Release Date: June 8, 2018
Catalog #: AR0008
Format: Digital & Physical
21st Century
Vocal Music
Clarinet
Piano
Voice

Coro Del Mundo

L Peter Deutsch composer
Conrado Monier composer
Adalberto Álvarez composer
Guido López Gavilán composer
José Antonio Méndez composer
Electo Rosell composer
Rafael Hernández composer
Cynthia Folio composer
J. A. Kawarsky composer
Michael Murray composer
Meira Warshauer composer

Schola Cantorum Coralina | Alina Orraca conductor
Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés conductor

Continuing in the series of Cuban recorded Ansonica Records projects comes CORO DEL MUNDO – choir of the world. With tracks ranging from sacred to secular, and from delicate to aggressive, the surprising cohesiveness of the composers’ work is astonishingly beautiful and impassioned. Schola Cantorum Coralina and Vocal Luna contribute exquisite vocals to the proceedings.

L Peter Deutsch’s Dance to the Revolution, takes inspiration from the writing of Emma Goldman. Goldman was one of the seminal writers and activists in the development of early-20th-century anarchist thought. The composer explains, “what drew me to her writing was her inclusion of interpersonal relationships, not only political or economic ones, in the vision of ideal society.”

Deutch’s Where Everything is Music transports the listener to Havana. Deutsch notes: “The lyrics for “Where Everything is Music” are excerpted from a poem by Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet and mystic, in the classic and well-loved translation by Coleman Barks. As with much of Rumi’s writing, the text asks us to recognize the greater reality of the spiritual compared with the physical world. I intend this piece, like some of my other work for voice and a single instrument, to be more of a dialogue between the chorus and the instrument than for “accompanied chorus.”

Schola Cantorum Coralina is featured on Canto del Bongó, Qué Rico É, and Gozando En La Habana. Conrado Monier’s Gozando En La Habana received mention in the Choral Music Contest sponsored by the Cuban Agency of Musical Copyright (ACDAM) and the Cuban Music Institute. Monier’s second composition on CORO DEL MUNDO, Gozando En La Habana (Enjoying Havana), is an a capella tour de force effortlessly conjuring up the sights and sounds of the City of Columns.

Cuban composer and conductor Guido López-Gavilán’s Qué Rico É! is a shimmering choral mambo that leaves the listener breathless with the incomparable speed and precision of Schola Cantorum Coralina.

Vocal Luna’s contribution to CORO DEL MUNDO is profound. On Cemento Ladrillo Y Arena, Murmullo, and Silencio their voices range from brassy brilliance to delicate, angelic whispers. Nowhere is this more apparent than their performance of Cynthia Folio’s four-part piece At the Edge of Great Quiet. The emotion they bring to each movement sits right at the surface of this elegiac composition.

J.A. Kawarsky’s Sacred Rights, Sacred Song also shines with Vocal Luna’s participation. Sacred Rights, Sacred Song, a multi-movement piece, envisions Israel as a healthy Jewish democracy in which the spiritual civil rights of all Jews are protected; Judaism is expressed and celebrated freely and equally by men and women and in its myriad forms of observance; and matters of personal status and spirit are governed by a public Jewish Law that welcomes vibrancy and creativity.

Michael Murray’s El Lunar (The Mole), based on a poem by Juan Clemente Zenea, depicts the adoration of a beautiful woman. Caminando (Walking), based Nicolás Guillén’s poem focuses on the extreme poverty and scarcity faced by many Cubans in the 1930’s. The extraordinary desperation and bleakness Guillén depicts is emphasized by the implication of cannibalism toward the end of the piece. Both of Murray’s pieces are lush with solemn, hypnotic tone.

Meira Warshauer’s We Are Dreamers is an adaptation of the Jewish psalm Shir Hamalot (A Song of Ascents). In ancient times, the Shir Hamalot was sung as Jews walked into Jerusalem for festival holidays. Today it is most commonly chanted as part of the Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals) on Shabbat. Schola Cantorum Coralina takes this ancient psalm and, with Warshauer’s expansive, dreamlike arrangement, creates a wonderous, at times trance-like atmosphere.

With its blend of religious and cultural influences, CORO DEL MUNDO is proof that different faiths and beliefs can sit together comfortably at the same musical table.

