The Stony Brook (NY) Camerata Singers have sung at prestigious music festivals such as the Utrecht Early Music Festival and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival in California. Their 30 mixed voices represent a cross-section of Stony Brook University, and they sing music from all periods, early to modern. While the major works of Randall Thompson (1899-1984) and Libby Larsen (b. 1950) are well-known, this CD offers a unique opportunity to hear some of their smaller works for unaccompanied chorus, and to compare these two American composers separated by half a century. 16 songs: first Thompson's "Antiphon" (1970), then 7 movements of "Mass of the Holy Spirit" (1955), followed by three striking "Sweet and Sour Nursery Rhymes" by Larsen, "There Was a Little Girl", "Little Boy Blue" and "Try, Try Again" (all 3 accompanied by French Horn). Then two by Thompson, "Glory to God in the Highest" (1958) and "Fare Well" (1973) are followed by the complex, dissonant "Bind Me, I Can Still Sing" and "Adrift! A Little Boat Adrift!" by Larsen, and the final cut is Thompson's "The Lark in the Morn" (1938). An interesting contrast of two composers, both brilliant, each with a totally different focus. |
