Eternal Reflections is a collaboration between Musica Sacra, one of America's greatest professional choirs, Music Director Kent Tritle, and award-winning composer Robert Paterson. This is the first album dedicated entirely to Paterson's choral music, and all works on the album are world-premiere recordings. This beautiful album was recorded at the world-famous Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City, and produced by multi-Grammy winning producer Adam Abeshouse.

RECENT QUOTES...

“Robert Paterson is among the modern day masters who is making sure that the world of choral music continues to expand... They overwhelmingly deserve to be a standard choice in the repertoire of choral ensembles because of their thoughtful and engaging scores... Overall, Eternal Reflections conveys the virtuosity of Robert Paterson and why he was awarded The Composer of the Year in 2012 from the Classical Recording Foundation. Musica Sacra, under the brilliant direction of Kent Tritle, sing these compositions with self-confidence and professionalism. Recommended.” — AXS.xom

“...brilliant... a handful of gold. Wonderful stuff that exists well away from the commercial zone.” — MidWestRecord.com

“The performers here are adept at the quicksilver mood changes of these pieces, and listeners intrigued by the notion of modern compositions for a very old form of ensemble will find the CD quite pleasurable.” — InfoDad.com

MORE INFORMATION...

The works on the album range from secular to sacred, from serious to lighthearted and even humorous.

Lux Aeterna, written specifically for Musica Sacra and Kent Tritle, is a setting of excerpts of  text from the Requiem Mass.

Eternal Reflections was originally commissioned by the Volti Choir of San Francisco and the winning work of the Cincinnati Camerata Composition Competition, and includes settings of texts by Czeslaw Milosz, Mary E. Frye and Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

The Essence of Gravity, also commissioned by Volti, is a set of four movements using onomotopeia words as texts. The movements are inspired by aspects of gravity,both physical and emotional, on subjects as diverse as war, love, the ocean and outer space.

A Dream within a Dream was commissioned by the Chamber Choir of Europe and is a setting of the text of the same name by Edgar Alan Poe.

Life is But A Dream: also commissioned by CCE, is based on Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and incorporates multiple translations of this famous round in different languages.

Suite from A New Eaarth (for orchestra, chorus and narrator) was written for the VYOA Choir during a Music Alive! New Music USA residency. This piece touches on environmental issues and global warming; text by Wendell Barry, James Joyce, Percy Bysshe Shelly and William Wordsworth.

Did You Hear? addresses the life of teens and the consequences of rumors and gossip, with an original text by David Cote.

Snow Day was commissioned by the Pelham Memorial High School Choir, and expresses the joy of having a day off from school; text by David Cote.

Eternal Reflections

Duration: 7'
Instrumentation: mixed SATB choir
Commissioned by Musica Sacra, Kent Tritle, director and conductor
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/ensembles/satb/robert-paterson/500040+1823727
For more information: https://robertpaterson.com/lux-aeterna
View Score: https://issuu.com/robertpaterson/docs/paterson_lux_aeterna__vocal_score__

Lux Aeterna

Suite of choral movements from A New Eaarth for orchestra, chorus and narrator. This version for voice and piano
Duration (all movements): 14'
Text by James Joyce

Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=1837
For more information: http://robertpaterson.com/a-new-eaarth

PROGRAM NOTE
Although I have lived in cities most of my life, I do not think of myself as a city person and have always felt more connected to the outdoors rather than to asphalt and tall buildings. Many of my works are inspired by nature, and I am deeply concerned about environmental issues, particularly climate change.

Of the many excellent books on the environment, one of the best and the one that moves me most is Eaarth by Bill McKibben, a famed author, educator and environmentalist. McKibben’s assertion is that we have waited too long, and that massive climate change is not only unavoidable, but already underway. He states that we may as well call this new planet Eaarth, because it is still recognizable, but fundamentally different. I feel strongly that he is correct, and wanted to express this in a musical way. A work for orchestra, chorus and narrator seemed like the ideal vehicle for reflecting on this critical issue.

Choral Suite from A New Eaarth consists of the four choral movements from A New Eaarth for orchestra, but with piano rather than orchestra. I designed these movements so they could be performed as a stand-alone suite, and in fact, for the purpose of rehearsals, I composed the choir and piano versions first, and then orchestrated them so they could be integrated into the whole orchestral work.

The suite includes texts by Wendell Berry, James Joyce, Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Wordsworth. The poems, at least as part of the entire orchestral version, allude to the four ancient classical elements—earth, air, fire and water—a theme that permeates many of my other works.

A New Eaarth was commissioned by the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association through a Music Alive! residency grant from New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras.

Choral Suite from A New Eaarth - I. Rough Wind (Text by James Joyce)

Suite of choral movements from A New Eaarth for orchestra, chorus and narrator.

Publisher: Bill Holab Music
For more information: http://robertpaterson.com/a-new-eaarth

Choral Suite from A New Eaarth - II. The Noise of Waters

Suite of choral movements from A New Eaarth for orchestra, chorus and narrator. This version for chorus and piano.

Publisher: Bill Holab Music:
http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=1837

View Score:
https://issuu.com/robertpaterson/docs/paterson_choral_suite_from_a_new_ea

For more information:
https://robertpaterson.com/choral-suite-from-a-new-eaarthh
http://robertpaterson.com/a-new-eaarth

PROGRAM NOTE
Although I have lived in cities most of my life, I do not think of myself as a city person and have always felt more connected to the outdoors rather than to asphalt and tall buildings. Many of my works are inspired by nature, and I am deeply concerned about environmental issues, particularly climate change.

Of the many excellent books on the environment, one of the best and the one that moves me most is Eaarth by Bill McKibben, a famed author, educator and environmentalist. McKibben’s assertion is that we have waited too long, and that massive climate change is not only unavoidable, but already underway. He states that we may as well call this new planet Eaarth, because it is still recognizable, but fundamentally different. I feel strongly that he is correct, and wanted to express this in a musical way. A work for orchestra, chorus and narrator seemed like the ideal vehicle for reflecting on this critical issue.

Choral Suite from A New Eaarth consists of the four choral movements from A New Eaarth for orchestra, but with piano rather than orchestra. I designed these movements so they could be performed as a stand-alone suite, and in fact, for the purpose of rehearsals, I composed the choir and piano versions first, and then orchestrated them so they could be integrated into the whole orchestral work.

The suite includes texts by Wendell Berry, James Joyce, Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Wordsworth. The poems, at least as part of the entire orchestral version, allude to the four ancient classical elements—earth, air, fire and water—a theme that permeates many of my other works.

A New Eaarth was commissioned by the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association through a Music Alive! residency grant from New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras.

Choral Suite from A New Eaarth - III. A Timbered Choir

Choral Suite from A New Eaarth - IV. There Was A Time

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker—born and bred in Buffalo, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs, near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces a wide variety of themes, everything from goddesses and online dating to mathematics and the environment. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poem, Dark Mountains, regularly airs on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with Nashville Opera, then BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and across the United States. Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, The Oratorio Society of New York, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his works. Paterson gives masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and more. He is the Artistic Director and house composer for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and advocates for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with ground-breaking works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees.

Choral Suite from A New Eaarth - III. A Timbered Choir

Robert Paterson Composer