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Choral Music to Stir the Soul and Mind!

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Blue
(Arrangers noted in parentheses)

Oh, Shenandoah (Alf Houkom)
He's Goin' Away (Gail Kubik)
Skip to my Lou (Edwin Fissinger)
Steal Away (Carol Barnett)
Wayfarin' Stranger (Gilbert M. Martin)
Soldier, Soldier Won't You Marry Me? (Robert De Cormier)
Pretty Saro (Mark Keller)
Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier (Robert De Cormier)
Black is the Color (Norman Luboff)
Red River Valley (Carol Barnett)
Nelly Bly (Roger Wagner)
My Lord, What a Mornin' (Harry T. Burleigh)
Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (Gail Kubik)
Hard Times Come Again No More (Mark Keller)
Single Girl (Stephen Paulus)
Deep River (Carol Barnett)
Buffalo Gals (Alice Parker)
The Water is Wide (Stephen Paulus)
Black Sheep (John Rutter)



ACC 122: Blue Wheat, A Harvest of American Folk Songs
The Dale Warland Singers
Dale Warland, conductor
Total Time: 61:33
(available on compact disc and cassette)  Price: $16.95 CD; $11.95 cassette
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These 19 folk songs are extraordinary for a number of reasons: the arrangers knew what they were doing, the chorus sings with a technical brilliance, the conductor has a knack for making the music come alive, and for the patriotic-minded, the music is quintessential American.

Oh, Shenandoah is the first folk song on the recording, and one would have thought the tune had been arranged and recorded enough already. But Alf Houkom had something to say. His arrangement may not even be the last word, but it is certainly the finest arrangement conceived to-date.

We won't try to explain why Oh, Shenandoah will take your breath away. That's something only your CD player can do.

Instead, meet Alf Houkom, a 60-year-old gentleman who has taken the composer's pen in hand with a freshness of spirit and purpose. He has been composing since his student days, but only of late has he felt comfortable with the human voice and started writing for professional and amateur choruses.

He is also the composer of Rune of Hospitality (recorded by the Dale Warland Singers on the December Stillness CD), a Gaelic poem set to music that evokes a deeply spiritual response. Houkom cannot pinpoint where his inspiration came from, but he believes that ''we are all vessels through which ideas come forth.''

Premiered in 1985 by the Cornell College Choir, Rune of Hospitality was re-discovered by Dale Warland nine years later when he programmed it for the Dale Warland Singers' annual Echoes of Christmas concert aired on NPR. It then came into its own spotlight as public radio stations ''adopted'' it for the holiday season.

Warland promises to bring more of Houkom's works back, but for now, we have a heartfelt arrangement of Oh, Shenandoah .


December

Howells: Long, long ago

Exceptionally well-written for voices, with compelling harmonic progressions and dynamic contrasts. Howells was a master craftsman: the structure of this motet has a strong sense of ''completeness'' to it.

Penderecki: Izhe xeruvimy (Song of Cherubim)

Stunning eastern European and Orthodox effects. High drama and glorious long phrases create a deeply spiritual message.

Houkom: The Rune of Hospitality

A mystical text set with close harmonies and delicately colorful guitar accompaniment.

Kverno: Corpus Christi Carol

A haunting marriage of primitive and modern music. Beautiful key and texture changes for soloist and solo quartet.

Pårt: Magnificat

The most important setting of the Ave Maria text within the last decade. With disguised simplicity and minimal musical materials, Pårt crafts a masterwork.

Rachmaninoff: Khvalitye imya Gospodnye (Praise the Name of the Lord)

Heart-on-sleeve emotion and bold Romantic harmonies create a riveting musical experience.

Hess: The Oxen

A sweeping harp accompaniment for Thomas Hardy's text makes a unique counterpart to the vocal writing. Very moody, very enticing.

Stravinsky: Ave Maria

Contemplative melody and quiet harmonies. Stravinsky's Russian heritage shines through this simple setting.

Busto: Ave Maria

Emotional, melodic. . . and great general appeal in a modern Romantic setting from Spain.

Poulenc: Quem vidistis pastores dicite

A rhythmic and vocal challenge set with primitive harmonies.

Paulus: Evensong

A wide range of textures from unison to unusually fresh and lush harmonies. Magnificent resolutions at the cadences. An alternately complex and deceptively simply setting.

Heitzeg: little tree

Tender and appealing, this score is enhanced by a touching harp accompaniment, and graced with a magnificently quiet and beautiful ending.

ACC 121: December Stillness
The Dale Warland Singers
Dale Warland, conductor
Total Time: 54:38
(available on compact disc only)  Price: $16.95 CD
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Cathedral

  • CATHEDRAL CLASSICS

  • On Cathedral Classics, major works by Martin, Barber, Allegri and Howells combine for a transcendent, timeless choral experience you will never forget.


Frank Martin: Mass
Samuel Barber: Agnus Dei (''Adagio for Strings'')
Gregorio Allegri: Miserere mei, Deus
Herbert Howells: Requiem


ACC 120: Cathedral Classics
The Dale Warland Singers
Dale Warland, conductor
Total Time: 64:36
(available on compact disc and cassette)  Price: $16.95 CD; $11.95 cassette
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Bernstein

  • BERNSTEIN & BRITTEN

  • A definitive recording of two major works: Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb. Dale Warland adds shorter works of six distinguished composers to make this a unique recording for every lover of choral music.


