somewhere i have never traveled
Coro Allegro's second commercial CD features four extraordinary works by Boston composers, two of which are the result of commissions by Coro Allegro. All four were written between 1995 and 1998, and they all exemplify Coro Allegro's commitment to contemporary music and to the music of women composers.
You may purchase your copy from the following location:
The Voice of the Tenth Muse, Patricia Van Ness (1998)
Ruth Cunningham, soprano
Patricia Van Ness worked with Coro Allegro as Composer-in-Residence in 1998, culminating in this work. "When I became Composer-in-Residence with Coro Allegro, it was suggested that I use the writings of Sppho and verious other women poets as text. Ultimately, however, I came to believe that Sappho's work was so extraordinary that it needed the addition of no other poet...The title of this composition was inspired by Plato's description of Sappho as the 'tenth muse.'"
The Voice of the Tenth Muse is a large, dramatic work where the voice of Sappho is clearly heard through the soprano solist and the women of the chorus. As it true of most of Van Ness's music, the work is incredibly difficult. Yet the sumptuous beauty of the music is worth all the effort!
Sometimes I Feel Alive, Julian Wachner (1998)
Sometimes I Feel Alive is an exquisite setting of three love poems by e.e.cummings. Alison McMillan, president of the Providence Singers, commissioned the cycle for her husband's 50th birthday. The Providence Singers premiered the song cycle in 1997 under the composer's direction.
Voices of Terezin, Aaron Rosenthal (1996)
Darryl Hollister, piano
Voices of Terezin is an unsettling musical portrait of life in the Jewish detention camp Theresienstadt during World War II as seen through the eyes of four young inhabitants. The texts for the three movements are taken from ...I never saw another butterfly..., a compilation of children's poems and drawings from the Terezin ghetto. Voices of Terezin was the First Prize winner of the 1998 Greater Boston Choral Consortium Composition Competition.
The White Raven, Daniel Pinkham (1995)
Carole Haber, soprano
Coro Allegro commissioned Daniel Pinkham to compose a work in celebration of its Fifth Anniversary Season. The result was The White Raven on texts by Christopher Smart, for chorus, orchestra, and soprano soloists. Mr. Pinkham wrote the soprano solo specifically with Carole Haber in mind.
