Das 2023 entstandene Werk Everyone, Everywhere des 1961 geborenen amerikanischen Komponisten Daron Aric Hagen ist eine 50 Minuten lange Kantate zum 75. Jahrestag der Allgemeinen Erklärung der Menschenrechte mit Texten aus eben diesem Dokument, sowie von Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Aristoteles, Mahatma Gandhi, John Lewis, Frederick Douglass, Kahlil Gibran und Fannie Lou Hamer.
Hagen hat daraus ein geistliches Drama zusammengestellt, das hoffendes Vertrauen mit demütiger Bitte vereint. Es beginnt mit herzpochender Munterkeit und wird dann immer feierlicher und ernsthafter. Es setzt den Geist der Menschenrechtserklärung musikalisch um, um deren Kernprinzipien zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Chor, Solisten und Orchester bringen diese musikalische Hommage an die Ideale der Erklärung engagiert zum Ausdruck.
Danach erklingt ein Stück auf ein Gedicht des irischen Dichter William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), An Irish Airman Foresees His Death (Ein irischer Flieger sieht seinen Tod voraus), das 1918 geschrieben wurde. Das Gedicht ist ein Selbstgespräch eines Fliegers im Ersten Weltkrieg, in dem der Erzähler die Umstände seines bevorstehenden Todes beschreibt. Die nervöse Begleitmusik unterstreicht die beklemmende Wirkung des Texts.
Das Programm wird sehr einfühlsam und meditativ beschlossen mit The Bixby Letter, einer Botschaft von Präsident Abraham Lincoln an Lydia Parker Bixby, einer Witwe, die während des amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs fünf Söhne in der Unionsarmee verloren hatte: « Ich bete, dass unser himmlischer Vater den Schmerz Ihres Verlustes lindern möge und Ihnen nur die geschätzte Erinnerung an die geliebten und verlorenen Menschen und den feierlichen Stolz hinterlässt, der Sie erfüllen muss, ein so kostbares Opfer auf den Altar der Freiheit gelegt zu haben. »
Composed in 2023, Everyone, Everywhere by American composer Daron Aric Hagen (b. 1961) is a 50-minute cantata commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with texts from that document as well as from Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Aristotle, Mahatma Gandhi, John Lewis, Frederick Douglass, Kahlil Gibran, and Fannie Lou Hamer.
Hagen has crafted a spiritual drama that combines hopeful confidence with humble supplication. It begins with heart-pounding exuberance and then grows increasingly solemn and serious. It translates the spirit of the Declaration of Human Rights into music to express its core principles. The choir, soloists and orchestra are dedicated to this musical tribute to the ideals of the Declaration.
This is followed by a piece based on a poem by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, written in 1918. The poem is a soliloquy by an airman in World War I, in which the narrator describes the circumstances of his impending death. The nervous background music underlines the oppressive effect of the text.
The program concludes in a very sensitive and meditative way with The Bixby Letter, a message from President Abraham Lincoln to Lydia Parker Bixby, a widow who had lost five sons in the Union Army during the American Civil War: « I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom. »
—Norbert Tischer, Pizzicato, February 2025
Everyone, Everywhere
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
The Bixby Letter
Naxos 8.579180
Selected Reviews
I’m always glad to see music by Daron Hagen (b 1961) in my review batch—he is simply one of the best vocal composers working now. The big piece here is the large cantata Everyone, Everywhere (2023), written to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations’ declaration of universal human rights. Hagen’s libretto draws from the document itself, as well as the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Aristotle, Mahatma Gandhi, John Lewis, Frederick Douglass, and so on. From this patchwork of formal and philosophical text, he creates a gripping, ardent, and dramatic work, emphasizing the noble, humane sentiments of the declaration, its global legacy, and the continuing work and struggle to guarantee such rights for all. His vocal and choral writing is intelligent and engaging; I’m reminded in moments of Britten’s War Requiem. The frequent rising figures in the solo mezzo-soprano and baritone lines are particularly striking, sung beautifully by Gabrielle Barkidjija and Bryan Murray. There is a particular moment in II that employs these figures while intoning the human rights of all children; it nearly brought tears to my eyes, not just from the beautiful lyricism, but from how it presented its plaintive truth, a truth that today remains unfulfilled for so many children around the world and here in the United States. Not for a second does Hagen take for granted the urgency and relevance of the document.
Also included are two short, moving songs with text responding to the human toll of war: the foreboding `An Irish Airman Foresees his Death’ (2017) after WB Yeats and `The Bixby Letter’ (2015), from a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to a grieving Civil War widow. Both are sung by baritone Shavon Lloyd, with Amir Farid accompanying on piano.
The solo performances of the cantata and songs are universally excellent. The double choral ensemble is fine, if not always as crisp with their diction as I’d like. It’s not a significant problem, but since fully half of the text for the cantata is not printed, it is sometimes difficult to understand what is sung. (Text is supplied for the songs). But this doesn’t diminish my enthusiasm for such a moving, noble work. This is worth your time.
—Faro, American Record Guide September 2025
Composer Daron Hagen has been finding growing audiences for tonal vocal works that use a wide variety of techniques, from serialism to popular music, in expressing ideas and characters. Everyone, Everywhere, commissioned by the Cecilia Chorus of New York and recorded here in its 2023 live world premiere performances, showcases his public-facing style in an ideal way. Its texts are drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the work marks the 75th anniversary of that statement, which, to say the least, may have found new relevance. Hagen, however, weaves in sections from other writings and speeches, ranging from those of Aristotle to U.S. Representative John Lewis. The music is likewise elegantly woven, with the work of two separate choruses (the Every Voice Generations Choir also appears), orchestra, and a pair of soloists all deployed logically in connection with the words. The youthful, idealistic soloists, mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Barkidjija and baritone Bryan Murray, have just the right sound, and a different baritone, Shavon Lloyd, is also effective in the briefer finale. These are appealing works that bring some technical challenges, but they could be programmed with impact by any university choir, and one might do oneself a favor by hearing them now, on the ground floor.
—-James Mannheim, Allmusic.com
Daron Hagen es un compositor norteamericano que parte de un principio claro: su ideal musical es la claridad, la sinceridad y la accesibilidad. Nacido en 1961, tiene numerosísimos premios y en su producción cuenta con 14 óperas, tres bandas sonoras, 14 conciertos y más de 300 canciones. Este disco nos presenta tres obras en primera grabación mundial. La primera y más extensa es Everyone, Everywhere, estrenada en el Carnegie Hall el 16-12-2023, escrita para una plantilla importante con gran orquesta, coro y dos solistas. El texto del que parte es la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos, y la cantata pretende ser una poderosa celebración del 75 aniversario de su creación. En palabras del autor, esta obra “no solo conmemora la Declaración Universal, sino que nos anima a defender la paz y los derechos humanos en todo el mundo”. La obra está muy bien escrita y mejor instrumentada, siempre en un lenguaje moderno pero anclado en el poderoso sistema de la tonalidad. Los 50 minutos de duración se completan con dos canciones para barítono y piano que hablan del coste de la guerra, con textos de W.B. Yeats y la segunda de Abraham Lincoln. La interpretación hace justicia a la obra y Mark Saphiro se toma muy en serio la tarea, con una orquesta poco conocida que suponemos creada para la ocasión, un coro en buen estado de forma y dos solistas comprometidos con alto nivel artístico. A pesar de la aridez del texto (digamos que no es la mejor poesía), el resultado final brilla a alto nivel.
— Jerónimo Marín, Ritmo © 2025 Ritmo