Classical Music | Ensemble Music

Recorded on 07/03/2009, uploaded on 07/03/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Complete list of performers:

DePaul University Singers

Clayton Parr, Conductor

Amanda DeBoer, Soprano

Natalie Colas, Alto

John Cottrell, Tenor

Chris Filipowicz, Bass

From George Flynn's notes:

St. Vincent's Words (19995), a cantata for mixed chorus, soloists, brass octet and string basses, was written for Fr. John Richardson, President of DePaul University at the time, to acknowledge his human values, his great love for music, and his support of the School of Music.  I devised a general "shape" to the work, and perused St. Vincent's letters and other literature for a test to fit the shape.  The final test is my arrangement, but all the lines are St. Vincent's.  This test, in turn,influenced musical details within the broad shape.

The work opens in a celebratory manner, but eventually gives way to a quiet, meditative mood that features soprano and tenor solos.  The mood evolves into a series of "lessons" for the chorus, for alto and bass solos, and, again, for the chorus, the latter transforming into a celebratory mood that recalls the beginning.  The work ends quietly with St. Vincent's please for love and peace.  The instruments serve not only to support the voices but also to provide interludes that connect the sections.

Thought music clearly of our time, St. Vincent's Words includes many features of older music, including Renaissance polyphony, chant-like intonating and a modal center most obviously present in the quieter sections.

George Flynn