“This is a tremendous disc, effectively a celebration of great poetry in song. Recommended.” —Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine

“Susa’s Six Joyce Songs is a thoroughly engaging song cycle…Conte’s A Whitman Triptych keenly translates the images of the text into richly imaginative harmonic progressions…” —Stephen Smoliar, San Francisco Examiner

Grammy Award-winning choirmaster Ragnar Bohlin leads his professional chamber choir, Cappella SF, in a stunning program of choral music by two of America’s leading contemporary composers.

In this – Maestro Bohlin’s second recording with Cappella SF on Delos – his select 24-voice ensemble delivers these two modern masters’ lovely and accessible music to perfection. We get two choice choral song cycles from Conrad Susa: Six Joyce Songs, Vol. II, as well as Landscapes and Silly Songs (with texts by Federico García Lorca). David Conte contributes another winning cycle, A Whitman Triptych – plus a pair of appealing pieces: The Composer and Invocation and Dance.

This captivating ensemble lays claim to an abundance of choral virtues: gorgeous tone, perfect sectional balance, needle-sharp intonation, and crystal-clear diction, to name but a few. Choral aficionados everywhere owe it to themselves to become acquainted with these remarkable composers, as well as with a group of supreme choral artists equal to the very best.

Track Listing

    DAVID CONTE

  1. The Composer Text by John Stirling Walker

    2. CONRAD SUSA: Six Joyce Songs, Volume II Texts by James Joyce

  2. I. The Twilight Turns from Amethyst
  3. II. At That Hour
  4. III. Lean Out of the Window
  5. IV. Who Goes Amid the Green Wood
  6. V. Winds of May
  7. VI. From Dewy Dreams, My Soul, Arise

    8. DAVID CONTE: A Whitman Triptych Texts by Walt Whitman

  8. I O Setting Sun
  9. II. What Is the Grass?
  10. II. Facing West

    11. CONRAD SUSA: Landscapes and Silly Songs Texts by Federico García Lorca

  11. I. Landscape I
  12. II. The Gallant One
  13. III. The Kings of the Deck
  14. IV. Landscape II
  15. V. Silly Song

    16. DAVID CONTE: Invocation and Dance Texts by Walt Whitman

  16. Invocation
  17. Dance

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