Mystical Voices – timeless wisdom for the present moment, The Choral Music of Michael John Trotta

 

 

 

 

Mystical Voices from American composer Michael John Trotta features 17 choral works
on a variety of texts ranging from the 9th century to the modern day. Michael John Trotta 

shows himself a composer of great artistry and a consummate master of vocal writing –

his music is beautifully tonal, a rich tapestry of magnificent melody and imbued throughout

with profound expression and insight;  the performance, under the direction of the composer,

is excellent, as is the ambient acoustic that serves the music so well.  Mystical Voices 

from composer Michael John Trotta is a superb disc of modern choral masterpieces from

an artist of vision and power.

 

 

“Break of Day” opens the program and is a tranquil, beautifully textured, accompanied work on

a text by John Donne, whereas “In This Present Moment” opens with a contrast of male & female

voices presenting a work in an almost dialogue fashion;  “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel” is a richly rhythmical

work full of wonderful vocal punctuations,  “While Adam Lay Ybounden” conveys a hauntingly mystical

quality and a taste of the timeless; “In the Bleak Midwinter”, on Rossetti’s famous text, has an almost

hymn-like quality to it and features a plaintively beautiful oboe line, while “What Then”, on a text by

Coleridge, is like the unfolding of a peaceful dream, which beautifully contrasts with the sparser texture of 

“Make Space for Life to Live” on an original text by the composer;  “I Will Keep Still” opens with a stunningly

engaging choral murmur which slowly opens into a work of rich harmonic invention; “Hidden in Plain Sight”

features piano & flute accompaniment, while “Kyrie”, also with piano & flute accompaniment and for treble voices,  

is a beautiful modern expression of an ancient text;  “Sinfonia”  is the instrumental introduction to the 18-minute

multi-movement work “Dedication to Life” expressing the journey through life and nature, with “Early Spring”

being the first vocal movement for accompanied soprano, followed by “I Ask for a Moment” and “Summer Has

Come”,  both also for accompanied soprano – the overall piece, across all of its movements, exudes both

tranquility and passion, longing and beauty; “Veni Creator Spiritus” is a magnificent a cappella work that

expresses the quality of eternity, while “Prayer for Peace”, also a cappella, revels in its beauty of sound;

the final “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel”  is a modern, almost dance-beat, re-mix of the third work on the program

– absolutely unique in its marriage of ancient & modern.