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Crimson & Lace
Name of Composer composer
David DeVasto composer
John G. Bilotta composer
Paula Diehl composer
Scott Uddenberg baritone
Sarita Cannon soprano
Bradford Gleim baritone
On CRIMSON & LACE, Navona Records’ compilation of modern works for voice and chamber ensemble, composers John G. Bilotta, David DeVasto, and Paula Diehl present works that depict the struggles as well as the rewards of human experience, such as heartache, death, love, hope, uncertainty, tragedy, and the resilience of the human spirit.
John G. Bilotta’s The Song of the Hermit Thrush for soprano, flute, oboe, violin, viola, and violoncello uses text from a section of Walt Whitman’s poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” The excerpt is a celebration, welcoming “the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfolding Death.” Winter Seven for baritone, choir, flute, viola, and piano by David DeVasto presents seven images of winter and the “wintry,” cold, even brutal aspects of human experience. From natural phenomena to the Black Plague and the Civil War, this seven-movement work depicts a cycle of winter itself, from the onset of chill to the first glimpses of spring, illustrating a struggle toward some intimation of acceptance and hope.
Paula Diehl’s works Anyone and Wedding Day use the composer’s system of composition called Separation, which uses overlapping 4ths as the working intervals, gradually separating them in phases until total separation is achieved. In the latter piece, the narrator discusses the uncertainty and fear reflected in the bride on her wedding day. Anyone is inspired by the quote: “Light frames what is, but the Dark holds in place what is not” – a reflection of the uncertainty and obscurity of life.
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Artist Information
David DeVasto
David DeVasto (b.1979) has presented works in the United States and Europe; including The IAEF International Summer Arts Institute, The Council for Undergraduate Research, Society of Composers, Charlotte New Music Festival, Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, Electronic Music Midwest, The Iowa Composers Forum, Nevada Encounters of New Music, and The Electro-Acoustic Juke Joint.
John G. Bilotta
John G. Bilotta was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, but has spent most his life in the San Francisco Bay Area having attended the University of California at Berkeley and, later, the San Francisco Music and Arts Institute where he studied composition with Frederick Saunders.
Paula Diehl
Paula Jespersen Diehl came to New Jersey from China as an infant with her Danish parents and older brother. From her time of awareness, she heard music in the home. She and each of her three brothers studied a musical instrument; her mother listened to opera and played Danish songs on the piano for the children to sing, and her father and an uncle sang Danish songs.
