Canadian Choral Music

Chor Leoni : Canadian Safari 2

Review: Diane Loomer, founder of Chor Leoni in 1992 with the purpose of singing the best, most difficult "classical" works for male choir, is unable to explain how the lions have now recorded their 3rd CD of folk songs. One good reason seems to be that Canadian folk music is the art of the people - sometimes rough, sometimes achingly beautiful, humorous, whimsical, warm and full of heart. Although they are using more accompaniment now and have performed with several symphony orchestras, the spirit, energy and sheer vocal power of Chor Leoni is as infectious as ever. "Safari 2" is a generous 2-CD collection of 25 tunes. Many favorites, but in particular "Royal Hudson," the foot-stomping "Watching the Apples Grow," "Feller from Fortune," "Trinque l'amourette," Gordon Lightfoot's classic "In the Early Morning Rain," the rousing "The Nancy," "The Black Fly Song," "The Mary Ellen Carter," "The Field Behind The Plow," "The Williams Lake Stampede" and "Canadian Pacific." A powerful, big fun 6th CD from the lions of the North country!

Songlist: Royal Hudson, RIse Again, The Skye Boast Song, The Old "Mayflower", Watching the Apples Grow, Feller from Fortune, Dondaine la ridaine, Indian Reels, Trinque l'amourette, In the Early Morning Rain, The Maple Leaf Forever, Amazing Grace, All the Diamonds, The Nancy, Heather Bonn/Island Ferry, The Black Fly Song, April in Whitehorse, The Mary Ellen Carter, Blow the Wind Southerly, Springtime in Alberta, Frobisher Bay, The Field Behind the Plow, Kettl Valley Railroad, The Williams Lake Stampede, Canadian Pacific

Chor Leoni : Choral Christmas Collection

Review: A perennial favourite with Vancouver audiences, Corlynn's sweet and gentle 'Christmas Angel' has elements of traditional and popular music. it is sure to be a hit with your audiences too. A smooth and jazzy version of 'Silent Night,' this piece is straightforward and suitable for any Christmas concert. Written in a traditional chant-like style with unison lines alternating with lush harmonic passages, Chor Leoni discovered Willan's previously unpublished version of 'Magnificat' and instantly fell in love with it. One of Chor Leoni's favourite modern Christmas carols, 'Yuletide Fires' is

Songlist: Christmas Angel, Silent Night, Magnificat, Yuletide Fires

Chor Leoni : Choral Collection Vol. 2

Review: Stan Rogers, Canada's folk music hero speaks to all of us through his words and music. 'Fogarty's Cove' is faithful to Stan's musical Style and it's great to sing! 'Ave, Maris Stella' is a favorite Nova Scotia Latin canticle with a simple harmonic arrangement. Included is a solo for tenor or unison tenor section. 'Loch Lomond' begins with a tenor or baritone solo, and develops into a rousing rhythmic chorus which drives to the end of the piece. in between are richly textured choral verses.

Songlist: Ave, Maris Stella, Loch Lomond

Eleanor Daley : Seasons of Love

Review: The English part song is back, with New World freshness and flair! A prolific composer, Eleanor Daley has a remarkable gift for melody. Her works are most notable for their sensitive interweaving of text and music. She has over one hundred published choral compositions and is commissioned extensively throughout North America.

Songlist: Spring, Midsummer, Autumn, Winter

Elektra Women's Choir : Choral Classics

Review: "Adam Lay Ybounden" was written originally for a small church choir, this piece takes the ancient text and sets it with a mystical angularity, but maintaining a beautiful sense of line. Includes a small soprano solo. Written for Elektra Women's Choir, this piece is now heard around the world. Using only the words "Ave Maria" this rhythmic and visionary work is suitable for women's or very advanced children's choir. "Missa Brevis" is a short mass setting for unaccompanied women's or treble choir consists of Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Although not technically demanding, the work requires sensitivity of phrasing and detailed attention to text and word stress. The heartfelt simplicity of expression underlines the inherent reverence and beauty of this liturgical text. Performance note: Missa Brevis can also be sung by a mixed chorus with tenors doubling sopranos and basses doubling altos. "Salve Regina" is one of the Catholic Church's four Marian antiphons, is set for unaccompanied women's choir and solo flute or solo soprano. With thick, luscious harmonies, this is a challenging piece of music, at times requiring 8-part divisi. The work requires a good sense of flow, attention to word stress and a convincing understanding of the piece's structure.

