Summer 2008 NEW ISSUE

The Music of Stephen Chatman

CHRISTMAS CHORAL —
Mixed Chorus unaccompanied or with optional InstrumentsN.B.: The program notes in this section are by the composer.

Shepherds, rejoice!
• SSATB, opt. Medieval Drum, opt. Org. • #7.0532 • $1.85 • 2:40
Shepherds, rejoice! is an original setting of Isaac Watts’ Christmas text from Hymns and Spiritual Songs (London, 1707–1709). The carol, written in 5/8 time, evolves gradually from a soft, simple chant with a drone to denser textures, rising descants, imitative counterpoint, and an intense climax.
USE: Christmas services and concerts
     • moderately easy
     • church, high school, college, community, professional choruses

Love came down at Christmas
• SSAATB • #7.0530 • $1.85 • 3:00
Love came down at Christmas is a setting of Christina Rossetti’s well-known Christmas poem. The melody and accompaniment evolve gradually from the softly flowing opening verse and refrain to denser textures, canonic imitation, descants, and an intense climax on the words, “Love to God and to all men.”
USE: Christmas services and concerts
     • moderately easy
     • church, high school, college, community, professional choruses

A Cradle Song
• SSATBB • #7.0533 • $1.85 • 2:35
A setting of William Blake’s beautiful poem of tenderness and grace from Songs of Innocence, A Cradle Song is appropriate for both Christmas and general use. The simple lullaby is sung initially above a slower moving accompaniment. The strophic texture gradually evolves, expanding in verse three to a three-part canon
and, in the final verse, to six-part counterpoint featuring a canon with descants above a three-part accompaniment.
USE: Christmas services and concerts
     • moderately easy
     • church, high school, college, community, professional choruses

CHRISTMAS CHORAL —
Treble Chorus unaccompanied or with optional Instruments

The Falcon Carol
• 2 S Soli, SSA, opt. Medieval Drum, opt. Org. • #7.0531 • $1.85 • 2:20
The Falcon Carol is a setting of a traditional English Christmas carol text. Chatman’s original tune evolves gradually from a soft, simple chant with drone to denser textures, featuring added parallel harmony, solos, imitative counterpoint, and an intense climax.
USE: Christmas services and concerts
     • moderately easy
     • church, high school, college, community, professional choruses

CHRISTMAS CHORAL — Mixed Chorus unaccompanied

Voices in the Mist
• SSATB • #7.0534 • $1.85 • 2:30
Stephen Chatman’s setting of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem, Voices in the Mist, conveys the spirit and beauty of the English countryside during the Christmas season. The gently flowing melody evolves from a soft unison chant to a three-part canon above an accompaniment, and eventually to a four-part canon, culminating
in a climactic ending.
USE: Christmas services and concerts
     • moderately easy
     • church, high school, college, community, professional choruses

CHRISTMAS CHORAL — Mixed Chorus and optional Piano

Sterling Bells (Woodland Bells) (pre-revision recording)
• S or A Soli, SATB & opt. Piano • #7.0525 • $2.65 • 2:45
This piece is suitable for use as a secular Christmas carol. Considering the text of“bell sounds,” the alternative title, Woodland Bells, is appropriate for general programming. The fast, step-wise melodies and syncopated ostinato accompaniments create both delicate textures and a sparkling, festive spirit.
USE: Christmas concerts
     • moderately difficult
     • skilled high school, college, community, professional choruses

SECULAR CHORAL — Mixed Chorus unaccompanied

Unseen Buds
• SAT Soli, SATB (divisi) • #7.0522 • $2.15 • 3:20
Walt Whitman’s lines, “Unseen buds, infinite, hidden well,” and “microscopic, unborn, Like babes in wombs,” from his poem, Unseen Buds, suggest a similar musical concept, ideally expressed by “Billions of billions, and trillions of trillions” of singers! Given the considerable practical challenges of multiple divisi voices, this setting, although appearing difficult, can be performed easily by any mixed choir. It employs various notational and musical devices designed not only for maximum choral effect but also for ease of preparation. Both aural cues from soloists and rhythmic freedom, with unsynchronized voices and spatial notation of time, help to create a dazzling array of soft, delicately shimmering textures and infinite vocal colors.
USE: concerts
     • moderately easy
     • high school, college, community, professional choruses

