Harrison & Marshall: The Fire Within - Choral Works (Live) Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir & Patrick Gardner

• Lou Harrison (1917 - 2003): The Heart Sutra:
• 1 The Heart Sutra: Chime & Glory (Live) 02:31
• 2 The Heart Sutra: Strofo 1 (Live) 04:55
• 3 The Heart Sutra: Strofo 2 (Live) 03:18
• 4 The Heart Sutra: Strofo 3 (Live) 01:22
• 5 The Heart Sutra: Strofo 4 (Live) 04:22
• 6 The Heart Sutra: Strofo 5 (Live) 04:16
• 7 The Heart Sutra: Strofo 6 (Live) 02:30
• 8 The Heart Sutra: Strofo 7 - Mantra & Chime (Live) 05:18
• 3 Songs:
• 9 3 Songs: No. 1, David's Lament for Jonathan (Live) 03:04
• 10 3 Songs: No. 2, O You Whom I Often and Silently Come Where You Are (Live) 01:19
• 11 3 Songs: No. 3, When I Heard at the Close of Day (Live) 05:08
• Christopher Marshall (b.1956): Dark Night of the Soul (Live):
• 12 Dark Night of the Soul (Live) 09:35
• Total Runtime 47:38

Info for Harrison & Marshall: The Fire Within - Choral Works (Live)

The Fire Within brings three works to light, one of which is a world premiere, “Three Songs for Men’s Chorus” by composer Lou Harrison, and one a world premiere recording, “Dark Night of the Soul” by composer Christopher Marshall, all performed by the internationally renowned Kirpatrick Choir of Rutgers University, conducted by the equally renowned Patrick Gardner. The third work, Lou Harrison’s stirring “La Koro Sutro (The Heart’s Soul)” is a vibrant and moving piece with the choir accompanied by The American Gamelan. La Koro Sutro, a live performance recording, was described by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times as “…one of the best musical moments of the year.” Composer Lou Harrison had a life-long interest in the use of “found instruments” and those used in this recording appeared in his works of the 30s and 40s for percussion ensemble which he wrote while collaborating with John Cage. His later works were composed with highly chromatic music influenced heavily by Arnold Schoenberg. The 1971 piece featured here, La Koro Sutro, is a setting of the Buddhist Heart Suttra in Esperanto composed for an international congress of Esperanto speakers in San Francisco. The “Three Songs for Men’s Chorus” are settings from the Book of Samuel and Walt Whitman’s “Calamus” in Leaves of Grass. Finally, New Zealander Christopher Marshall’s work, “Dark Night of the Soul” sets mystical text of St. John at the Cross with intricate rhythms of a beautiful lyrical melody with rich choral sonority. It is a perfect piece to end this extraordinary album.

Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir
Patrick Gardner, direction

Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir
with approximately 50 members, is the most advanced choir at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Its mission: to educate professional musicians through performance. The Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir performs a significant repertory of major choral orchestral masterworks, Baroque music accompanied by period instruments, and important works of the 20th and 21st century. The Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir was approached by the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music to record several CDs of important 20th-century works, including Miriam Gideon’s Sacred Service, which was released as part of the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music’s comprehensive multiyear recording series on Naxos American Classics series. They also have a Naxos release of Samuel Adler’s Five Sephardic Songs.

Patrick Gardner
received his undergraduate degree in voice from California State University at Hayward and his master of music and doctor of musical arts in choral conducting from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to moving to New York City to direct the Riverside Choral Society, he taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Texas at Austin. The Riverside Choral Society, which often performs as the chorus for the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, presents numerous major choral orchestral works each year in Manhattan. Gardner's choirs have given many world premieres, and he is also active as guest conductor, lecturer, and adjudicator. At Rutgers he is director of choral activities, conducts the Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir and the Rutgers University Glee Club, and teaches both undergraduate and graduate level conducting. He has recorded for Folkways, Albany, and Ethereal records.

Booklet for Harrison & Marshall: The Fire Within - Choral Works (Live)