SKU: HL.1197761

UPC: 196288134930. 6.75x10.5x0.019 inches.

The Out from the Shadows Choral Series brings you “Summer Is Gone,” a new setting of British poet Christina Rosetti's 1862 poem “Bitter for Sweet.” The composer, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, displays superb control of text painting and dynamics, creating vocal lines as natural as speech. In perfect harmony with Rosetti's text, falling chromatic figures tossed back and forth among voice parts create an inescapable sense of decay and sorrow. Taylor's harmonic rhythm conveys the latent impression of time stretching and constricting. A truly masterful work, this piece makes for a great festival or competition performance. A fun challenge for an accomplished chamber or larger choir, and a memorable addition to any concert. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was an English-born composer and conductor who hailed from an English and African musical family. After discovering his inherent musical ability, Coleridge-Taylor's family arranged for him to study at the Royal College of Music under composition professor Charles Villiers Stanford. After completing his degree, Coleridge-Taylor was appointed a professor at the Crystal Palace School of Music and became the conductor of the Croydon Conservatoire Orchestra. With his compositions, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor sought to draw from traditional African music and integrate it into the classical tradition, in a similar fashion to Brahms and Dvorak with Hungarian and Bohemian music. He was a prolific composer and a well-respected conductor in England and America, even touring in America and being received at the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt. His most celebrated work was his cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast. On his death, close friend and poet Alfred Noyes said, “Too young to die: his great simplicity, his happy courage in an alien world, his gentleness, made all that knew him love him.”.

SKU: PR.312418780

ISBN 9781491138137. UPC: 680160640201. Second April, by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Second April for S.A.T.B. Chorus and Piano is a four-movement set, based on the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Ewazen has long been enamored with her poetry's wonderfully vivid and descriptive imagery of nature and emotions, and its powerful and profound meaning. The second movement, MARIPOSA celebrates nature, wandering through a field of white and blue butterflies appearing wondrously, with rich chords and arpeggios. Yet also stepping back, the fleeting nature of life is the reality, with gentle, somber chords interspersed with the magical flight of the Mariposa.
Program Notes by Eric EwazenSECOND APRIL for S.A.T.B. Chorus and Piano is a four-movement set, based on the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. I have long been enamored with the poetry of Millay for its wonderfully vivid and descriptive imagery, and its often powerful and profound meaning. Millay’s descriptions of nature, and of feelings and emotions, have always spoken to me. SECOND APRIL consists of four of her poems, each with a distinctive mood, message, and emotional feel. They are vivid, powerful, and beautiful, inspiring me to capture these descriptions of the various scenes she portrays.  Song of a Second April uses music to underlie strong feelings, passions, and the tragedies of life. The poem itself is dramatic, detailing a time of personal strife and tragedy, perhaps the end of a relationship or even the end of a life. The music is intense, fast, in a minor key, and with rapid, spinning notes creating a feeling of powerful, relentless emotions. Melodies, motives, and gestures are tossed between the voices, increasing the feelings of intensity and even desperation. Little by little, the music almost dies away, getting quieter and quieter, creating a feeling of resignation, but with a Picardy Third in the final chord – maybe a bit of hope!  Mariposa is a celebration of nature, wandering through a field with white and blue butterflies appearing almost wondrously. But there’s also a profound feeling of poignancy, noting that as one relishes such a beautiful, magical sight, they should embrace the experience – the fleeting, transient nature of such a perfect vision and of life itself. The music portrays the flying of the butterflies: gentle, beautiful, with rich chords and arpeggios, but stepping back, as the fleeting nature of life is the reality, with gentle, but sombre chords interspersed with the magical flight of the Mariposa.Alms is a fast rondo, intense, bold, and always dance-like. It is about both tragedy and resilience. This music is also in minor, yet with moments of playfulness, as a recollection of happy times or moments takes over. This seesaw between emotions is heard throughout the movement, as the music continues to “dance.”  And with Millay’s summing up of “reality being what it is,” the piece ends with strength, boldness, and finality. Into the Golden Vessel of Great Song is an appassionato call to overcome! The poem exhorts us to “sing out” with hope, determination, and strength. The music is full of bright and lilting energy; but as the turmoil and times of strife people can sometimes feel or experience, the music becomes intense, dramatic, in a minor key, and with changing rhythms. BUT, there is a return to championing the idea of simply overcoming, going forward with hope and determination, and the music is in major, resonant and strong.  .