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CONTEMPORARY VOCAL ENSEMBLE MUSIC

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NOCTURNE

for vocal ensemble and five instruments

Duration:
9 minutes
 
Instrumentation:   
12 singers (SATB), soprano saxophone,
clarinet, harp, guitar and percussion
​
Year Composed:  
1999
 
Text:
Vocalize
​
Written For:
Tamara Brooks
​
Premiere Performance:
8 March, 2000
Boston, MA, USA
New England Conservatory Chamber Singers
Eric Hewitt, soprano Saxophone
Rob Hadesbeck, clarinet
Ted Stefan, guitar
Jun Yoo, harp
Seth McConnell, percussion
Tamara Brooks, conductor

CONTEMPORARY VOCAL ENSEMBLE MUSIC

Modern vocal ensemble pieces

THEMES:

NIGHT
SUMMER
LIGHT
REFLECTION
LISTEN

Program Notes:

While writing Nocturne, I was inspired by the summer nights in the Berkshires. The whispering woods, the flickering lights, choirs of insects, and the moon reflected over the lake all found their way into the score as a musical impression. The score calls for twelve singers (each with individual parts), soprano saxophone, clarinet, guitar, harp, and percussion, which are used here less for their melodic and harmonic possibilities and more as brushes — creating spots, clouds, shadows, and beams of sound.

Nocturne was written at the invitation of Tamara Brooks and is dedicated to her.

Contemporary Classical Vocal Ensemble Pieces (20th & 21st Century)

  • John Adams – Grand Pianola Music (1981): Correct. Scored for 3 female voices (amplified), 2 pianos, winds, brass, and percussion.

  • Luciano Berio – Coro (1976): Correct. 40 voices and 40 instruments, each singer paired with an instrumentalist.

  • Benjamin Britten – A Ceremony of Carols (1942): Correct. SSA (treble voices) and harp.

  • George Crumb – Ancient Voices of Children (1970): Correct. Includes soprano, boy soprano, oboe, mandolin, harp, amplified piano, toy piano, percussion (3 players), and musical saw.

  • György Ligeti – Clocks and Clouds (1973): Correct. 12 women's voices and chamber orchestra.

  • György Ligeti – Lux Aeterna (1966): Correct. 16-part mixed choir a cappella.

  • György Ligeti – Nonsense Madrigals (1988–1993): Correct. 6 male voices a cappella (AATBarBarB).

  • James MacMillan – Miserere (1990): Correct. SATB choir a cappella.

  • Frank Martin – Mass for Double Chorus (1922–1926): Correct. Double SATB choir a cappella.

  • Olivier Messiaen – O Sacrum Convivium! (1937): Correct. SATB choir a cappella, with optional organ.

  • Luigi Nono – Il canto sospeso (1955–1956): Correct. Soprano, alto, tenor soloists, mixed choir, and orchestra.

  • Arvo Pärt – Magnificat Antiphons (1988, rev. 1991): Correct. SATB choir a cappella. Also known as Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen.

  • Francis Poulenc – Mass in G Major (1937): Correct. SATB choir a cappella (Credo omitted).

  • Steve Reich – Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ (1973): Correct. 3 female voices, 4 marimbas, 2 vibraphones, glockenspiel, organ.

  • Steve Reich – Proverb (1995): Mostly correct. It’s for 3 sopranos, 2 tenors, 2 vibraphones, and 2 electric organs.

  • Arnold Schoenberg – Friede auf Erden (1907): Correct. SATB choir a cappella (originally with orchestral accompaniment, later withdrawn).

  • Caroline Shaw – Partita for 8 Voices (2009–2011): Correct. 8 voices (SATB, divisi) a cappella.

  • Igor Stravinsky – Symphony of Psalms (1930, rev. 1948): Correct. SATB choir and orchestra, notably omitting violins, violas, and clarinets.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams – Serenade to Music (1938): Correct. Originally for 16 solo voices and orchestra; alternate version for 4 soloists, chorus, and orchestra.

  • Eric Whitacre – Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine (2001): Correct. SATB choir a cappella.

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