Atlanta Sacred Chorale New CD

I am thrilled that my piece "Morning Person" (SATB/piano 4 hands) is on the Atlanta Sacred Chorale's new CD "Awake the Dawn", with listening samples and order info at:


http://atlantasacredchorale.org/index.php?page=cd&cd=11



The Chorale is led brilliantly by Emory University Professor Eric Nelson. Other composer/arrangers on the CD include David Brunner, John Rutter, Charles Stanford, John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, Leonard Bernstein, Lee Dengler, Morten Lauridsen, William L. Dawson, Robert Shaw, and Jester Hairston

Hmm, some pretty fine company there!

Morning Person is published by Roger Dean, cat. #15/2599R

The very creative text is by New Orleans poet Vassar Miller- it's about God waking up one fine morning and creating the world in ONE day (not six!). My setting sounds a bit like Healy Willan in places, and at times the piano part sounds like it's out of Sondheim- hey, I don't mind admitting who some of my influences are!It was premiered by Rick Bjella's White Heron Chorale in Wisconsin when Rick was still at Lawrence Conservatory. I visited a rehearsal and we had a great time working on the dizzying energy of the piece with Rick's great community choir.

Morning Person

God, best at making in the morning, tossed
stars and planets, singing and dancing, rolled
Saturn's rings spinning and humming, twirled the earth
so hard it coughed and spat the moon up, brilliant
bubble floating around it for good, stretched holy
hands till birds in nervous sparks flew forth from
them and beasts -- lizards, big and little, apes,
lions, elephants, dogs and cats cavorting,
tumbling over themselves, dizzy with joy when
God made us in the morning too, both man
and woman, leaving Adam no time for
sleep so nimbly was Eve bouncing out of
his side till as night came everything and
everybody, growing tired, declined, sat
down in one soft descended Hallelujah.

I hope you will visit the Chorale's CD page and take a listen to Morning Person and some of the other sample tracks- and maybe you will want to order a copy!

Thanks for reading


PS I will get back to discussing Tim Sharp's High Lonesome Mass and the rest of my Oregon/Washington trip soon