Listen

Hear the full album on YouTube

Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 Dance to the Revolution L Peter Deutsch arr. Dayron Ortega Guzmán Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano; Eduardo Silveira, percussion, Lázaro “El Fino” Rivero, double bass 3:23
02 Where Everything Is Music L Peter Deutsch arr. Dayron Ortega Guzmán Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano; Eduardo Silveira, percussion, Lázaro “El Fino” Rivero, double bass 4:32
03 Canto del Bongó Conrado Monier Schola Cantorum Coralina | Alina Orraca, conductor; David Delgado Ruíz, tenor soloist 3:09
04 Gozando en la Habana Adalberto Álvarez arr. Conrado Monier Schola Cantorum Coralina | Alina Orraca, conductor; David Delgado Ruíz, tenor soloist 3:06
05 Qué Rico É! Guido López Gavilán Schola Cantorum Coralina | Alina Orraca, conductor; Karen Cruz Atín, soprano soloist 4:49
06 Cemento Ladrillo y Arena José Antonio Méndez arr. Yanier Hechavarría Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor 4:03
07 Murmullo Electo Rosell arr. Conrado Monier Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor 2:49
08 Silencio Rafael Hernández arr. Wilma Alba Cal Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor 3:24
09 At the Edge of Great Quiet: I. Roads Cynthia Folio Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano 1:27
10 At the Edge of Great Quiet: II. There Were Suddenly Two Stones Cynthia Folio Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano 1:45
11 At the Edge of Great Quiet: III. On a Day of White Trees Cynthia Folio Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano 3:14
12 At the Edge of Great Quiet: IV. Out of Wind, Out of Sun Cynthia Folio Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano 1:19
13 Sacred Rights, Sacred Song: I. Mujer Rezando en la Pared J. A. Kawarsky Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano; Abiel Chea Guerra, percussion 3:07
14 Sacred Rights, Sacred Song: II. Nuestra Oración Sagrada J. A. Kawarsky Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano; Abiel Chea Guerra, percussion 3:55
15 Sacred Rights, Sacred Song: III. Nuestra Sagrada Canción J. A. Kawarsky Vocal Luna | Maribel Nodarse Valdés, conductor; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano; Abiel Chea Guerra, percussion 3:53
16 Caminando Michael Murray Schola Cantorum Coralina | Alina Orraca, conductor; Joanne de la Torre Corpas, soprano soloist 3:55
17 El Lunar Michael Murray Schola Cantorum Coralina | Alina Orraca, conductor 4:33
18 We Are Dreamers Meira Warshauer Schola Cantorum Coralina | Alina Orraca, conductor; Flavia Méndez Pérez, clarinet; Vilma Sofía Garriga Comas, piano; Asaf Roth Dumbek, vibraphone & sleigh bells, Abiel Chea Guerra, percussion 9:39

Dance To The Revolution
Recorded 11/14/2017 at Abdala 1 in Havana Cuba
Original music by L Peter Deutsch
Words by Emma Goldman, public domain

Where Everything Is Music
Recorded 11/14/2017 at Abdala 1 in Havana Cuba
Words of “Where Everything is Music” Copyright (c) 1995 by Coleman Barks. All rights reserved.

Canto del Bongó
Recorded 11/17/2017 at Abdala 1in Havana Cuba

Gozando en la Habana
Recorded 11/17/2017 at Abdala 1in Havana Cuba

Qué rico é!”
Recorded 11/17/2017 at Abdala 1in Havana Cuba

Cemento Ladrillo y Arena
Recorded 11/17/2017 at Abdala 1in Havana Cuba

Murmullo
Recorded 11/17/2017 at Abdala 1in Havana Cuba

Silencio
Recorded 11/17/2017 at Abdala 1in Havana Cuba

At The Edge of Great Quiet
Recorded 11/15/2017 at Abdala 1 in Havana Cuba

Sacred Songs
Recorded 11/13/2017 at Abdala 1 in Havana Cuba

Caminando & El Lunar
Recorded 11/16/2017 at Abdala 1 in Havana Cuba

We Are Dreamers
Recorded 11/15/2017 at Abdala 1 in Havana Cuba
Recording Session Engineer Avi Ein Zur

All Tracks
Recording Session Producer Dayron Ortega Guzmán
Recording Session Co-Producer Bob Lord
Recording Session Engineer José Raúl Varona

Executive Producer Bob Lord

Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Chris Robinson, Brandon MacNeil

Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Editing & Mixing Lucas Paquette
Mastering Shaun Michaud

Design & Marketing Director Brett Picknell
Design Emily Roulo

Artist Information

L Peter Deutsch

Composer

L Peter Deutsch is a native of Massachusetts, now living in Sonoma County CA and British Columbia, Canada. His early music education included performance and composition for voice, piano, and recorder. He received his M.A. degree in composition in 2011, studying with Frank La Rocca.

Cynthia Folio

Composer, Flutist

Cynthia Folio (b. 1954) is a composer, music theorist, and flutist. As a young flute player and army brat, her main inspiration came from her studies at the Panama Conservatory in the1960’s; there she studied with Eduardo Charpentier (first flutist in the Panama Symphony) and had rigorous studies in solfege. She received her Ph.D. in music theory and Performers Certificate in flute from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied composition with Joseph Schwantner and flute with Bonita Boyd; Robert D. Morris advised her dissertation on the music of Schwantner. From 1980 to 1990, she taught music theory and flute at Texas Christian University and played in the Fort Worth Symphony. She now serves as Professor and Chair of Music Studies in the Boyer College at Temple University, where she was honored with the Creative Achievement Award in 2012 and the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1994.

