Earth or poets

I was intrigued by the lyrics and themes of the latest Oriana Chorale concert and pleased to be asked to record it.  They always perform beautifully capable and interesting concerts and this was no exception.  I usually just listen to the music, as lyrics can be hard to decipher on stage, but lyrics are the essence of song and that's what choirs do and words have an intellectual clarity that music can only hint at with emotional soundscapes.  The concert was called Colours of the Earth and the four songs all had themes related to Earthy things: trees, lakes, minerals and the like.  But most interesting to me was that the lyrics were mostly poetry, by Sara Teasdale and snippets of Goethe, Tennyson, a Josquin chanson, and a full work by Judith Wright, and also with supplementary themes, of time and life and words to a child and faiths lost.  And containing all that, the music was fascinating.  The main work was Oche by Caroline Shaw, with movements named for various minerals, and amusingly with samples provided on the day by the Canberra Lapidary Club.  MD  Dan Walker provided the final song of the evening, To a child, to the words of Judith Wright.  The first was Luke Byrne Desert Sea followed by a world premiere from Oriana's Emerging composer in residence, Aija Draguns, with that text from Sara Teasdale, about lost leaves displaying a sky view.   The accompaniment was percussion, both tuned and not, which is unusual but felt apt in this context for the rigours of the Earth.  And the performance was again hugely inviting, rich and sweet and not too dissonant.  How I love song and the combined singing of a capable choir.  Lovely.

Oriana Chorale presented works by Luke Byrne, Aija Draguns, Caroline Shaw and Dan Walker at Wesley Church under Dan Walker MD (conductor).  Aija Draguns, Oriana's Emerging composer in residence, composed Lost leaves, presented as a World Premiere.