Vancouver Chamber Choir releases R. Murray Schafer CD “The Love that Moves the Universe”

The Love that Moves the Universe – The Choral Music of R. Murray Schafer, Vol. 4
Vancouver Chamber Choir ~ Jon Washburn, conductor

Available: https://vancouverchamberchoir.com/product/the-love-that-moves-the-universe/

This latest addition to the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s outstanding series of Schafer choral works was recorded in 2018 as a special celebration of the composer’s 85th birthday, funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter program.

The title piece for choir and orchestra is a magnificent setting of selected cantos from Dante’s “Paradiso” in which the poet tries to look into the face of God.

Featured is “The Star Princess and the Waterlilies,” a delightful creation allegory for alto solo, narrator, women’s chorus and percussion.

Also “Narcissus and Echo” based on the story as told by the Latin poet Ovid, set for a cappella chorus with baritone and soprano soloists.

Artists include the Vancouver Chamber Choir and Vancouver Chamber Orchestra, Steven Bélanger (baritone), Fabiana Katz (alto), Christina Cichos (soprano), George Roberts (narrator), Brian Nesselroad and Jonathan Bernard (percussion) and the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s longtime conductor and artistic director, Jon Washburn.

1. “The Star Princess and the Waterlilies”
– Narrator: George Roberts
– The Star Princess: Fabiana Katz
– Children and Buttercup: Christina Cichos, Krista Pederson, Hilary Ison, Emily Cheung
– Percussion: Brian Nesselroad, Jonathan Bernard
– The women of the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Jon Washburn, conductor

2. “Narcissus and Echo” (as told in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”)
– Tiresias: Steven Bélanger, baritone
– Echo: Christina Cichos, soprano
– Other echoes: Beth Buono, Emily Cheung, Krista Pederson, sopranos
– Vancouver Chamber Choir, Jon Washburn, conductor

3. “The Love that Moves the Universe” (from Dante’s “Paradiso”)
Canto 1: The glory of the One who moves the universe
Canto 33: Ne la profonda e chiara sussistenza (In the profound clarity of that exalted light)
– Sopranos: Beth Buono, Christina Cichos
– Altos: Dolores Scott, Fabiana Katz
– Tenors: Eric Schwarzhoff, Carman J. Price
– Bass: George Roberts
– Vancouver Chamber Choir and Vancouver Chamber Orchestra, Jon Washburn, conductor

Major Sponsor
This Schafer recording (and the gala concert associated with it) is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter program. With this $35M investment, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada. The Vancouver Chamber Choir thanks the Council for its outstanding support of our artistic efforts for over 40 years.