The Silver Swan - Adolphus Hailstork
Video Information
- Choir: Neoteric Chamber Choir
- Piece: The Silver Swan
- Composer: Adolphus Hailstork
- Voices: SATB
- Conductor: Dane A Carten
- Genres: A cappella, Classical, Contemporary
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Recorded on 5/3/2024 at Our Beautiful Savior's Lutheran Church in Tucson, AZ as part of our "Modern Madrigals" concert.
Text:
"The silver swan, who living had no note,
When death approached, unlocked her silent throat... moreRecorded on 5/3/2024 at Our Beautiful Savior's Lutheran Church in Tucson, AZ as part of our "Modern Madrigals" concert.
Text:
"The silver swan, who living had no note,
When death approached, unlocked her silent throat;
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
Thus sang her last, and sang no more:
'Farewell, all joys; Oh death, come close mine eyes;
More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.' "
- Orlando Gibbons (1583 - 1625)
Program notes:
A famous text also famously used by Gibbons himself for his own Madrigal, Hailstork here pays homage to the work's 16th-century roots. An early composition (written while in college) from the proflic composer, Hailstork combined his own language with his love for choral literature to create a piece reminiscent of the Renaissance with a modern flair. The harmonic language harkens back to a hexachordal modality of the 16th century, uses an unaccompanied SATB choir, and employs varied moments of imitative polyphony and homophony. This short work culminates less