Okay, the annual ritual of program selection is done. Another year is set for Chicago a cappella. Woo hoo!
What are we going to sing? I want to tell you about the research part, and I'll give you a sneak peek in the process.
In the fall of 2008, we're doing a new program called The British are Coming! -- a celebration of the finest English a cappella choral music, reaching all the way back to the 15th century and going to the present day. Actually, we'll start with recent music, work our way backwards in time, and then return to the present.
It was fun to work on that program to get enough of a sense of it that we can write not only marketing copy but grant applications! Sometimes those deadlines drive the programming, and sometimes we get a better jump on it than that. This time I had spent enough time working with Music Director Patrick Sinozich and Executive Director Matt Greenberg that we had a pretty strong working concept, but the idea needed some more research to put meat on the bones.
So it was time to dive into that lovely packet of fresh scores from England (a catalog called musicroom.com, which is a division of the British publisher Music Sales, had all sorts of goodies I'd never seen before, and in one case only heard). Alissa from our office sent me the scores, and it was time to go to town.
What did I learn? First off, that the 6 early partsongs of Frederick Delius are written in German! Second, that Delius said late in life that the only musical training he got that was worth anything was six months' worth of private tutelage when he was living in Florida trying to grow oranges, from an obscure teacher of which little to nothing else is known. Go figure. American soil nurturing a British musical talent like that!
I also learned that Herbert Howells wrote a fabulous, long piece in memory of JFK, which seems to have been overshadowed by the Barber Adagio for Strings. The Howells piece has been recorded by Dale Warland and by a number of hot British choirs... I am hoping that Chicago a cappella will get a crack at it this fall.
Anyway, that's the news from music-browsing land. Watch this space for more news as it happens.
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