SKU: BT.MUSM570369027

Isthmus denotes a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger ars of land. The title is a metaphor for an effort to bond artistically my experiences of living in Cyprus, my birthplace, and in the USA, my recently adopted homeland. Having lived in a small, partitioned island for my formative years and in England for eleven years, water has always had a double meaning: it has at once served as a gateway to other cultures but also as a border, a violent and absolute interruption of a continuum. While in the USA, or indeed in a now connected Europe, it is possible to travel on land for days without having to encounter a border, in the countries where I lived for most of my life, that was not possible. As an artist, this notion of establishing boundaries and consciously trying to break them is very close to me, as my music deals both with modernity but also with tradition and, similarly, with metaphor and reality. As a Cypriot, the sea, the world of antiquity, the mysteries of the oracles, the notion of borders and the pastoral are all very central to my way of thinking. In Cyprus, different layers of history are frequently superimposed on a single building that might still preserve its Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman features in its layers of stone and architecture. Similarly, ancient ruins or the barbed wire of modern conflict often interrupt placid fields. An isthmus, therefore, can be seen to symbolize my artistic struggle to join strikingly different experiences and notions in a cohesive way. Similar to an isthmus, in this short piece, I connect these experiences with the purpose of creating a distinct and unique sonic context, connecting technology and tradition, the pastoral with the urban, the musical with the extra-musical and the abstract with the concrete. For example, the choir does not always sing in the traditional sense, but the singers imitate various natural sounds, such as water, air, crickets or birds, to create a vivid visual impression for the work. Scandinavian herding calls blend with field recordings from the seas of Cyprus and the lakes of Upstate New York, communicated within clearly defined, singular acoustic sources and spaces through wireless speakers. The text used is both onomatopoeic, articulating an imaginary language, but also literal, with a setting of the poem, “To make a prairie” by the iconic American poet Emily Dickinson and a tiny fragment from Callimachus’ “Hymn to Demeter.” Technology is used sparsely and very intentionally to articulate the expressive qualities of pastoral imagery, creating one unified synthetic timbre with the choristers’ sounds. This piece is dedicated to the wonderful singers of the Georgia Institute of Technology Chamber Choir with special thanks to Professors Hsu and Ulrich, without whose support this composition would not have been possible. Practical notes: A choir of no less than 24 singers is sought with 4 additional soloists (2 Sopranos and 2 Altos). Each singer must have their own wireless speaker, secured either in the music folder or as a strap inside their shirts. All sounds must match in volume the sound from the speakers, creating one unified timbre. The speakers should not be noticeable to the public. The four soloists are placed offstage at the beginning of the work. From 1:35’ onwards they enter the hall and take their positions, ideally at the four corners of the hall. If the hall is too large, the singers can find alternate positions, but these should always be antiphonal. The four soloists sing predominantly in the “kulning” style and the antiphonal aspect is very important to the work. There are two sound files for each section (SATB) that are triggered by each singer’s mobile device. The first occurs at the start of the piece, and the second, about a minute before the end. The sound files are able to be purchased separately, on CD, or are available directly from UYMP.

SKU: PR.312419290

ISBN 9781491137932. UPC: 680160692620. Texts from The King James Bible, creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt; Edna St. Vincent Millay, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Walt Whitman, Lord Byron, Esther Iverem, William Wordsworth, Wendell Berry, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Charles Mackay, William .

Terra Nostra focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. The oratorio is divided into three parts:Part I: Creation of the World celebrates the birth and beauty of our planet. The oratorio begins with creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt that are integrated into the opening lines of Genesis from the Old Testament. The music surges forth from these creation stories into “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which describes the world in exuberant and vivid detail. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On thine own child” praises Mother Earth for her role bringing forth all life, while Walt Whitman sings a love song to the planet in “Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth!” Part I ends with “A Blade of Grass” in which Whitman muses how our planet has been spinning in the heavens for a very long time.Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines the achievements of mankind, particularly since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” sets an auspicious tone that mankind is on the verge of great discoveries. This is followed in short order by Charles Mackay’s “Railways 1846,” William Ernest Henley’s “A Song of Speed,” and John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight,” each of which celebrates a new milestone in technological achievement. In “Binsey Poplars,” Gerard Manley Hopkins takes note of the effect that these advances are having on the planet, with trees being brought down and landscapes forever changed. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Dirge” concludes Part II with a warning that the planet is beginning to sound a grave alarm.Part III: Searching for Balance questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. Three texts continue the earth’s plea that ended the previous section: Lord Byron’s “Darkness” speaks of a natural disaster (a volcano) that has blotted out the sun from humanity and the panic that ensues; contemporary poet Esther Iverem’s “Earth Screaming” gives voice to the modern issues of our changing climate; and William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” warns us that we are almost out of time to change our course. Contemporary/agrarian poet Wendell Berry’s “The Want of Peace” speaks to us at the climax of the oratorio, reminding us that we can find harmony with the planet if we choose to live more simply, and to recall that we ourselves came from the earth. Two Walt Whitman texts (“A Child said, What is the grass?” and “There was a child went forth every day”) echo Berry’s thoughts, reminding us that we are of the earth, as is everything that we see on our planet. The oratorio concludes with a reprise of Whitman’s “A Blade of Grass” from Part I, this time interspersed with an additional Whitman text that sublimely states, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love…”My hope in writing this oratorio is to invite audience members to consider how we interact with our planet, and what we can each personally do to keep the planet going for future generations. We are the only stewards Earth has; what can we each do to leave her in better shape than we found her?

