TO JOURNEY 
by Tom Vignieri

"To Journey" is the 2nd movement of a work commissioned by Carthage College in honor of President F. Gregory Campbell and First Lady Barbara Campbell.  

Recorded here in Symphony Hall, Boston it was premiered May 18, 2012 by the Carthage Choir and Wind Orchestra in Siebert Chapel under the direction of Eduardo Garcia-Novelli and James Ripley.  

Whereas the first movement "To Sing" is set for a cappella choir, "To Journey" adds the services of a wind ensemble. Using a motive from the 1st movement as processional, the orchestra embarks on a journey through the centuries, referencing iconic hymns along the way. Given President Campbell’s 25-year tenure and what was the college’s 165th anniversary, it’s meant as a symbolic march through time, speaking to things of enduring quality. As the journey processes, each hymn, fragmented and reminiscent, is linked by variations on the processional idea.  

Given the college’s Lutheran affiliation, Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (1529) is the starting point, continuing with a chorale from J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (1727), "Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden" (When once I must depart). We then move into 20th century hymnody with "For All The Saints" or "Sine Nomine" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, taken from the English Hymnal which he edited in 1906. The college newspaper, The Carthaginian, also used "For All The Saints" as the title of a recurring section of its publication.  

After spanning nearly four centuries we find ourselves in the present marked by the return of the Campbell theme from the 1st movement(at 5:20), stated plaintively in the winds. The brass and choir reprise the closing moments of the 1st movement along with final line of Charles Anthony Silvestri's sonnet.  This time transforming from “So LIVE, and make the world a better place” to “So SING, and make the world a better place.”

Lasting advice from President Campbell and an invitation to sing our learning and wisdom for the betterment of all. 

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RECORDING
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
James Donahue & Nick Squire, recording engineers
Editing by Nick Squire
Mixing by James Donahue & Nick Squire
Assisted by Yoichi Udagawa & Neal Hampton with special thanks to Jesse Levine, Claes Nystrom, Chris Ruigomez and Dr. Peter Dennee
Recorded November 3, 2013, Symphony Hall, Boston

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COMPOSER WEBSITE
http://www.tomvignieri.com/bio.htm

VIDEO OF THIS WORK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS6iuKMnmC0

1ST MOVEMENT "TO SING"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWZMZr0CPgo

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FLUTE
Vanessa Holroyd
Jessica Lizak

OBOE
Jane Harrison
Andrea Bonsignore

CLARINET
Ivan Valbuena Paez
Luz Elena Sarmiento Lozoda

BASSOON
Greg Newton

HORN
Lee Wadenpfuhl
Ellen Martins

TRUMPET
Bruce Hall
Jesse Levine
Paul Perfetti

TROMBONE
Bob Couture
Hans Bohn
Brian Kay, bass

PERCUSSION
Jeff Fischer
Rich Flanagan
Craig McNutt
Neil Grover, timpani

SOPRANO
Roberta Anderson
Susan Consoli
Jessica Cooper
Cassandra Extavour
Monica Hatch
Shannon Larkin
Jill Malin
Shea Mavros
Wendy Perrotta
Emily Tweedy

ALTO
Julia Cavallaro
Carrie Cheron
Mary Gerbi
Katherine Growdon
Margaret Lias
Krista River
Claire Shepro

TENOR
Jonas Budris
Josh Collier
Craig Hanson
Eric Perry
Jason Wang
Mark Williams

BASS
Jonathan Barnhart
Glenn Billingsley
RaShaun Campbell
Jacob Cooper
Thomas Dawkins
Clifford Rust

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The image above is from the recording session in Symphony Hall, Boston.

.......
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To Journey

Song by Kelly Knoesen. Lead guitar by Leeroy De-Jong.

