featured composers
Ahmed Adnan SaygunSaygun's works elegantly synthesize western musical ideas with traditional Muslim literature. The Yunus Emere Oratorio is set to poems by the 13th century Sufi mystic poet. Emre's words transcend time, moving beyond cultural and social limitations. The oratorio offers a perfect message of unification and peace, stressing international humanisim and truth.
|
Leonard BernsteinChichester Psalms: Music and text combine in a visionary plea for reconciliation and unity throughout the world. Opening with a triumphal introductory phrase from Psalm 108 (“Awake, psaltery and harp!”), Chichester Psalms ends with a chorale Bernstein called a prayer for peace: "Behold how good, and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity."
|
Ralph Vaughan WilliamsDona Nobis Pacem juxtaposes Old Testament text with Walt Whitman poetry, and a portion of a speech by British parliamentarian John Bright. Vaughan-Williams served on the front as an ambulance drive in World War I. The experience of the war shook him deeply. In Dona Nobis Pacem, he wrote to warn of another impending conflict and made an uplifting plea for peace.
|
Behzad RanjbaranA faculty member of the Juilliard School and Composer-in-Residence at both the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Philadelphia Orchestra Behzad Ranjbaran is known particularly for his orchestral and chamber compositions. His Elegy for solo cello and strings features a sinuous melodic line in its principal theme, which is strongly influenced by the melismatic figuration common to Persian vocal music.
|
|
|