Two-CD digipak and booklet with all texts. Total runtime: 85'28" (16 tracks over two CDs)
In The Wide Awe and Wisdom
2017 Finalist for Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor's Award
PAUL HALLEY DIRECTS KERAMION SINGERS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF SIXTEEN OF HIS CHORAL COMMISSIONS
In this stunning double CD set, with a repertoire sequence that is thoughtfully balanced and considered, Paul Halley features sixteen new choral works from among his catalogue of commissions of recent years. Halley's well-known style of combining threads of vibrant harmonies, lyrical melodies, and intricate rhythms, abounds in these songs set to underlay a diverse range of texts, from George Herbert and Gerard Manley Hopkins to Emily Dickinson and Pablo Neruda. Common themes emerge from the selection of texts on the album, the forward movement of the Earth in Tennyson's "Move Eastward, Happy Earth" and Roberts' "In The Wide Awe And Wisdom Of The Night", man in relation to God in Herbert's "The Pulley" and Hopkins' "God's Grandeur", and declarations of love in such works as Dickinson's "A Brighter Garden" and Neruda's "You Gather Things To You." In fact, Halley composed five of the works on the recording as gifts for the weddings of his children and step-children.
Keramion Singers, comprised professional singers and choral scholars who work with Paul Halley in Halifax, present these works at Halley's direction with a vocal and sensemble sound that is alternatively bright and present or rounded and atmospheric, depending on the mood being conveyed. Four a cappella pieces showcase the choir's impeccable tuning and phrasing, while the twelve accompanied works, with Halley on organ and piano, and instrumentalists on trumpet, saxophone, or French horn, and timpani, reveal the singer's mastery of thythmic range and contextual expression.
This long-awaited release on the Pelagosmusic label is sure to please those who admire Paul Halley's work as a composer, as well as by those who are familiar with his mastery of keyboard performance and the pure choral sound he elicits from his renowned choirs.
Track Listing
-
We Will Rejoice For Evermore
06'40"Words: from Gates of Prayer 1975
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by First Congregational Church of Evanston, IL -
In The Wide Awe and Wisdom Of The Night
08'31"Words: Charles G.D. Roberts
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts, Toronto, ON -
Beati Omnes Qui Timent Dominum
05'48"Words: Psalm 127
Music: Paul Halley
Composed for the wedding of Samantha Halley and Jonathan Suters -
Nobile Claret Opus
04'01"Words: Abbot Suger, Psalm 127: 1
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned for the wedding of Allidah Muller and Nathaniel Rogers -
A Brighter Garden
06'47"Words: Isaac Watts, Emily Dickinson
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by The Calgary Girls Choir, Calgary, AB -
Move Eastward, Happy Earth
04'46"Words: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned for the wedding of Elizabeth Kobes and Nicholas Halley -
The Pulley
04'15"Words: George Herbert
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by The University of King's College, Halifax, NS -
God's Grandeur
06'21"Words: Gerard Manley Hopkins
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by St. James United Church, Montreal, QC -
Sanctus and Benedictus
06'29"Words: Ordinary of the Mass
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, NC -
You Gather Things To You
04'15"Words: Pablo Neruda, Trans: W.S. Merwin
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned for the wedding of Elizabeth Rogers and Mark Wright -
I Cannot Dance, O Love
05'48"Words: Jean Weibe Janzen, Charles Wesley
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by the Greater Hartford, CT Chapter of the American Guild of Organists -
Oculi Omnium
02'16"Words: Psalm 145: 16&17
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned for The Chapel Choir of The University of King's College, Halifax -
Magnificat: Tone II
06'00"Words: Gospel of St. Luke
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by All Saints Kingsway Anglican Church, Toronto, ON -
My Beloved Spake
05'47"Words: Song Of Solomon
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned for the wedding of Mary Huff and Andrew Henderson -
We Wait For Thy Loving Kindness, O God
03'03"Words: Selected Scripture by Rev’d C. M. Armitage
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned for the wedding of Vanessa Halley and Shaylan Burkhart -
Psalm 150: Laudate Dominum
04'41"Words: Psalm 150
Music: Paul Halley
Commissioned by Lawrence Park Community Church, Toronto, ON
Video
Composer's notes
The sixteen compositions on this recording are selected from among works commissioned of Paul Halley during the past decade. Each commission came with certain parameters, as well as a specific text proposed by the comissioning organization or individuals. These texts cover a wide range, from the poetry of George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Emily Dickinson and Pablo Neruda, to the psalter and the Song of Mary. Paul Halley notes, "It is significant that each text was chosen not by me, but by those for whom the musical setting was to be created. The words themselves pushed me into areas of musical expression that I might otherwise have left unexplored. For example, the poem “In The Wide Awe And Wisdom Of The Night” called for a setting based on an octatonic scale and Hopkins’ sonnet generated a passacaglia of irregular (‘sprung’) rhythms and broken phrases. At times, I felt I wasn’t so much composing as translating, just as the poets themselves had translated brief glimpses of universal mysteries. These poems are clearly sufficient unto themselves, but perhaps, being sung, aspects of their inner power and beauty are made more manifest."