Songlist: Adam Lay Ybounden, Ave Maria, Missa Brevis, Salve Regina

Imant Raminsh : Northwest Trilogy

Review: Born in Latvia, Imant Raminsh came to Canada in 1948 and has become one of Canada's most highly regarded choral composer and arrangers. "Northwest Trilogy" is a wonderful set of songs from British Columbia. "Nootka Paddle Song" is a native welcoming song that features free incantation along with evocative choral writing. The piece contains some modern effects such as whispering and tone clusters, and is characterized by a feeling of building excitement and jubilation. "Bye, Bye Baby" - Based on a traditional Russian lullaby and would have been sung by members of the Doukhobar communities. A gentle, tonal work with rich harmonic background with varied textures and voicings bring this song of warmth and simplicity to life. "Sunset" - Folksy, poignant, and slighty tongue-in-cheek, this lament portrays the thoughts of a dying British Columbian cowboy. Replete with imitations of wailing coyotes, muffled death march drums, and other instances of word painting, this is a fun piece to perform.

Songlist: Bye, Bye Baby, Sunset, Nootka Paddle Song

Ruth Watson Henderson : Shades of Love

Review: The path of love is not always sunlit. In "Shades of Love," the music expresses a variety of emotions brought on by the diverse stages of love: ecstasy, tenderness, bitterness, wistfulness, eternal devotion. The colours and harmonies shift to match the mood of the poetry as each song portrays a different aspect of love.

Songlist: She Walks In Beauty, Annabel Lee, When We Two Parted, Awake My Heart, Remember

Stephen Hatfield : Folk Songs for 3 Part Treble

Review: The "Apple-Tree Wassail" comes from the cider country of Devon and Somerset, where it might be sung in the orchards or at the farmer's door. Wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon wes hael - to be healthy. "The Green Shores of Fogo" bears marks of Irish provenance, although its musical origins were lost before Kenneth Peacock collected the song from Mrs. John Fogarty in 1952. The tune, which Peacock considered one of the most beautiful modal melodies he had ever heard, has attracted more than one set of lyrics, and is also known in Newfoundland as "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle." Colcannon, made from various combinations of cabbage, kale, onions, scallions and potatoes mashed with butter and milk, is one of Ireland's most famous traditional dishes. Although this piece at first seems like a tribute to food, it's really a tribute to memory, and to times gone. The verses take us from the home, to the school, to courting on a country lane, with the narrator a little older in every verse, and a little more aware of the magic of the moment. "Girl of the Branches" emulates the long phrases and finely developed breath control that is a hallmark of Gaelic singing. Also included is the Jutland folk song "When The Star Falls".

Songlist: Girl of the Branches (Nighean nan Geug), When the Stars Fall, Colcannon, The Green Shores of Fogo, Apple-Tree Wassail

Stephen Hatfield : Folk Songs for 4 Part Treble

Review: Battant Son Plein is French slang, literally "hitting his fill," the equivalent of the English "in full swing." Written for Scala, a children's choir from Bruxelles, the title refers to what these children sound like when they sing, and the piece is a salute to their confidence and daring. Duration: ca. 5:10. Nukapianguaq presents Inuit music in a choral setting that remains as faithful as possible to the aesthetics of the original tradition. "Rosebud in June" is drawn from the English tradition that brought blessings to crops and flocks, this Somerset melody is rousingly arranged for full chorus. Also included in this package is "Sida Rudaia," a traditional Ukranian song arranged by Stephen Hatfield 4-pt treble a cappella, and "Double Shot" as performed by Sweet Honey In The Rock.

Songlist: Nukapianguaq, Rosebud In June, Sida Rudaia, Battant Son Plein, Double Shot (Honey in the Rock)

Stephen Hatfield : Three Ways To Vacuum Your House

Review: These original pieces incorporates a multiplicity of multicultural influences, from Peru to Scotland. The text is a sequence of nonsense syllables, imitating the humming and muttering one does during housework. The first movement explores various hemiola patterns culminating in vocalized drum patterns modeled on Arabic and Indian traditions. The second movement, whose slow groove is derived from Reggae, incorporates tonalities and scale structures from Brazil and Lebanon. The final movement starts in Peru, and works upward through Latin America only to discover a hitherto unexplored Mexican/Scottish border. Lots of fun to both teach and sing!

Songlist: Three Ways To Vacuum Your House - Part I, Three Ways To Vacuum Your House - Part II, Three Ways To Vacuum Your House - Part III

Stephen Hatfield : Treble Voice Fun! - Vol 1

Review: Stephen Hatfield is noted for his exciting arrangements of world music, and for his original works which weave influences from diverse cultures into a fresh and distinctive idiom. His choirs have earned gold medals in national festivals, and he has received various awards for his work in education and music. With "For Elizabeth:.." Hatfield uses the old Italian technique of matching the vowels of her name to the corresponding sol-fa syllables to create an ostinato that metaphorically translates her into music. The piece combines poignancy with lots of sparkle, lots of interlocking ostinati. The mix of tenderness and energy has effected audiences strongly. "Glettur" is an Icelandic word that signifies a mischievous but ultimately good-hearted sense of humour. Launching itself from a snatch of an old fiddle jig, "Glettur" lives up to its name with crafty changes of style and key, and with ironic allusions to a couple of other famous pieces of music that have something to do with high spirit. With "Fashion Victim, Drama Queen" we have a slangy de profundis about trying to placate your peer group. The soli section acts as the Drama Queen, while the rest of the choir takes the part of the peer group, commenting on the outsider in a mixture of English and Tex-Mex Spanish slang. Each movement of Missa Brevis incorporates folk melodies from a different country. The moods and the tempi of the originals have been altered; melodies have been unraveled, spliced together and persuaded to modulate.

