THE STOLEN CHILD

Choral Works of SCOTT PERKINS

 

OVERVIEW

 

In THE STOLEN CHILD, Scott Perkins builds vast and stunning worlds out of a handful of voices. Vibrant, facile, and confident, Perkins’ choir writing is state-of-the-art and makes a modern musical statement while retaining a clear attachment to choral music’s longstanding tradition. To this end, Perkins’ compositions seem to balance the fluid and direct expression of late Renaissance a cappella masterpieces, while also possessing a decidedly contemporary approach to timbre and texture.

 

Though the classic beauty of Perkins’ music might strike the listener most immediately, the multi-movement works featured on THE STOLEN CHILD come to life thanks to Perkins’ inventive use of vocal color and sound. For example, at the end of “Whereto answering, the sea,” the final movement of A Word Out of The Sea, Perkins builds accompanying material out of the distinct sound of the letter ‘s’, setting it specifically across the ensemble to produce a clearly rhythmic effect. The entire album is peppered with similar devices, all of which prove Perkins’ masterful command of the ensemble’s density and layering.

 

Tracking Perkins’ exquisite choral techniques should not distract from the overall splendor of the three compositions featured on THE STOLEN CHILD. Each work is a world unto itself, activated by Perkins’ neo-modal language and superlative instincts for form. The album’s title track probably covers the most expressive ground, though A Word Out of The Sea and The World Of Dream are also undeniably strong compositions. The Stolen Child, however, excels in painting a diversity of sonic images, using only the human voice. More sullen in tone than the other two works on the disc, The Stolen Child narrates a dark journey made more haunting by the irreproachable beauty of its telling.

 

Also a stellar element in THE STOLEN CHILD is Michigan-based vocal ensemble Audivi’s performance, which is both moving and immaculate. Although Perkins’ compositional style does not fall far from the a cappella tradition of Monteverdi or Gesualdo, Audivi responds to the challenge of these works’ intricate textures, delicate sonorities, and shifting, expressive colors with a resounding, unqualified triumph.

 

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HIGHLIGHTS

 

THE STOLEN CHILD is collection of 3 choral works based on poems by William Butler Yeats, Walt Whitman, W. H. Auden, and Walter de la Mare

 

Each piece shares the theme of the loss of innocence of a child, illustrated through symbols of magic, nature and sleep

 

Composer, performer, scholar, and music educator Scott Perkins also conducts the performances on the album

 

Perkins is praised for his publications as “dramatic…colorful” (The Washington Post) and “perfectly orchestrated…haunting…a remarkable and welcome musical surprise” (The Washington Times)

 

Michigan-based vocal ensemble Audivi performs with expressive clarity, using Perkins’ text-setting to establish clear and distinct moods

 

Audivi is known for presenting rarely heard Renaissance masterpieces and premiering new works by modern composers, as well as choral music from all eras

 

www.scott-perkins.com

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CREDITS

 

Special thanks to those who made this album possible, including Lars Gjerde, Brett Judson, Myra and Steve Johnson, Noah Horn, Arianne Abela, and the staffs of St. Joseph Church and Bethesda Lutheran Church in New Haven CT

 

Recorded on June 30 and July 1, 2016, at St. Joseph Church in New Haven CT

Recording Engineer Mateusz Zechowski

Producers Colin Britt, Lars Gjerde, Brett Judson, Scott Perkins

 

Executive Producer Bob Lord

Executive A&R Sam Renshaw

A&R Alex Bourne

Audio Director Jeff LeRoy

Mastering Lucas Paquette

Art & Production Director Brett Picknell

Graphic Design Ryan Harrison

Marketing Scott Murphy

 

Release Date: January 13, 2017

Catalog #: NV6067

 

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TRACK INFO

 

Audivi  |  Noah Horn artistic director

Scott Perkins conductor

Arianne Abela, Sarah Brailey, Jessica Petrus sopranos

Eric S. Brenner, Tim Keeler, Timothy Parsons altos

Noah Horn, Tyler Ray, Robert Strebendt tenors

Glenn Miller, Dan Moore, Jonathan Woody basses

 

The Stolen Child

Tyler Ray tenor  Dan Moore baritone

 

01  Prologue: The Stolen Child

02  To a Child Dancing in the Wind I

03  To a Child Dancing in the Wind II

04  A Memory of Youth

05  When You are Old

06  Epilogue: The Stolen Child

 

A Word Out of the Sea

Tim Keeler tenor

 

07  Out of the cradle endlessly rocking

08  Once Paumanok

09  Till of a sudden

10  Demon or bird!

11  Whereto answering, the sea

 

The World of Dream

 

12  The World of Dream

13  A Tale

14  The Unfinished Dream

15  Nightfall

16  Lullaby

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ALSO ON NAVONA RECORDS

 

(NV5989)

MOONSTRUNG AIR

Greg W. Brown