Reviews
For anyone with the slightest propensity to be moved by music, Paul Halley's work may at once leave you breathless, excited and/or in tears. Such is his latest ineffable outing on the Pelagos label: In The Wide Awe And Wisdom - a tasteful mix of the sacred and secular, commissioned works and those composed for special occasions for family. After countless recordings of the music of others, (often characteristically and colorfully arranged by him), this modest genius, highly decorated in the world of jazz (five Grammy Awards, no less) and internationally respected in the world of choral and organ music, needed more than a little nudging to finally commit a collection of his own choral works to disc.
The music on this new CD is fresh and new with a hint of innocence and obvious joy provided by the youthful choristers, the Keramion Singers. They are in the company of some sensitive and thoughtful musicians.
Ever present in Halley's music is the palpable thread of pure jazz and this new recording is no exception. His jazz leanings render his music instantly recognizable. The attention to detail is ever-present in Halley's sensitive writing - inventive and colourful, sometimes unnerving, the dissonance sometimes sustained yet almost always resolved. From the dark but beautifully ethereal title track, 'In The Wide Awe And Wisdom', we journey through colourful hamonic changes in 'The Pulley', to the delicate serenity of 'My Beloved Spake' and finally, to the triumphant 'Laudate Dominum', perfectly placed as the final treack and prompting, on my part at least, spontaneous applause.
- Irene G. Wilkinson, Novemeber 2017.
Credits
PRODUCTION
Meg Race, Executive Producer
Produced by Paul Halley & Meg Race
Engineered by John D. S. Adams, Stonehouse Sound
Art design and production by Kate Sinclair-Sowerby, Co. & Co.
Art supervision by Meg Race
Recorded at The Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax, NS
KERAMION SINGERS
Paul Halley, director
Nick Halley, assistant director
The current roster of Keramion Singers comprises professional musicians and choral scholars who regularly sing with Paul Halley at the institutions in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he serves as Director of Music.
Sopranos
Jen Hall
Elizabeth Halley
Vanessa Halley
Janelle Lucyk, solo on “My Beloved Spake” Track 14
Marielle Nicol
Dominique Saulnier
Altos
Anne Bell
Katie Merwin
Sarah Myatt
Alan Rempel
Karis Tees
Tenors
Nick Halley
Paul Rogers
Nicolas Veltmeyer, cantor on on “Magnificat: Tone II” Track 13
Ben Von Bredow
Jamie Whitley
Basses
Simon Blake
Shaylan Burkhart
Steve Roe
Leo Timmins
David Wallis
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Paul Halley, organ and piano
Nicolas Veltmeyer, organ on “A Brighter Garden” Track 5
Tristan De Borba, soprano saxophone on “Sanctus & Benedictus” Track 9
Curtis Dietz, trumpet on “My Beloved Spake” Track 14 and "Laudate Dominum: Psalm 150" Track 16
Erin Donovan, timpani and cymbals on "Laudate Dominum: Psalm 150" Track 16
Gina Patterson, French horn on “A Brighter Garden” Track 5
ART
The painting used in the design of this package is “Voice of Joy” © 2017 by Marina Malvada, www.marinamalvada.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
PUBLISHED MUSIC
All of the musical compositions on this recording are by Paul Halley and are
available from Pelagosmusic at www.pelagosmusic.com.
THANKS TO
The Very Reverend Paul Smith, Dean of the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax, NS
The Reverend Dr. Gary Thorne, Chaplain of the University of King’s College, Halifax, NS.
DEDICATION
Meg and Paul dedicate this recording to the memory of their dear friend, Tom Bates (d. 2017), who was sound engineer for the previous nine recordings on the Pelagosmusic (and Joyful Noise) label.
