(Each week we look at one or two of the best choral works posted in the Composition Showcase here on ChoralNet. This is where we store a treasure trove of works that your choirs will love to sing and your audiences will love to hear.)
Level: College
Uses: General Concert Use
Program Themes: Winter, Stars, Nature, Sky, Light
This Piece Would Program Well With: Maid on the Moor by Michael McGlynn available at http://www.anuna.ie/shop/sheet-music-detail.asp?prodId=S94sheet_maid_in_the_moor
Programing a concert can happen in many ways. Sometimes you have an idea or a theme in mind, then you seek works that relate to that theme. Other times you find a piece you love so much you build a concert around it. This week’s Spotlight shines on a piece that I would move heaven and earth to program around.
Aurora of the Soul paints an aural picture of the beauty of the sky when lit by the eerie Northern Lights. The work has a feeling of open natural beauty that immediately reminds me of Michael McGlynn. Phillips’ Aurora, like many of McGlynn’s songs and videos, gives a sense of the grandeur of wide open spaces.
I suggest laying on your back and looking at the star lit sky when listening to this piece. If you are surrounded by snow and cold, perhaps a warm bath with a glass of wine would be a better setting.
This piece is available from the composer: sheenaphillips(at)gmail.com
Jack Senzig says