IAM...
World première 23 Feb 2014:“Iam ver egelidos (Now spring brings back unchilled warmth)” (7:15)
Washington University's 560 Music Center, located at 560 Trinity Avenue, University City, Missouri 63130
To Philip Barnes and St. Louis Chamber Chorus
Catulli
Carmina 46 [Latin] mixed choir a cappella SSAATTBB (2013) ~6 mins
 |
| Philip Barnes and the St. Louis Chamber Chorus. Photo by William A. Bascom |
WORLD PREMIERE:
"The main event was a world première, “Iam ver egelidos (Now spring brings back unchilled warmth),” by Latvian composer Ugis Praulins (b. 1957). Praulins is an ex-choirboy and longtime rocker who has found his way into composing for classical ensembles; his is an important voice. A commission by the SLCC, it was the gift of an anonymous donor.
“Iam,” with a text by Catullus, is a complex work. It starts and ends with whispers, like spurts of spring wind, and mixes rock rhythms with phrases that influenced by liturgy and other different sources. In places, it features a stratospheric tessitura for the first sopranos, and it challenges the choir throughout. Praulins has done a terrific job of accompanying the text in a knowing and sympathetic way; with luck, Barnes will give audiences a second hearing of it soon."
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/reviews/music-review-st-louis-chamber-chorus-explores-latin/article_e316711e-07c9-5cea-9700-727f1ae0625c.html
Sarah Bryan Miller is the Post-Dispatch's classical music critic. Follow Bryan on the Culture Club blog, and on Twitter at @SBMillerMusic.
"The world premiere of a new commission by Ugis Praulins was a highlight."
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/
"Iam ver egelidos" in: “Saint Louis Firsts” (Regent Records REGCD472) [rel. Mar 2016]
St. Louis Chamber Chorus. Philip Barnes, conductor
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/culture-club/new-albums-by-the-st-louis-chamber-chorus-apollo-s/article_d3cfbce6-8471-594d-98d6-cbe69758ac0e.html
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/
RECORDING / CD (2016)
'Iam Ver Egelidos' (6:56) in “Saint Louis
Firsts”
Saint Louis Chamber Chorus / Philip
Barnes
REGCD472 (p) 2016 Regent Records Ltd
http://www.regent-records.co.uk
Recorded on 22-25 February 2015 in
Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Following the acclaimed Midwest
premiere of his Missa Rigensis
bu the Chamber Chorus, the Latvian composer Ugis Praulins agreed to
write a new work for the 2013-2014 season. Having previously written
a “medieval/new age rock opera” titled Odi et Amo
after a poem by the Roman poet Catullus, (c.84-54 BCE), Ugis was
already open to setting another ancient text, and agreed to compose a
new version of Catullus's salute to the spring, when he could finally
return to Rome from his service in the province of Bithynia. The
excitement of the verse is amply conveyed through whispers, fanfares
(“ad claras”),
glissandi, and – at one notable moment for the basses – the
injunction to sing “alla
urban groove!”
©
2015 Philip Barnes
"Iam ver egelidos" in: “Saint Louis Firsts” (Regent Records REGCD472) [rel. Mar 2016]St. Louis Chamber Chorus. Philip Barnes, conductor
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/culture-club/new-albums-by-the-st-louis-chamber-chorus-apollo-s/article_d3cfbce6-8471-594d-98d6-cbe69758ac0e.html
BBC: BBC
Music Magazine (***** 5/5)!
Saint
Louis Chamber Chorus Philip Barnes: conductor
JONES:
Psalm 23 (premiere) • MACLEAN: Slow Gold (premiere) • CHILCOTT:
Before the Ice • POTT: Good Day, Sir Christëmas! (premiere) •
HELVEY: An Evening Song (premiere) • JOHNSON MANNING: Ode to Love
(premiere) • BINGHAM: Solomon and Love (premiere) • RODNEY
BENNETT: A Contemplation Upon Flowers • PRAULINS: Iam Ver Egelidos
(premiere) • BINGHAM: Aquileia (premiere) • GUILLAUME: Le Dernier
Voyage (premiere)
“Consistently
outstanding.” — BBC Music Magazine
A
groundbreaking recording of 11 choral works — 10 of them new
commissions by the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus — from a diverse
range of global composers. For six decades the Saint Louis Chamber
Chorus has dedicated itself to presenting the finest examples of
choral literature. In recent years there has been an emphasis on
presenting the work of living composers. In the mid-1990s a composer
in residency program was begun that flourishes to this day, and
numerous supporters began to commission new works especially for this
choir. The fruits of their generosity may be heard on this recording,
of which all but two tracks are first recordings.
