Hearing echos of Whitacre here! Wonderful writing!

Jake Runestad, composer

"Cello Songs." Jake Runestad, composer. Todd Boss, poet. Performed by St. Charles Singers. Jeff Hunt, conductor. Cameron Grimes, cello. Stephen Uhl, piano. More info: http://jakerunestad.com/store/cello-songs

On my living room wall, I have a letterpress broadside of the poem “Cello” by Dorianne Laux. Its central image is a dead tree, fallen into the arms of a living one. As years pass, it “…rubs its fallen body / against the living, building / its dead music / making its raw mark, / wearing the tough bough down / as it moans and bends, the deep / rosined bow sound of the living / shouldering the dead.”

Todd Boss, a frequent collaborator of mine, has created a new, four-movement text inspired by Dorianne’s poem. Intended as love songs, the texts use the seasons as a structure to examine how the cello might come to mean very different things to us as we progress through the beauty and complexity of our lives.

Cello Songs (choir, cello, piano)

"Alleluia" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the Salt Lake Vocal Artists at the 2014 Western ACDA Division Conference. Purchase scores: http://jakerunestad.com/store/alleluia

Alleluia (SATB choir)

Nyon, Nyon

"Let My Love Be Heard" by Jake Runestad. Recorded by the Bob Cole Chamber Choir at Cal State Long Beach. Jonathan Talberg, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/let-my-love-be-heard

Let My Love Be Heard (SATB choir) by Jake Runestad

Austin's Grammy-award winning choral ensemble Conspirare will be performing two world premieres this weekend: Eric Banks’ This Delicate Universe and Jake Runestad’s Come To The Woods with a performance in Houston, May 8th and performances in Austin, May 9th and 10th.

Dianne chatted with the both composers and with Conspirare’s Artistic Director, Craig Hella Johnson, about the works. Learn about the composer’s inspiration and how they approach the “blank canvas”. Craig also talks about this banner year for Conspirare.

Two World Premieres with Conspirare

Nyon Nyon - BSHS A Cappella Choir - Spring 2015

Run through recordings from class, 10/14/15. 

Nyon

University Singers - Runestad's "Nyon, Nyon"

The Northeast Festival Chorus performs at the Saturday afternoon concert on April 2, 2016.

Nyon Nyon

Let My Love Be Heard

"Come to the Woods" by Jake Runestad. Performed by the Georgia State University Singers. Deanna Joseph, conductor. Purchase scores: jakerunestad.com/store/come-to-the-woods

Famed Scottish-American naturalist and conservationist John Muir had a giddy, child-like excitement for the natural world. After a youth spent in Scotland and Wisconsin, he found himself transformed by his first visit, around age 30, to California’s Yosemite Valley. With the vast mountainous landscape and the surreal size of the sequoia and redwood trees, these woods captured him and became his playground, his classroom, and his sanctuary.

Muir was an avid “saunterer” and a profound thinker who would venture into the woods for days with a bit of food and a book of Emerson poetry in hand. Inspired by the beauty of the wilderness and a lifelong love for words, Muir penned a vast collection of eloquent and vivid writings. In one quintessentially Muirian account, he is so fascinated by a storm that he climbs up a tall Douglas Fir to experience it more intensely.

“Come to the Woods” explores Muir’s inspirations and the transporting peace found in the natural world. Using a collage of fragments from Muir’s writings, the work ventures from the boisterous joy of a “glorious day,” to the quiet whispering of wind, to the rejuvenating power of a storm, to the calming “amber light” when the clouds begin to clear. I hope it captures the self-discovery and sustenance one encounters while exploring the outdoors and its vital importance in our lives. As Muir writes, “I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”

Come To The Woods (SATB & piano, Georgia State)

Runestad | And So I Go On (Live)

Mariri (2016)

"The Secret of the Sea" by Jake Runestad. Commissioned by Craig Hella Johnson and KI Concerts for a premiere at the Sydney Opera House (Australia). This recording features a live performance by Kantorei (Denver, CO) under the direction of Joel Rinsema.

More info: jakerunestad.com/store/the-secret-of-the-sea

Texts:

I. The Unbounded Sea

Lo, the unbounded sea!
On its breast a ship starting, spreading all sails,
the pennant is flying aloft as it speeds,
        below emulous waves press forward,
they surround the ship with shining curving motions and foam.
        – Walt Whitman

My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea.
        – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

II. Crash On Crash

Crash on crash of the sea,
raging against the world,
furious, the deep roar hailing you,
the very gods,
rearing their mighty length
on the unharvested sea.
        – H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)

III. The Light that Fills the World

The great sea
moves me, sets me free.
The winds of the earth
carry me away,
and my soul is filled with joy.
When I drifted out
and thought myself in danger,
my fears captured me —
all the things I had to get and to reach.
but there is only one great thing, 
the only thing:
to live to see the light that fills the world.
        – Uvavnuk, Iglulik Eskimo

The Secret of the Sea

"Rivers of Air" by Jake Runestad. Performed live by the Capital University Symphonic Winds. Dr. Jeffrey Gershman, conductor. More info: jakerunestad.com/store/rivers-of-air

Capital University

Rivers of Air (wind ensemble)

Official Website:

http://jakerunestad.com


About Jake:

Award-winning composer Jake Runestad (b. 1986) is noted for his versatility and wide range of expressive capabilities with music driven by soaring melodies, driving rhythms, and lush textures. Considered “highly imaginative…with big ideas” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald), Jake has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles such as Seraphic Fire, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, VocalEssence, the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Cantus (Minnesota), and the Rockford Symphony Orchestra.

Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts. He has also studied extensively with acclaimed composer Libby Larsen. Mr. Runestad currently lives in Minneapolis, MN and his music is published by Boosey & Hawkes and JR Music. Find out more at jakerunestad.com

The Secret of the Sea

Jake Runestad

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