 Richard Sparks (left) and Allan Bevan Noted conductor, Dr. Richard Sparks will lead a large chorus of singers from Canada and the USA in a performance of my Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode at Carnegie Hall, New York City on Monday, March 7, 2016. Dr. Sparks conducted the first two performances of this work in 2005 and 2007 when he was conductor of Pro Coro Canada. Members of the award-winning Orchestra of Distinguished Concerts International, New York will be the orchestra for the event. The performance will use the new smaller ensemble version of the accompaniment which was scored for seven players by the composer in 2015. The concert, sponsored by DCINY, is open to choirs and/or solo choristers from around the world. Singers will gather in NYC the weekend of March 5-6 to rehearse with Dr. Sparks. 2005 Premiere performance soloists will reprise their roles in New York: soprano Jolaine Kerley as Mary, and Timothy Anderson as the narrator. Allan Bevan will be performing as the organist in the ensemble. More information at: dciny.org or: info@allanbevan.ca Can't be a singer but would like to attend the concert? The concert is entitled Between Heaven and Earth Tickets go on sale December 8, 2015 through the Carnegie Hall web-site. Update March 2, 2016 only a very few tickets to the concert remain. View the concert Program.  Carnegie Hall |  Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode, vocal score Want to know more about this work? Completed 2005; large-scale dramatic work on the Passion of Christ for actor, soprano, chorus and orchestra First performance: Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton, Good Friday, March 25, 2005 with Timothy Anderson, actor, Jolaine Kerley, soprano, Pro Coro Canada, Pro Coro Canada Chamber Orchestra, Richard Sparks, conductor. Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode is published by classica Music Publishers. Each Carnegie Hall singer should bring a copy of the vocal score as pictured above to rehearsals. More information about obtaining the music can be found here: Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode vocal score Additional Upcoming NGSUW Performances: Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus, I Coristi Chamber Choir, Edmonton Metropolitan Orchestra, Jolaine Kerley, soprano, Timothy Anderson, actor, Rob Curtis, conductor; Feb. 22/16 Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton Trinity Western University Masterworks Chorus, conducted by Dr. Joel Tranquilla; March 18/19/2016, Vancouver |
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...and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open and show riches Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked, I cried to dream again. William Shakespeare - The Tempest
We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.  My No Mortal Business was a co-commission of Chorus Niagara, The Richard Eaton Singers, and the Vancouver Bach Choir. It was first performed by Geraint Wyn-Davies, actor, Johanne Ansell, soprano, Chorus Niagara, the Toronto Orpheus Choir, and the Talisker Players, conducted by Robert Cooper in St. Catharines, ON, and Toronto in 2012. UPCOMING PERFORMANCES: The Richard Eaton Singers, Timothy Anderson, actor, Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff, conductor, The Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton, AB, Sunday, March 13, 2016 (western Canadian premiere; see poster below for further details) Orpheus Choir of Toronto, Geraint Wyn-Davies, actor; Maeve Palmer, soprano; Robert Cooper, C.M., conductor, Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, Toronto, Saturday, April 23, 2016 (this performance will take place on the day Shakespeare died in 1616) No Mortal Business (title from a line in The Tempest) is a large-scale choral/orchestral work with text by Shakespeare, and although it wasn't originally intended as an anniversary work it strikes me as something that would be very suitable for any 2016 concert program wishing to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the death of the bard. No Mortal Business features an important part for an actor who is known in the score as "the prologue". In Shakespeare's time the prologue gave short speeches providing necessary historical background or plot advancement. The part of "Chorus" in Shakespeare's Henry V is the bard's best example, and I admit to being influenced by Derek Jacobi's wonderful portrayal in Kenneth Branagh's film of this play. The prologue in No Mortal Business speaks only the words of the bard but his lines are extracted from many of his plays and sonnets and reassembled in a way that provides a possible vision of the actor himself in his final years. What emerged in this lengthy process of research and (respectful) re-creation was a vision of a mighty talent who was plagued by self-doubt, frustrated by the stress of life as a struggling artist and consumed by the thought of his impending death. In No Mortal Business, Shakespeare's words become haunting 'soliloquies' appearing between the choral numbers and also over and above the music that I have composed. The role of the prologue in No Mortal Business is challenging, as it requires an actor who is capable of portraying a wide range of emotion, is familiar with the Elizabethan stage, and has enough musical background to stay in sync with chorus and orchestra. The part for the soprano soloist is dramatic in nature too - she portrays the Angel of Death who sings alternatively comforting and disquieting words that resonate deeply in the soul of the prologue and stir reaction from the actor, the chorus, and the chamber orchestra. No Mortal Business is in five 'Acts' and is thirty-five minutes of intense, non-stop musico-dramatic action. It contains substantial choruses intended for a large mixed-voice ensemble, most of whose text comes from Shakespeare's final play, The Tempest (e.g. new settings of Full Fathom Five, The Cloud-Capp'd Towers, and Where the Bee Sucks) but there is also snippets of ancient plainchant (In Paradisum, Requiem Aeternum) and a powerful new Kyrie Eleison. The latter liturgical passages reflect the fact that Shakespeare was born into a Catholic family and that he was a noted recusant (one who refused to attend services of the protestant Church of England), as well as an author well-versed in the questions of faith. Full score, vocal score, and parts are available thru the Canadian Music Centre. Contact the composer for further details.  Richard Eaton Singers To Perform No Mortal Business |
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