Silver Shade

Only Smile

21. London

Rough recording of a rock tune Ive had brewing for a few decades 🤙

Shapeless Sun

HAEC DIES 
by Tom Vignieri

A setting of the traditional Latin text “This is the day" for SATB choir, organ, and trumpet. It was commissioned by Lisa Graham and the Metropolitan Chorale of Brookline in celebration of their new name (formerly Brookline Chorus) and premiered November 19, 2011 at First Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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TRANSLATION
Haec dies quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus et laetemur in ea. Allelulia.
This is the day the Lord has made: let us be glad and rejoice in it. Allelulia.

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RECORDING
Metropolitan Chorale of Brookline
Lisa Graham, music director and conductor 
Jesse Levine, trumpet
Heinrich Christensen, organ
Antonio Oliart, recording engineer

This recording was made December 6, 2011 at All Saints Parish in Brookline, Massachusetts. With thanks to Donald Teeters and Peggy Maguire of All Saints Parish.

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MUSIC VIDEO OF THIS WORK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9mxxxMy2Jg

COMPOSER'S WEBSITE
http://www.tomvignieri.com/bio.htm

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The image above is of Westminster Abbey in London, England.

…….
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Haec dies

AN AMERICAN HYMN
by Tom Vignieri 

"An American Hymn" was commissioned by Yoichi Udagawa and the Melrose Symphony Orchestra and premiered in March 2001. This recording was made in October of that year with a freelance orchestra in Symphony Hall, Boston.

By then the dramatic events of September 11th had unfolded and for some the piece took on additional meaning. Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy played a recording from the premiere at agency meetings in Washington, and it was later featured on a 10th anniversary memorial concert given by JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

But it was written as a look back on 20th century America and in homage to my parents, Charles and Lorraine, who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II. It’s meant to evoke the quiet strength and nobility of that generation which came from hardship and went on to rebuild the country and their lives. While introducing the piece at a Buffalo Philharmonic concert, Maestro Falletta remarked that “It's really about what is best of the spirit of our country; the courage, the strength, and the hope that we all have. Even in difficult times.” 

It’s been taken up by various conductors over the years including Keitaro Harada of the Savannah Philharmonic (and featured on his debut program with the Tokyo Philharmonic), and Steven Reineke, music director of the New York Pops. In addition, a wind symphony arrangement made by James Ripley was performed by Captain Richard Winkels and the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” on the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Like a hymn, the music is prayer-like and strophic with each subsequent “verse” commenting and expanding on the central musical idea. It opens with solemn brass and culminates in a final chorale featuring the entire orchestra.

It was most recently performed by Francisco Noya and the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Newton, MA on March 25 and 26, 2017.

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RECORDING
Julian Wacher, conductor
Boston Sinfonietta
James Donahue, recording engineer
Mixing by Thomas Stephenson
Recorded October 29, 2001, Symphony Hall, Boston

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COMPOSER'S WEBSITE
http://www.tomvignieri.com/bio.htm

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The image above is of Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

*****
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An American Hymn

"My Mother on an Evening in Late Summer" is a musical setting of the poem by Mark Strand. It's performed here by baritone Aaron Engebreth, oboist Jane Harrison, and pianist Jun Toguchi (Jim Donahue, recording engineer). 

Past performances include its New York premiere at Janice Mayer & Associates Tenth Anniversary celebration to benefit Classical Action, held at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club overlooking Central Park. It was performed by tenor Carl Halvorson, pianist Anthony Fogg of the Boston Symphony, and oboist Stephen Taylor of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

A new transcription for voice, oboe, harp & string quartet was premiered May 21 and 22, 2016 in Cambridge and Concord, Massachusetts by the Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble. A recording of that performance appears on the composer's SoundCloud page under the heading "transcribed for voice, oboe, harp & string quartet."