Songlist: For Elizabeth: Gold, Frank Innocence, and Mirth, Glettur, Fashion Victim, Drama Queen, Missa Brevis

Various Arrangers : Canadian Folk Songs

Review: "Nukapianguaq" (pronounced Nuhk-ah-pee-ang-guaq) attempts to present Inuit music in a choral setting that remains as faithful as possible to the aesthetics of the original tradition. Inuit chants are usually reflective in nature and spiritual in intent. "On The Rooms" - An audience need not be familiar with the history of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's easternmost province, to get the sense that an epic story is unfolding before them. Based on the maritime heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador, this modern folk song creates an atmosphere of sea air and hard work. The arrangement of this beautiful Indian song "Land of the Silver Birch" was made by the Finnish music educator Pentti Paalanen in the 1970s for his high school choir in the town of Joensuu. Since all three verses are set to the same music, the necessary contrasts must come from a careful consideration of the text. These contrasts, or variations, need not be very great, however, as a certain monotony and mystery belongs to the character of this song. This Canadian Folksong "Petty Harbour Bait Skiff" describes the tragic sinking of a Bait Skiff near Petty Harbour in 1852, losing all but one of the crew.

Songlist: On The Rooms, Land of the Silver Birch, Nukapianguaq, Petty Harbour Bait Skiff, Oolichan

Various Arrangers : Toronto Children's Chorus Choral Series Vol. 1

Review: 'In Remembrance' an a cappella piece for 4-part women's voices. from Eleanor Daley's 'Requiem' was awarded the 1994 National Choral Award for Outstanding Choral Composition of the Year by the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors (ACCC), in May, 1994. 'When Music Sounds' was commissioned by the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects in reconition of its 25th Anniversary. This four part treble voice piece has a beautiful piano accompaniment and fairly simple harmonies. 'She's like the Swallow' and 'Sing Me a Song' were written for unison voices and piano. 'Songs of the Nativity' includes 6 christmas carols for women's voices - Chanticleer (SSAA), Before the Paling of the Stars (SA), The Kings of the East (SSA), The Lamb (SSAA), Peach (SSAA), Christ is Here (SSA). All have piano accompaniment.

Songlist: In Remembrance, She's Like the Swallow, Sing Me a Song, Songs of the Nativity (Six Songs), When Music Sounds

Sarah Quartel : A Winter Day

Review: This five-movement work celebrates the long Canadian winter, setting texts by the composer, Sara Teasdale, Lucy Maud Montgomery (of 'Anne of Green Gables' fame), and Melville Cane. Each movement depicts a different time of day, beginning with the cold darkness before dawn ('Timid Star') and concluding with the evening turning into dusk and then darkness ('Snow Toward Evening'). The music conjures up vivid images of a cold and crisp winter, and of swirling, dancing snowflakes.

Songlist: Timid Star, A Winter Dawn, Into Morning, A Winter Day, Snow Toward Evening

Sarah Quartel : Snow Angel

Review: Already a firm favourite with choirs across the world, Snow Angel is an evocative five-movement choral work that explores themes of love, rebirth, and beauty through the eyes of children and the heavenly army of angels that watch over them, yearning to make a difference to their lives. The work may be performed with narration, in which three angels present their perspectives on their earthly charges. Quartel weaves a haunting and poignant cello line throughout the work, and a vibrant part for djembe in movement four, 'Sweet child', carries the listener from the ethereal and mystical realm the work predominantly inhabits into an emphatic anthem with a distinctly African feel. The musical language is emotive and pictorial, allowing performers to play an active role in the storytelling.

Sarah Quartel : Snow Angel

Review: Snow Angel is an evocative five-movement choral work that explores themes of love, rebirth, and beauty through the eyes of children and the heavenly army of angels that watch over them, yearning to make a difference to their lives. The work may be performed with narration, in which three angels present their perspectives on their earthly charges. Quartel weaves a haunting and poignant cello line throughout the work, and a vibrant part for djembe in movement four, 'Sweet child', carries the listener from the ethereal and mystical realm the work predominantly inhabits into an emphatic anthem with a distinctly African feel. The musical language is emotive and pictorial, allowing performers to play an active role in the storytelling.