J. A. Kawarsky

Composer

Dr. J.A. Kawarsky (b. 1959) is Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton in NJ. Dr. Kawarsky received his B.M. in composition from Iowa State University and his M.M. and D.M.A. from Northwestern University.  At Northwestern he studied with John Paynter, Alan Stout, and Frederick Ockwell. In 1982, Dr. Kawarsky conducted the Opera Company of the Negev Region in Be’er Sheva in Israel. Before coming to Westminster in 1989, he taught at Fort Hays State University, the University of Wisconsin, and Moraine Valley Community College.

Michael Murray

Composer

The music of composer Michael Murray (b. 1964) has been described as “well crafted,” “expertly and adroitly handled,” and consisting of “pleasing washes of sounds and tone colors.” Reviewers have praised his writing for voice as “excellent,” “lovely,” and “a gift to singers.” In addition to works for the concert hall, he has written music for film, theater productions, dance, and visual arts installations. He currently lives in Springfield, Missouri, where he teaches composition and music theory at Missouri State University.

Meira Warshauer

Composer

Meira Maxine Warshauer’s music has been performed to critical acclaim throughout North America and Europe, as well as in South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Her musical palette is wide, ranging from traditional Jewish prayer modes to minimalist textures with rich melodic contours, and from joyful jazz-influenced rhythms to imaginative orchestrations of the natural world. At its core, it expresses her personal spiritual journey. As Ina Esther Joost, principal cellist with Jerusalem Symphony, observes, Meira’s music comes from a place which is beyond music. It is like a prayer from deep within the soul[and] it always evokes deep responses from the listeners.

Notes

L Peter Deutsch
Emma Goldman was one of the seminal writers and activists in the development of early-20th-century anarchist thought. What drew me to her writing was her inclusion of interpersonal relationships, not only political or economic ones, in the vision of ideal society.

The handclaps, and the rhythmic and syncopated octaves in both the piano and the vocal parts, give it some of the rowdy energy that I associate with Goldman. “Dance to the Revolution” is more homophonic than most of my writing, intended to evoke the shouted slogans of a mass movement, as is the deliberate use of “ain’t.”

As in “Where Everything is Music,” the percussion and string bass in this arrangement add to the rhythmic dynamism of the piece.

L Peter Deutsch
The lyrics for “Where Everything is Music” are excerpted from a poem by Rumi, the great 13th-century Persian poet and mystic, in the classic and well-loved translation by Coleman Barks. As with much of Rumi’s writing, the text asks us to recognize the greater reality of the spiritual compared with the physical world.

I intend this piece, like some of my other work for voice and a single instrument, to be more of a dialogue between the chorus and the instrument than for “accompanied chorus.” While the piano provide harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment, the saxophone both serves as a counterpoint to the chorus and enjoys two solo passages of its own.

The arrangement recorded here includes added percussion and string bass, which contribute to the rhythmic energy of the music without changing its basic character.

Cynthia Folio
The four poems in this composition are from the collection, poetryALASKAwomen: Top of the World (ed. Suzanne Summerville and published by Arts Venture, 1993—limited to only 600 copies). According to the Foreword, the book was “conceived as a way to make a lasting contribution to the writers of Alaska, to make their works available to a wide audience of readers and composers, and to inspire new works of music and art. It will be impossible to know just where these poems will travel … but the influence of this little book may be considerable.” At the very least, four of them have travelled as far as Cuba, and with this recording, their journey will continue.

The poems are by three different poets: Mary Kancewick (Anchorage), Leah Aronow-Brown (Fairbanks), and Louise Gallop (Anchorage). Since the commission was from Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies (specifically, the Delta Mu Chapter of SAI at Temple University) to be premiered by Temple’s women’s choir, I selected poetry by women. The poems suggest two recurring themes: the intimate relationship between people and nature, and resilience.

The texture is SSAA (soprano I and II and alto I and II). In “Roads” the protagonist reaches the “end of the road,” meant both literally and figuratively, but finds a way to move on. Some of the “open” harmonies in the song suggest the “wilderness” in the text. In “There Were Suddenly Two Stones” the texture is reduced to two parts (SA) for most of the song. These parts weave in and out of each other, suggesting the two rivers (or metaphorically, people) that “flow differently.” “On a Day of White Trees” describes a desolate wintry day; the musical depiction is sparse, haunting and literally “windy” (requiring whispering and wind sounds from the choir). The pianist is required to hold the pedal down throughout the song, creating an eerie echo effect. The many passages in octaves and unisons suggest the bleakness of this “edge of great quiet.” “Out of Wind, Out of Sun”—the most optimistic poem—is set with upbeat polyrhythmic ostinatos, culminating in a euphoric climax as “this basket rounds and grows full as the mother who weaves it.” The poem confirms the work that women do in making art out of the nature that surrounds them—certainly a metaphor for creativity universally.