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RECORDING
Aaron Engebreth, baritone
Jane Harrison, oboe
Jun Toguchi, piano
James T. Donahue, recording engineer
Bernadette Horgan, page turner
Recorded at Sonic Temple, Roslindale, MA
November 24, 2002

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COMPOSER'S WEBSITE
http://www.tomvignieri.com/bio.htm
VIDEO OF THIS WORK
www.youtube.com/watch?v=atVLROjFx1U

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MY MOTHER ON AN EVENING IN LATE SUMMER
by Mark Strand (1980)
music by Tom Vignieri (1986)
Text used with kind permission from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

1
When the moon appears
and a few wind-stricken barns stand out
in the low-domed hills
and shine with a light
that is veiled and dust-filled
and that floats upon the fields,
my mother, with her hair in a bun,
her face in shadow, and the smoke
from her cigarette coiling close
to the faint yellow sheen of her dress,
stands near the house
and watches the seepage of late light
down through the sedges,
the last gray islands of cloud
taken from view, and the wind
ruffling the moon's ash-colored coat
on the black bay.

2
Soon the house, with its shades drawn closed, will send
small carpets of lampglow
into the haze and the bay
will begin its loud heaving
and the pines, frayed finials
climbing the hill, will seem to graze
the dim cinders of heaven.
And my mother will stare into the starlanes,
the endless tunnels of nothing,
and as she gazes,
under the hour's spell,
she will think how we yield each night
to the soundless storms of decay
that tear at the folding flesh,
and she will not know
why she is here
or what she is prisoner of
if not the conditions of love that brought her to this.

3
My mother will go indoors
and the fields, the bare stones
will drift in peace, small creatures --
the mouse and the swift -- will sleep
at opposite ends of the house.
Only the cricket will be up, 
repeating its one shrill note
to the rotten boards of the porch,
to the rusted screens, to the air, to the rimless dark,
to the sea that keeps to itself.
Why should my mother awake?
The earth is not yet a garden
about to be turned. The stars
are not yet bells that ring
at night for the lost.
It is much too late.

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******

My Mother on an Evening in Late Summer (original setting for voice, oboe & piano)

This setting of "My Mother on an Evening in Late Summer" was commissioned by the Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble and premiered May 21, 2016 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's a new arrangement of the original work for voice, oboe & piano from 1986. Mark Strand’s evocative poem provides the framework for the piece which mirrors the tripartite structure of the text. 
 
I’m drawn to poetry that combines natural beauty with powerful meaning. (Other examples include "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sara Teasdale, a poem which speaks of nature reclaiming a world devastated by war; and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Tides," a rich evocation of an iconic coastal scene that serves as a metaphor for constancy and renewal.)

Here Strand places his mother in a scene that is both vivid and poignant. It's almost mystical given the languid, metaphorical nature of her surroundings and the existential questions she faces. We find her soberly contemplating her life “on an evening in late summer” as it were. For her the day is late and she wonders how she’s come to this moment “if not for the conditions of love that brought her to this.” Like her, we all make choices we hope will bring some measure of happiness. Though we cannot fully know the consequences of those choices until we've lived them. It’s a dramatic and moving reflection by the poet son. 

Mark Strand was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 1990 though he was born on Prince Edward Island in Canada’s maritime provinces. Given the poem’s imagery, his birthplace strikes me as having informed the setting and is reminiscent to me of where I grew up in rural Wisconsin near Lake Michigan. It’s Strand's ability to convey the poignancy of the human condition however which I most sought to reflect in the music.

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MY MOTHER ON AN EVENING IN LATE SUMMER
by Mark Strand (1980)
music by Tom Vignieri (1986 and 2016)
Text used with kind permission from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Aaron Engebreth, baritone
Peggy Pearson, oboe
Franziska Huhn, harp
Christina Day Martinson & Haldan Martinson, violins
Jenny Stirling, viola
Jennifer Morsches, cello
audio recording by Aaron Leclerc
mixing and mastering by James Donahue
Friends Meeting House, Cambridge, MA
First Parish Church, Concord, MA

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COMPOSER WEBSITE
http://www.tomvignieri.com/bio.htm
VIDEO OF THIS WORK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atVLROjFx1U

-----

1
When the moon appears
and a few wind-stricken barns stand out
in the low-domed hills
and shine with a light
that is veiled and dust-filled
and that floats upon the fields,
my mother, with her hair in a bun,
her face in shadow, and the smoke
from her cigarette coiling close
to the faint yellow sheen of her dress,
stands near the house
and watches the seepage of late light
down through the sedges,
the last gray islands of cloud
taken from view, and the wind
ruffling the moon's ash-colored coat
on the black bay.

