European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

Joseph Schwantner in Residence at Northwestern University and World Premiere of Chapel Music

Feb. 03, 2014

Joseph Schwantner in Residence at Northwestern University and World Premiere of <em>Chapel Music</em>

Beginning February 5, Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music hosts Joseph Schwantner for a weeklong residency, culminating in the world premiere of his new work for chorus and orchestra, Chapel Music, on February 9. The work was written to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Alice Millar Chapel. Stephen Alltop leads the Northwestern Symphony Orchestra in the premiere, along with the University Singers and the Alice Millar Chapel Choir. 

For Chapel Music, Schwantner set texts by poets George Herbert, Henry David Thoreau, and William Butler Yeats, as well as poetry by the Spanish mystic San Juan de la Cruz and Psalm 149 from the Bible. The chorus plays a major role in the work: the music begins with a choral processional through the chapel hall to the stage and throughout the piece, singers perform various percussive roles, including tambourines, hand clapping, maracas and handbells. In addition to the string orchestra and percussion section, the choir is accompanied by a brass quintet, which performs off-stage until the end of the piece. The program also includes a performance of Schwantner’s New Morning for the World, “Daybreak of Freedom.”

Northwestern University hosts several additional events throughout the week as part of Schwantner’s residency. Performances of his music include Sparrows and Music of Amber by the university’s Contemporary Music Ensemble on February 6, And the Mountains Rising Nowhere and From a Dark Millennium by the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble on February 7, as well as The Poet’s Hour and Morning’s Embrace on February 8 by the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra.

Additional performances of Schwantner’s music this month include Distant Runes and Incantations for chamber ensemble, led by Richard McKay and the Dallas Chamber Symphony. The performance takes place on February 25 at the Dallas City Performance Hall. Schwantner’s New Morning for the World, “Daybreak of Freedom,” receives performances by David Loebel and the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra on February 5 at Jordan Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, under Michael Morgan, on February 6 and 8 at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, NY.

Earlier this month, Schwantner’s Dream Drapery received its first West Coast performances throughout the San Francisco Bay Area by contralto Karen Clark and the Galax Quartet. The piece, scored for contralto and Baroque string quartet and based on texts by Henry David Thoreau, was commissioned and premiered by Karen Clark and the Galax Quartet in 2012.

For more information on Joseph Schwantner, please visit www.schott-music.com.

Details on the residency at Northwestern University can be found at www.music.northwestern.edu. 

Joseph Schwantner
Chapel Music (2013)
five diverse songs for chorus and orchestra
text (En, Sp, Lat) by George Herbert, St. John of the Cross, Henry David Thoreau, William Butler Yeats and from the Bible
fl(pic)-2perc-hp.pno(amplified)-str-brass quintet (off-stage) - SATB chorus, 7 hand-bells, solo soprano (drawn from the chorus), 3 maracas (played by tenors), 3 tamb (played by tenors)
25’

New Morning for the World (1982)
“Daybreak of Freedom”
for narrator and orchestra
text (En) by Martin Luther King, Jr.
4(3.pic 4.pic).2.ca.3(3.bcl).3-4.3.4.1-timp.4perc-hp.amp cel.amp pno-str
23’

version for chamber orchestra (2004)
2(2.pic).2(2.ca).2(3.bcl).2-2.2.0.0-perc-pno-str
23’

Distant Runes and Incantations (1987)
for chamber ensemble
fl.cl-perc-pno-2vn.va.vc
15’
 
Dream Drapery (2012)
“Thoreau Songs”
for contralto and Baroque string quartet
text (En) by Henry David Thoreau
20’

News