Benjamin Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
Nancy Wertsch: Antiphon for God the Father
Stephen Paulus: Pilgrims' Hymn
Aharon Harlap: Bat Yiftach (Jephthah's Daughter)
Fragments from the Mass
   William Albright: Kyrie and Agnus Dei
   Egil Hovland: Gloria
   Einojuhani Rautavaara: Credo
Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms


ACC123: Bernstein & Britten
The Dale Warland Singers
Dale Warland, conductor
Larry C. Bach, assistant conductor
Total Time: 66:33
(available on compact disc only)  Price: $16.95 CD
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On

  • STEPHEN PAULUS: ON COMPOSING FOR CHORUS

  • with The Dale Warland Singers, Brass Quintet, Guitar, Flute and Percussion and the Northfield Youth Choir

  • Suitable for broadcast and especially designed for classroom use, On Composing for Chorus shows students of all ages how a choral work evolves from the very first sketches to the final excitement of performance.

A few days after the Cleveland Orchestra premiere of his concerto for string quartet and orchestra and just days before another premiere of a work for violin and orchestra at the Atlanta Symphony, Stephen Paulus wrote and narrated a special program for young people. Before a live audience, and with 90 musicians behind him, he explained how composers write music for chorus.

The teaching points, highlighted below, and the music were captured on videotape by five cameras and a professional recording team, giving this program a mark of the highest technical quality, suitable for broadcast and especially designed for classroom use.

Mr. Paulus connects the art of composing to the art of performing. Students of all ages learn how a choral work evolves from the very first sketches to the final excitement of performance. Young peoples' burgeoning interest in composing, evident from the movie Amadeus and the new dramatic series on Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, stems from wanting to know how the music is created.

Throughout the program, Mr. Paulus uses musical excerpts to explain and illustrate, and to keep students focused on the excitement of music and its performance. The opportunity to hear the Dale Warland Singers, the Northfield Youth Choir and members of the orchestras of Minneapolis and St. Paul makes this program a joy to watch and gives it an excitement all its own.

Last fall, after the premiere of Paulus' work for Orchestra and String Quartet, the headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer read ''Performance soars up to the heavens.''

This is what all singers want, and so we study, practice and perform. Take your chorus another step further and teach them:

  • how the music is written to fit the text
  • the creative choices a composer makes in melody, harmony & development
  • how the composer draws out the emotion from poetry and music
  • rhythm and how it is more than the time signature
  • why the composer's expression markings are critical to interpreting a score
  • word painting, making the music sound like what the words are saying
  • how new music (as good as Bach ever wrote) is being written in our time
  • why certain poems are selected and how the poetry motivates writing of the music
  • and more about the role of performer, from the composer's perspective
EDUC 111: Stephen Paulus: On Composing for Chorus

Stephen Paulus, Narrator with Various Artists
Total Time: 45 mins.
(VHS)
Price: $89.95 (for classroom and public performance use)
$39.95 (for home or non-public performance use)
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Attention

  • ATTENTION TO DETAIL

  • A Choral Conductor's Guide

  • On Attention to Detail, Dale Warland personally shows you and your students the ''details'' you can use to make a choral performance great. The Dale Warland Singers demonstrate each teaching point with selections from Mozart, Copland, Rorem and more!


Hear from the Dale Warland Singers while you learn about the ''details'' which have made them so highly respected. Conductor Dale Warland covers the questions and techniques that are important for the choral conductor and adult singer. The Dale Warland Singers demonstrate each teaching point by singing brief excerpts of music by several composers, including Mozart, Stenhammer, R. Thompson, Copland, Rorem & Chatman. Incorporate just one ''detail'' in your next rehearsal and performance, and the audience will know. Demonstrate these details to your singers, and the benefits multiply.

You will learn about:

  • phrasing techniques incorporating the voice with the text and the music
  • strategies for producing different choral tones from your chorus
  • how even the smallest gesture from the conductor can affect your choral sound
  • how the basic sound can be improved by a simple repositioning
  • the ins and outs of pronunciation and enunciation and why their unification is absolutely necessary
  • four different ways to incorporate a breath or a break to enhance and unify a phrase
  • why balance is more than just reading the dynamic markings
  • the importance of articulation and sustained singing
  • why dynamics must be more than pianissimo or fortissimo
  • when and how you should edit the composer's score to facilitate correct choral balance
  • and much more!
Because the choral excerpts illustrate and clarify the topics presented, we recommend that the videotape be played back on a VCR equipped with VHS Hi-Fi®, preferably through the speakers in your sound system, or through good quality stereo headphones. At a minimum, your VCR should be equipped to reproduce stereo audio tracks.

Narrator Dale Warland is founder and director of the Dale Warland Singers and the Warland Symphonic Chorus which regularly performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. The 40 members of the Dale Warland Singers are professionals, engaged year-round. The chorus is currently celebrating its 25th year.

EDUC 110: Attention to Detail; A Choral Conductor's Guide
Dale Warland & The Dale Warland Singers
Total Time: 50 mins.
(VHS)
Price: $89.95 (for classroom and public performance use)
$49.95 (for home or non-public performance use)
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Choral Music to Stir the Soul and Mind!


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