2
Soon the house, with its shades drawn closed, will send
small carpets of lampglow
into the haze and the bay
will begin its loud heaving
and the pines, frayed finials
climbing the hill, will seem to graze
the dim cinders of heaven.
And my mother will stare into the starlanes,
the endless tunnels of nothing,
and as she gazes,
under the hour's spell,
she will think how we yield each night
to the soundless storms of decay
that tear at the folding flesh,
and she will not know
why she is here
or what she is prisoner of
if not the conditions of love that brought her to this.

3
My mother will go indoors
and the fields, the bare stones
will drift in peace, small creatures --
the mouse and the swift -- will sleep
at opposite ends of the house.
Only the cricket will be up, 
repeating its one shrill note
to the rotten boards of the porch,
to the rusted screens, to the air, to the rimless dark,
to the sea that keeps to itself.
Why should my mother awake?
The earth is not yet a garden
about to be turned. The stars
are not yet bells that ring
at night for the lost.
It is much too late.

---------
******

My Mother on an Evening in Late Summer (transcribed for voice, oboe, harp & string quartet)

"CumuloNimbus" is a string quartet & string orchestra transcription of the final movement of the composer’s Sonata for 2 Pianos.  

It was commissioned by Deborah Barrett Price and the Chamber Music Connection (CMC) of Columbus, Ohio with support from the Johnstone Fund for New Music. The premiere was given by the Calidore String Quartet and an all-star ensemble of CMC musicians at the Southern Theatre on January 16, 2016, presented by Chamber Music Columbus.

The title of the work is derived from the towering cloud formation which is charged with electricity and produces heavy rainfall. Its powerful upward air currents and thunderous downpours serving as a physical representation of the music. The word “CumuloNimbus” also happens to contain within it the letters to the name of the host city, “Columbus,” which is responsible for its creation. 

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Recording and image courtesy of Stephen Webster

COMPOSER WEBSITE
www.tomvignieri.com/bio.htm

MUSIC VIDEO OF THIS WORK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFkdrAVc064

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****

CumuloNimbus

Two poems in homage to music, set for voice & piano.

1. "There is Sweet Music Here" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
2. "Music, Thou Soul of Heaven" by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Commissioned by Carthage College in honor of Dr. Richard Sjoerdsma
Performed by William Watson, tenor and Teresa King, piano
Premiered September 29, 2018 at Siebert Chapel, Carthage College

With thanks to Dr. Peter Dennee, Eduardo Garcia-Novelli, Eileen Baldwin, Mike Murphy and Jim Donahue

(audio taken from live stream)

****

Two Poems in Homage to Music

A composer and classical music producer, Tom Vignieri served as director of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, a summer program for young artists held in conjunction with the Boston Symphony's Tanglewood Music Center, and as artistic administrator of the Handel and Haydn Society, a professional chorus and period orchestra, working with conductors Christopher Hogwood and Grant Llewellyn. 

He spent 12 years as music director of "From the Top," a nationally distributed radio program on NPR showcasing America's best young classical musicians, and received a Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Children’s Series as a producer of the PBS television series "From the Top at Carnegie Hall." 

As a composer he’s written choral, orchestral and chamber works for ensembles throughout the US and in the UK, with additional performances in Europe and Japan. Tom currently resides in Devon, England.

Click on track title or track image for more information about each piece. Links to YouTube videos included where available. 

*****

An American Hymn

Tom Vignieri music

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