SKU: BT.MUSM570200641

English.

Jesus Reassures His Mother is a setting of medieval lyric poetry written anonymously in the 14th century. The poet recounts a vision of the young Mary rocking the infant Christ to sleep. The child requests his mother to sing a lullaby but, alas, knowing her child’s fate she is too sad to sing. Jesus tells her that all mothers worry about their children’s futures and insists that she should sing nevertheless. Mary recounts the visit of Gabriel and the events of Christ’s birth but reflects how sad it is to have delivered a child to such a fate. Jesus reassures his mother that he will be with his father in heaven where Mary will come to join Him at the end of time, there to livein eternal bliss. At this point Mary is persuaded by and echoes her child’s reassuring words, and she is joined in this by the choir (now representing us all). The vision fades away in the voice of the narrator whose loneliness and longing return. We learn that it is Christmas Day. This setting grows from the visionary mystical world inhabited by Julian of Norwich whose Revelations of Divine Love provided the inspiration for a work Anne Boyd composed in 1994. The medium has been expanded from the Song Company’s six solo voices used in the Revelations to the double motet choir of the Sydney Philharmonia who commissioned this work for their 75th anniversary. The parts of the infant Jesus, Mary, the Narrator and the angel Gabriel are taken by choir soloists: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The work is situated in the context of Boyd ’s personal musical aesthetic which she describes as the intersection of Christian Love with Buddhist silence.

SKU: HL.293402

ISBN 9781540051042. UPC: 888680936198. 5.0x5.0x0.075 inches.

This cantata is a celebration of light. Filled with time-honored carols and expressive original songs, this work will dazzle and inspire. The first half of the cantata is dedicated to hopeful prophecies associated with the coming Light of the World. With the birth of Jesus, the second part moves forward to declare the tidings of great joy and is crowned with an opportunity for the congregation to join in singing, Joy to the World. Brant Adams and Robert Sterling shine as orchestrators of this truly festive work. Glorious! Songs include: A Festive Call to Christmas; Celebration of Light; Come, Golden Light; Dazzling Joy; Beautiful Name; Dreamer of Stars; Angel Song; Silver and Shadows; Joyous Carols of Christmas. Score and Parts for Full Orchestra (fl 1-2, ob, cl 1-2, bn, hn 1-2, tpt 1-3, tbn, 1-2, tba, timp, perc 1-2, hp, pno, vn 1-2, va, vc, db) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download. Score and Parts for Consort (fl, cl, tpt 1-2, tbn, perc, kybd str) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download.

SKU: HL.293405

ISBN 9781540051073. UPC: 888680936228. 5.0x5.0x1.059 inches.

This cantata is a celebration of light. Filled with time-honored carols and expressive original songs, this work will dazzle and inspire. The first half of the cantata is dedicated to hopeful prophecies associated with the coming Light of the World. With the birth of Jesus, the second part moves forward to declare the tidings of great joy and is crowned with an opportunity for the congregation to join in singing, Joy to the World. Brant Adams and Robert Sterling shine as orchestrators of this truly festive work. Glorious! Songs include: A Festive Call to Christmas; Celebration of Light; Come, Golden Light; Dazzling Joy; Beautiful Name; Dreamer of Stars; Angel Song; Silver and Shadows; Joyous Carols of Christmas. Score and Parts for Full Orchestra (fl 1-2, ob, cl 1-2, bn, hn 1-2, tpt 1-3, tbn, 1-2, tba, timp, perc 1-2, hp, pno, vn 1-2, va, vc, db) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download. Score and Parts for Consort (fl, cl, tpt 1-2, tbn, perc, kybd str) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download.

SKU: LO.99-2365L

UPC: 000308120479.

“Night of Wonder, Night of Joy” is a worship service that celebrates the wondrous miracles surrounding the birth of our Savior. The story begins with Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, finding shelter behind the inn as they prepare for Jesus’ birth. The scene then shifts to generations earlier, when the Israelites were enslaved and expectantly looked forward to the coming of a King to free them, the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. The first Christmas scene returns as the service concludes with a celebration of the wonder and joy of God’s special gift to us: a Savior, Jesus Christ. The narration may be presented simply, by readers, or dramatically, with characters in costume pantomiming the events as the story unfolds. Inspired by these miraculous events, Niel Lorenz and Ruth Elaine Schram have combined their great talents to create a dramatic musical experience that is certain to fill the hearts of all believers with a sense of wonder and joy in God’s goodness.