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This is the world premiere performance of the second movement (of five movements) of Aaron Alter's Earth Cantata for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra (inspired by the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.) The performance was done by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Franz Vote (shown on the right in the image above,) conductor and artistic director.
The second movement of the Earth Cantata is a Fantasy on Bach's "The Art of Fugue" theme.
Earth Cantata uses the form of Bach's sacred cantatas as a starting point and embraces their deep spiritual and emotional weight and richness, while fusing influences of Jazz, Rock and Pop music in a unique and fresh way. The text is a poetic interpretation of the biblical Psalm 66 by the Elizabethan poet Mary Sidney Herbert, from around the year 1599. The text of the second movement is below.
Tell God: 'O God, what frightful wonder
Thy works do witness, whose great might,
Thy enemies so bringeth under,
Though frown in heart, they fawn in sight!'
All earth and every land therefore
Sing to this God, this God adore!
All earth, I say, and all earth dwellers,
Oh, come, behold, oh, note beholding,
What dreadful wonders from him flow:
More height, more weight, more force enfolding,
Than Adam's earthy brood can show.
The performers were:
Sopranos: Jennifer Perez, Camille Tierney
Altos: Esther Moses, Jacqueline Zander-Wall
Tenors: André García-Nuthmann, Jordan Jones
Basses: Andrew Paulson, Tim Willson
Violins: Elizabeth Baker, Carla Kountoupes
Viola: Gail Robertson
Cello: Sally Guenther
Double Bass: Deborah Dunham
Flute: Linda Marianiello
Oboe: Amanda Talley
Clarinet: Mike Gruetzner
Bassoon: Stefanie Przybylska
French Horn: Michael Walker
Piano: Jeremy Reger
Tambourine: Aaron Alter
Conductor: Franz Vote
Text is from The Sidney Psalter, The Psalms of Sir Philip and Mary Sidney, Published by the Oxford University Press (2009)
Copyright Hannibal Hamlin, Michael G. Brennan, Margaret P. Hannay and Noel J. Kinnamon, 2009
Reproduced with permission of the Licensor through PLSclear.
For more information on the Earth Cantata and other compositions by Aaron Alter, please visit his compositions page at: https://aaronalter.com/compositions
- Genre
- Classical