Elves’ Bells
• SSAATTB • #7.0543 • $3.25 • 3:00
As a contrasting sequel to the softly alluring and feminine Dryads’ Bells (Catalog No. 7.0404), Elves’ Bells exudes a driving, robust energy. The elves’ wide range of bell sounds, often loud and syncopated, conjures up fanciful images of celebrations, parties, games, or even mischief and naughty pranks. The work accelerates in tempo and spirit to a joyously climactic ending.
USE: concerts
     • moderately difficult
     • accomplished high school, college, community, professional choruses

The Voice of the Rain
• SATB • #7.0524 • $1.85 • 3:40
The first line of Walt Whitman’s gentle poem, The Voice of the Rain, poses the question, “And who art thou? Said I to the soft-falling shower.” The answer: “I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain, Eternal,” is beautifully developed in the remaining lines. In Stephen Chatman’s reflective setting, the melody and simple
homophony of the A section contrast the rising parallel sixths and polyphony of the B section, building in intensity toward the climax, on the reiterated words,“with love.”
USE: concerts
     • moderately easy
     • high school, college, community, professional choruses

A Magical Machine
• SSATBB • #7.0517 • $2.65 • 3:00
A Magical Machine is a “sound piece” encompassing a short text and music created simultaneously by the composer. Although the sounds of repeated words, vowels and consonants are intrinsic to the work, combinations of varied ostinati, tonal and rhythmic shifts and formal devices are also of primary interest. Any mysteries or questions about the nature of the “machine” are deliberate. The composer intends the title, text and spirit of the music to delight both singers and audiences and to inspire feelings of awe, thoughts of real or imagined images and wild fantasies.
USE: concerts
     • moderately difficult
     • skilled high school, college, community, professional choruses

Due East
1. Nor’easter • SATB (divisi) • #7.0526 • $1.50 • 1:35
2. Minke Whale • SATB • #7.0527 • $1.85 • 1:30
3. Farewell Nancy • S or A Solo, SATB (divisi) • #7.0528 • $1.85 • 2:20
4. Fishing • SSATBB • #7.0529 • $2.15 • 2:15
This four-song set is similar in general character to Chatman’s earlier sets Due North (Catalog Nos. 7.0367–7.0371) and Due West (Catalog Nos. 7.0397–7.0401). In Due East, the lyrics by Tara Wohlberg ring specifically Canadian Maritime themes. The slow, forceful Nor’easter and the lively Minke Whale and Fishing
relate to nature and the sea. The lament, Farewell Nancy, is an original setting of a traditional Newfoundland text adapted by Tara Wohlberg. It employs simple but exquisite harmonies, culminating in a dramatic improvised “Irish style” solo.
USE: concerts
     • moderately difficult
     • accomplished high school, college, community, professional choruses

Autumn Violets
• SATBB • #7.0523 • $1.50 • 2:50
This setting of Christina Rossetti’s poignant poem, Autumn Violets, uses a simple homophonic style without bar lines, reminiscent of Chatman’s Remember (Catalog No. 7.0410). The opening line, “Keep love for youth, and violets for the spring,” symbolic of the poem’s message, clearly inspires the musical germ of the song.
This unifying line is reiterated by Rossetti, inserted again by Chatman, and repeated at the end.
USE: concerts
     • moderately easy
     • high school, college, community, professional choruses

SECULAR CHORAL — Narrator, Mixed Chorus, English Horn, Harp and Piano

Love and Shapes High Fantastical
• Full Score • #7.0535 • $17.50 • 10:00 (excerpt)
• Parts • #7.0536 • $22.50
• Piano/Choral Score • #7.0537 • $5.35
The text fragments for Love and Shapes High Fantastical that are taken from writings of Shakespeare on the subjects of love and music, dictate both the sentiments and musical form of the work. The words are spoken by the narrator and sung by the chorus often simultaneously, with a closely integrated instrumental
accompaniment. Shortly after completing this work, Chatman arranged a melody from it as a Christmas carol, Lo in a Manger (Catalog Nos. 7.0357 [SATB and piano or harp] and 7.0358 [SSA and piano or harp]).
USE: concerts
     • moderately difficult
     • skilled high school, college, community, professional choruses