-Cynthia Folio

J. A. Kawarsky
Sacred Rights, Sacred Song, a multi-movement for narrator, soloist, orchestra and rock band envisions Israel as a healthy Jewish democracy in which the spiritual civil rights of all Jews are protected; Judaism is expressed and celebrated freely and equally by men and women and in its myriad forms of observance; and matters of personal status and spirit are governed by a Public Jewish Law that welcomes vibrancy and creativity. Fran Gordon and J.A. Kawarsky were the founders of this work. The entire cantata has been performed several times throughout the United States and Israel. Composers include J.A. Kawarsky, Naomi Less, Jerome B. Kopmar, Elliot Z. Levine, Benjie Schiller, and Gerald Cohen. The entire work is orchestrated by J.A. Kawarsky.

The Three Movements included here include:

MUJER REZANDO EN LA PARED (Woman at the Wall) telling of the situation at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where women are not allowed to pray equally and openly as their Orthodox male counterparts.

Any discussion of equal rights in the land of Israel and Palestine must include a remark (in this case a song) about the lack of equal rights between Arab and Jew. NUESTRA ORACIÓN SAGRADA (A Sacred Shared Prayer) hopes for a change in status-quo in the very near future, and future generations.

NUESTRA SAGRADA CANCIÓN (Our Sacred Song), the final song in Sacred Rights, Sacred Song, asks the help of the listener to make change for the better in Israel, the Jewish homeland.

Sacred Rights, Sacred Song’s mission is to educate the North American Jewish community about challenges to religious freedom in Israeli society and motivate them to provide moral, visible and financial support to promote a Jewish democratic society based on the notions of gender equality and freedom of worship.

Michael Murray
This setting of El Lunar was inspired by my visit to Havana in November, 2015, during which I recorded some of my choral music with Alina Orraca and Schola Cantorum Coralina. The premiere performance was given by the Missouri State University Chorale, conducted by Cameron LaBarr, in March, 2017.

The poetry of Juan Clemente Zenea (1832-1871) is influenced by lyricism and Romanticism, often reflecting his passion for life and his Cuban homeland. He lived most of his tragically short life in Cuba, but was forced to leave for several stints in New Orleans, New York, and Mexico due to his political activities against the Spanish government. After secretly returning to Cuba to support the rebellion of 1868, he was eventually captured by Spanish troops and shot to death.

Meira Warshauer
We Are Dreamers sets a text from Psalm 126, whose theme is the return of exiles to Zion. Sung on Sabbath and holidays to introduce the grace after a meal, this psalm has sustained generations of Jews in exile. Communities throughout the Diaspora have created their own melodies for the text, influenced by the music of the culture where they lived. Many of these communities have fulfilled the psalm’s prophecy of returning to the land of Israel.

In this composition, I have selected three contrasting melodies to express the process of exile and return, as well as the universal longing for a sense of wholeness and connection.

The music begins with a plaintive Salonikan Greek melody in the clarinet, infused with yearning for return. The atmosphere has a dreamlike quality enhanced by the vibraphone and sustained choral harmonies. It is the call of a lover for her beloved from afar. Gradually the chorus emerges, as if coming out of exile, leading to an ecstatic vision of reunion with trills and tremolos in the clarinet and piano. This gives way to a dumbek solo and a lively Yemenite version of the psalm. Here the dumbek joins the chorus in rhythmic shifts as the music frees itself from the bonds of exile and revels in the joy of return. In the midst of this energy the tempo slows to allow a melody from Morocco to emerge. Recalling the lover’s yearning from the opening, the Moroccan melody expresses the sweetness of intimacy when two lovers finally reunite. Soon the Yemenite tune sneaks back via the clarinet, introducing a contrapuntal choral climax and triumphant ending.

We Are Dreamers was commissioned in honor of the 50th anniversary of the state of Israel by a consortium of Jewish choral ensembles led by Joshua Jacobson and Zamir Chorale of Boston, along with the Rottenberg Chorale of New York; Gratz College Choir of Pennsylvania; Zemer Chai of Washington, DC; and Kol Dodi of New Jersey. It grew out of a six-week residency in Israel during spring of 1997 sponsored by the South Carolina Arts Commission and Hillel at the University of South Carolina. The melodies are from recordings found at the National Sound Archives of the Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, Israel.

-Meira Warshauer