THE GIFT OF MUSIC Music in My Mother’s House Stuart Stotts, words and music Arranged by J. David Moore “This has long been a favorite piece of mine, reminding me of some of the tunes by The Weavers or Peter, Paul & Mary. It has the easy style of a folk song and tells […]
HUSH-A-BYE Haidi Nani Arrangement by Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble From the tiny Republic of Moldova comes a Romanian lullaby. The melody is found in Dorothy Berliner Commin’s book, Lullabies of the World, and the 3-part arrangement is from the women’s vocal ensemble, Kitka, based in Oakland, California, whose repertoire is inspired by the traditional songs […]
NO MORE KISSES… MAYBE Take, o take those lips away Amy Beach, Composer Take, o take those lips away, That so sweetly were forsworn: And those eyes, the break of day. Lights that do mislead the morn! But my kisses bring again, bring again, Seals of love, but sealed in […]
WORDS MAKE THE MUSIC A Shakespeare Sequence John Gardner, Composer “We bring you a charming collection of 8 short movements featuring settings of some of Shakespeare’s most beloved words. Each movement creates a new atmosphere, from jaunty and angular to an off-beat waltz and a mysterious song of the sea. […]
In honor of the 400th anniversary of his death, Canzona explores a wide variety of contemporary and classical repertoire based on works by William Shakespeare. HOW TO WOO A YOUNG MAIDEN How Sweet the Moonlight Robert Young, Composer You can take lessons from this: sit on a riverbank in the moonlight, and whisper […]
The original melody and words of Zion’s Walls is credited to John McCurry, compiler of the The Social Harp in 1855. This popular “shape-note” tune book from rural Georgia featured secular and spiritual songs for singing in schools, camp-meetings and revivals. American composer Aaron Copland included a setting of this jubilant piece in his second collection of Old American Songs from […]
Songbird by Canadian composer Sarah Quartel is the light-hearted and playful story of eight little songbirds threading webs of gold, painting moonlit sighs, splashing in fountains, and singing to the wind. This charming piece opens our fall concert to highlight our spring tour to Vancouver, Canada as part of the Tapestry International Choral Festival, and our marvelous […]
Le Train du Ciel (Train from Heaven) is one of the songs Kurt Weill wrote for Marie Galante, which opened at the Théâtre de Paris on December 22, 1934 to mixed reviews, and closed in the first week of January 1935. The choral number follows a scene in which Marie is caring for the dying Josiah, a kindly […]
This is Canzona’s season to portray les sirènes, the beautiful and dangerous mythological creatures who lured sailors to their deaths on the rocks. We just finished singing the Sirènes movement from Debussy’s Nocturnes with the SLO Symphony, and now we’re preparing Les Sirènes by Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) for Singtime in Paris. Possibly as a tribute to Debussy, who admired her work, the composer […]
One of my favorite pieces on our concert, Le Ruisseau (The Stream) by Gabriel Fauré, was written in 1881 for Madame Pauline Roger who had a choir of young ladies. Fauré is beloved for his exquisite solo songs, and he created the sensual melody of this duet for sopranos and altos with perfect craftsmanship to express the theme […]