SECULAR CHORAL — Treble or Mixed Chorus and Piano

Bitter for Sweet
• SSA & Piano • #7.0520 • $1.50 • 1:50
• SATB & Piano • #7.0521 • $1.50 • 1:50
This setting of Christina Rossetti’s beautiful poem conveys bittersweet sentiments pertaining to the seasons and, metaphorically, to life itself: the passing of “warm air and refreshing showers” of summer to “chilly” autumn and a “colder” winter. The lyrical melody, with its reflective and somewhat “popular” style piano
accompaniment, is reiterated in the second verse, transposed to the subdominant key. The final two lines, “Each day the hoar-frost waxes bolder, And the last buds cease blowing,” provide both a poignant poetic conclusion and a retrospective musical summation.
USE: concerts
     • moderately easy
     • high school, college, community, professional choruses

SECULAR CHORAL — Mixed Chorus and Piano

On the Beach at Night Alone
• SATB & Piano • #7.0542 • $1.85 • 3:10
Walt Whitman’s visionary poem, On the Beach at Night Alone, reflects his bold voice of joy and exuberance. The line, “I think a thought of the clef of the universes and of the future” precedes an all-encompassing list, reflecting a “vast similitude” of “past, present, future” nature and the universe. In Chatman’s setting, the rising
melodic lines above a repeating ground bass express the optimism and universal brotherhood of the transcendental or theosophical spirit, building toward a climactic conclusion.
USE: concerts
     • moderately easy
     • high school, college, community, professional choruses

RECORDING CREDITS - The Philovox Ensemble

Tracks 2 and 8 were recorded on April 9, 2008, at the recording studio of WGBH Radio, Boston, Massachusetts, by the Philovox Ensemble directed by Jane Ring Frank. The members of the Philovox Ensemble were Sopranos Mary Sullivan, Teresa Wakim and Brenna Wells, Altos Jennifer Ashe, Martin Near and Kristi Vrooman, Tenors Randy McGee, David Scott and Steven Soph and Basses Brian Church, Marc DeMille, Bradford Gleim and John Proft.

The producers were Robert Schuneman and Antonio Oliart Ros; the recording engineer was Antonio Oliart Ros; editing and mastering was by Robert Schuneman, Arsis Audio, Boston, Massachusetts.

RECORDING CREDITS - Guest Artists

Tracks 1, 3, 5-7, 9, 15 and 19 were recorded by the Acadia Choral Society, Shirley Smith, Director, on December 3, 2006, and on May 5, 2007, at St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, Bar Harbor, Maine. The pianist was Julia Morris-Myers (tracks 6 and 18) and the recording engineer was Barry Darling. These tracks are used with the kind permission of Shirley Smith.

Tracks 4 and 17-18 were recorded by the Mississauga Children’s Choir, Thomas Bell, Conductor, at St. Jude’s Church, Oakville, Ontario, Canada in April of 2007, and at Church of the Holy Spirit, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada on April 28-29, 2008, respectively. The pianist was Celene Stavely and the recording engineer was Konrad Skreta. Permission to use these tracks was kindly given by Thomas Bell.

Track 10 was recorded by the Central Bucks High School-West Chamber Choir, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Dr. Joseph Ohrt, Conductor, on April 28, 2006, at the Toronto Center for the Arts. The recording engineer was Brad Zableski. This track is used with the kind permission of Dr. Joseph Ohrt.

Tracks 11-14 were recorded on April 20, 2008, by the Philharmonic Choir of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Douglas Dunsmore, Conductor, at Petro- Canada Hall of the Memorial University of Newfoundland’s School of Music, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. The soprano soloist was Jennifer Bonnell (track 13) and the recording engineer was Richard Klass. Permission to use these tracks was kindly given by Douglas Dunsmore.

Track 16 is excerpted from a commercially available CD entitled Due North released on the Centrediscs label in 1988 (CMC-CD 3388). It was recorded by the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Jon Washburn, Conductor. The narrator was Peter Haworth and the instrumentalists were Roger Cole, English horn, Elizabeth Volpe,
harp and Linda Lee Thomas, piano. The recording engineer was James Reid. This track is used with the kind permission of Richard Truhlar of Centrediscs.

All pieces on the recording are © Copyright 2008 Highgate Press, Inc., This recording is not authorized for sale, lending, broadcast, or public performance.