Transient Glory

This short text is exceptional in sentiment and construction. It speaks of all that is embodied in youth - a life that resonates with meaning and purpose, fullness, enchantment and magic.

An upbeat piece with rhythms and vocal patterns that represent the varied cycles of life and exemplify the meaning of Panta Rhei - all things are in flux.

One of the true masters of American art song, Ned Rorem has set this Edna St. Vincent Millay text for unison voices and piano. The effect of a unison line against Rorem's inventive harmonies on the pi...

From an interview with the composer: As the concluding lines of the poem make clear, the weary housewife is deaf and blind to the miracle of Orpheus and the peaceable kingdom he creates through music....

David Del Tredici writes: 'My setting of the 1727 New England Primer's Alphabet might horrify its Puritan author by transforming its simple text into an exuberant tour de force. Its 26 couplets tumble...

From Del Tredici's program notes: 'The sense of moment is emphasized by augmenting the choral forces with a soprano soloist and pianist, who open the work with an extended aria. The ensuing choral com...

Neue Chorwerke von einigen der engagiertesten zeitgenössischen Komponisten Amerikas, speziell als Hommage an die Kunst kindlicher Chormusik und die wundervolle, wenngleich vergängliche Schönheit junge...

From Del Tredici's Program notes: 'In this traumatic post-9/11 world, I felt an urge to connect with, and even comfort, the youngest generation of budding musicians. Heart and felt are two words that...

The three “miracles” of the text, a single footprint in new fallen snow, a pair of birds singing in parallel thirds and three roses blooming in winter express a kind of “magic realis...

This setting of “The Angel,” from William Blake's Songs of Experience, communicates a dreamlike state through intricate harmonies and textures. Both energetic and reflective, this is chall...

This work explores the curiosity and optimism of childhood. I shall sing to the beauty of the world. To the soft whisper of the earth. Beauty in the morning rising...sighing.

A part of the Transient Glory series of compositions commissioned by the Young People's Chorus of New York City, this work celebrates the joys of urban life. Composed by Tony Award winners Lynn Ahrens...

Based on an ancient Taoist fable about a small village farmer whose fortune continually changes through a chain of interconnected events. Singers are divided into two character groups - the narrator a...

The title is inspired by 'Tembandumba de la Quimbamba,' the main character of a poem by master Puerto Rican poet, Luis Pales Matos. The music, rhythmic and driving, alternates between chanting and sin...

Written for the Young People's Chorus of New York City, this piece puts the listener in the midst of a playground, listening in on the thoughts of the children running past; the sweetness, the conflic...

Based on a text by Tennessee Reed, the 11 year-old daughter of author Ishmael Reed. Though originally scored for four female voices, Three Heavens and Hells was envisioned as a work for children's cho...

A conceptual piece that utilizes Thompson's technique of “soundpainting,” a system for conducting, composing and shaping improvisation during performance.