’s point of view. For instance, I suggested they imagine the lyric where she yells to the boys: Beaver Brook’s ice cold, love! Look as if its colder! “Was she in a boat?” I asked. “Could the boys hear her?” I told them in revealing Annie’s character, I showed her devotion to God, which comes out in the title, a short hymn-like introduction in the piano, a reference to the Biblical flood story, and a prayer in her darkroom: Thank you, Lord, to see in my dark. Thank you, Lord, to see in my art. I continued telling them, “This piece is about memory and being remembered,” and even if the audience doesn’t hear all the words, if the performers believe the lyrics, they will communicate the story.

Questions followed from the group having to do with Annie’s life, where her studio was, and how I discovered her. I left with my assessment that above all, she was a strong, independent-minded woman.

“OK, let’s get to it,” said the director, who brought out the best in the performers with a good mix of fun and discipline.

“It’s very singable, but not simplistic in any way,” he told me in an email. “It strikes a good balance that way. It’ll sound great!”

There are two other world premieres at the concert as well. Student Joe Paquin wrote music to a Sara Teasdale poem, Barter. And Olin Johannessen, a composer from Dover, NH, made a choral and instrumental arrangement of a little-known Pete Seeger piece, And I am still searching.

The free concert is at the 1,000-seat Moloney Performing Arts Center, 35 Wilder St., Lowell. Parking across the street is free.

The photo that inspired the song is one of about 12 attributed to Annie Powell, taken May 1, 1923 after a flood causing major damage. Courtesy City Engineers Collection, UMass Lowell Center for Lowell History

Bernie Zelitch is an investigative journalist, historian, composer, and by Annie Powell executive director.

Published in our newsletter 2/26/2025

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