This is the world premiere performance of the fifth and final movement of Aaron Alter's Earth Cantata for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra (inspired by the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.) The performance was done by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Franz Vote (shown on the right in the image above,) conductor and artistic director.

The fifth movement of the Earth Cantata is a Fantasy on an Original Chorale by Aaron Alter and is a recap of the first movement with a more final ending. Aaron's original chorale evokes Bach while adding a Rock-inspired undertone.

While there are no direct quotes of Bach's music in Earth Cantata, it uses the form of Bach's sacred cantatas as a starting point and embraces their deep spiritual and emotional weight and richness, while fusing influences of Jazz, Rock and Pop music in a unique and fresh way. The text is a poetic interpretation of the biblical Psalm 66 by the Elizabethan poet Mary Sidney Herbert, from around the year 1599. The text of the first movement is below.

All lands, the limbs of earthy round,
With triumph tunes God's honour sound:
Sing of his name the praiseful glory,
And glorious make his praise's story.

The performers were:
Sopranos: Jennifer Perez, Camille Tierney
Altos: Esther Moses, Jacqueline Zander-Wall
Tenors: André García-Nuthmann, Jordan Jones
Basses: Andrew Paulson, Tim Willson

Violins: Elizabeth Baker, Carla Kountoupes
Viola: Gail Robertson
Cello: Sally Guenther
Double Bass: Deborah Dunham
Flute: Linda Marianiello
Oboe: Amanda Talley
Clarinet: Mike Gruetzner
Bassoon: Stefanie Przybylska
French Horn: Michael Walker
Piano: Jeremy Reger
Conductor: Franz Vote

Text is from The Sidney Psalter, The Psalms of Sir Philip and Mary Sidney, Published by the Oxford University Press (2009)

Copyright Hannibal Hamlin, Michael G. Brennan, Margaret P. Hannay and Noel J. Kinnamon, 2009

Reproduced with permission of the Licensor through PLSclear.

Earth Cantata was named as a National Finalist Honorable Mention in the 2024 American Prize, Major Choral Works Composition division and a Silver Medalist at the 2023 Global Music Awards.

Earth Cantata is published by Universal Edition. For scores and parts, please visit:
https://www.universaledition.com/en/Works/Earth-Cantata-inspired-by-the-Cantatas-of-Johann/P0207113

For more information on the Earth Cantata and other compositions by Aaron Alter, please visit his compositions page at: https://aaronalter.com/compositions

Earth Cantata-5th Movement (inspired by the cantatas of J. S. Bach) for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra

Aaron Alter is a composer from Carlsbad, California. His music is published by Universal Edition and Silverwinds Publishing. Aaron calls his new music his "New Beginning" because it is an exploration of a new style and energy that defies categorization.    

A native of Chicago, Aaron Alter's musical background was a product of the rich musical life that he found growing up in the Windy City. Aaron received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University, where he studied piano with Frances Larimer and Gui Mombaerts, and composition with Lynden DeYoung and David Noon. He received his Master of Fine Arts Degree from Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt and James K. Randall.  

Aaron’s new music was first performed in 2015, with the performance of “Homage to Josquin” for two flutes, piano, electric bass and drum set by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Homage to Josquin” received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 American Prize competition for Chamber Music Composition.  

Works such as "Solar Rays" and "Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry" defy genres and exist in Classical ensemble and Jazz Big Band versions. Both the classical piano trio (piano, violin and ‘cello) and Jazz Big Band versions of “Solar Rays” have received Silver medals at the Global Music Awards. Aaron’s Introspective Blues #1 for Flute and Harp has become his most popular work, with over 16,100 plays on SoundCloud and over 5,200 plays on Jango Internet Radio. Aaron’s music has been featured on the albums “One Minute”, “Two Minutes”, “Gimel” and “Daleth”, by the flutist Iwona Glinka on the Sarton and Phasma Music labels, all of which have won Silver Medals at the Global Music Awards.  

Aaron has received two commissions in the past two years for choral works with an instrumental ensemble from The New Mexico Performing Arts Society.  The first commission, “Together We Create and Sing! (inspired by the music of Franz Joseph Haydn”) was a semi-finalist at the 2018 American Prize competition for Choral Music Composition and received a Silver Medal at the August 2019 Global Music Awards.  The latest commission, “Lo Lanu Ha-Shem” (a setting of Psalm 115) received a Silver Medal from the March 2019 Global Music Awards.  

Aaron is a regular contributor of compositions to the repertoire of the flutist Iwona Glinka, the pianist and Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger, the pianist Vania Pimentel, The New Mexico Performing Arts Society and Composers Concordance in New York.  

Aaron also serves as an Executive Board Member of the Carlsbad Friends of the Arts.

Earth Cantata-5th Movement (inspired by the cantatas of J. S. Bach) for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra

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