I really enjoyed this track, thank you for sharing it with me

Incredible harmony, dynamics. A hauntingly beautiful track :-)

Wonderful choral piece... I'm definitely speechless!! 👏👏👏

What prolific and magnificent inventiveness !

For SATB A Cappella Choir and Optional Projected Images
Duration: ca. 11'
Performed by Musica Sacra, Kent Tritle, conductor
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r5g_3kPjU4

To read more and see the graffiti images, visit this page: http://robertpaterson.com/graffiti-canons

Commissioned by Volti, Robert A. Geary, Artistic Director. The commissioning of this work by Volti was made possible by the support of the Ann Stookey Fund for New Music.

Publisher: Bill Holab Music

PROGRAM NOTES

Although I have based many choral works on settings of poems, I also enjoy setting unusual texts. In many ways. graffiti is ideal as a source of inspiration. It is unpretentious, extremely varied and can be found almost anywhere: under bridges, in alleyways, on the sides of vans, in subway stations, and even in bathroom stalls. It may be illegal or sanctioned, artistic, text based, aphoristic, philosophical or purely graphic. It can be humorous, innocent and childlike, or very serious and meant to provoke. Graffiti may be of our time or ancient. Certain cave paintings, for example, could be considered predecessors to modern graffiti. Through graffiti, gangs, tribes or individuals can hide behind anonymity; it is the voice of the voiceless.

In Graffiti Canons , I appropriate positive aphoristic sayings, sentences and phrases found in graffiti from various parts of the world. My goal is to create a musical tapestry that flows from one thought to the next and spans time and place, using canonic technique and chorale-like transitions.

Although I found many of the graffiti images online, others I use in this piece were obtained via a Graffiti Photo Contest that I posted online. Approximately eighty images were submitted, and viewers were allowed to vote for their favorites, which played a part in which images were chosen. A handful of the most inspirational photos were used for this piece. An optional slideshow containing these images may be shown during performances of this piece.

Graffiti Canons was commissioned by Volti, Robert Geary, Artistic Director. The commissioning of this work by Volti was made possible by the support of the Ann Stookey Fund for New Music (annstookeyfund.org).

– Robert Paterson

Graffiti Canons (For Choir)

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.

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