“Infusing softness of tone with luscious harmonies, [Chatman’s] music always sounds deceptively simple…”
– Dianne Wells, The Whole Note
Centrediscs released the latest album of choral music by Stephen Chatman this month. Dawn of Night is the inspiring new album featuring the voices of the University of Toronto’s MacMillan Singers, under the direction of Hilary Apfelstadt. Chatman’s expertly-crafted pieces are both eloquent and moving, aptly performed by the MacMillan Singers.
Chatman’s works on this CD represent texts from Sara Teasdale, Walt Whitman, Christina Rossetti, Joanna Lilley, and Archibald Lampman. A few pieces feature texts by poet Tara Wohlberg, his wife. In an interview with Centrediscs, Chatman describes how the duo collaborates on musical projects. “We first discuss themes, mood, length, tempo, etc. Typically, Tara writes several or many lines. Then I set some or all of them, omitting or repeating lines, sometimes asking her to change or add words or lines, and discussing any changes during the composition process…She always has veto power over words.”
Many of the pieces featured on this album are available from Galaxy Music Corporation. Click on the cover images below to learn more about each title and hear the sample recording.
Also included: Missa Brevis
For more information about the album, click here.
To read the entire review from The Whole Note, October 2017, click here.
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