“Robert Simpson handles his well-drilled forces with aplomb, aided by superb support from his sextet of pianists and percussionists.”
— The Gramophone

CIRCLESONG | BOB CHILCOTT

Houston Chamber Choir, Robert Simpson conductor and the Treble Choir of Houston, Marianna Parnas-Simpson conductor.

TRACKS

Introduction

1 Beauty Before Me / We Wait In Darkness

Part I, Birth

2 Song for Bringing a Child into the World

3 Newborn

Part II, Childhood

4 Yaqui Song

5 A Child's Song

6 Give Me Strength

Part III, Lover

7 Chinook Songs

8 Over the Wave

Part IV, Adulthood

9 Summer Song

Part V, Middle Age

10 O Great Spirit

Part VI, Old Age

11 In the House Made of Dawn

Part VII, Death

12 Farewell, My Brother

13 The Sun’s Beams are Running Out

/ We Wait in the Darkness

14 Like a Rainbow

15 All Things Pass

16 Circles of Motion

17 Walking the Red Road

View the album booklet here.

A work filled with ambition, Circlesong is a musical portrayal of the human life cycle as captured in the indigenous poetry of North America. Composed by Bob Chilcott and based on poetry from the Chinook, Comanche, Dakota, Inuit, Iroquois, Kwakiutl, Navajo, Ojibwa, Pueblo, Seminole, Sioux, and Yaqui traditions, the thirteen movements, in seven parts, mark the different stages of life, from birth and childhood to adulthood, middle age and death. With dynamic piano and percussion accompaniment, climactic moments for tutti choir, tender unaccompanied passages and solo song, Circlesong is a work of impressive drama, variety, and depth, performed by the Houston Chamber Choir under Robert Simpson and the Treble Choir of Houston led by Marianna Parnas-Simpson.

Founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Robert Simpson, the Houston Chamber Choir received the 2019 Grammy® Award for Best Choral Performance for its recording of the complete works of Maurice Duruflé (also available from Signum). Other honours include Chorus America’s Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the American Prize, Professional Choir Division. Dubbed by Jamie Bernstein as“the choral equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters” the Houston Chamber Choir is as comfortable singing jazz with Christian McBride and Dave Brubeck as performing Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel with violist Kim Kashkashian, and Mass Observation by Tarik O’Regan.

“Circlesong is a choral work packed full of fun, with vibrant dynamic sections alongside more reflective ethereal moments. ”
— BBC Music Magazine

OFFICIAL ALBUM RELEASE: January 21, 2021