Stephen Paulus and Choral Quest

Synopsis

In 2010, the American Composers Forum launched ChoralQuest, a specially-commissioned series of new works written especially for middle school and junior high choirs. The idea was to expand the available repertoire for young choirs, introduce choirs to some of today’s best composers, and present composers with the chance and challenge of writing for young and changing voices.

On today’s date in 2011, one of these new works received its premiere performance by the Oak Grove Singers from Oak Grove Middle School in Bloomington, Minnesota. Bryan Blessing conducted his young singers in a setting of lines from “Tintern Abbey” by the 19th century British poet William Wordsworth. The new piece, entitled “Through All Things,” was written by Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus.

“I chose a poem that conveys some deep thoughts,” said Paulus. “People often underestimate the sophistication of young people… The Wordsworth poem speaks about ‘a motion and a spirit that rolls through all things.’”

“But a composer really need know the range of young singers and what they can do,” admited Paulus, who spent time with the Oak Grove Singers. He confessed it’s not just the kids who benefited: “You never get too old or too experienced to not learn something from writing a new piece, whether it’s for kids or professional musicians.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Stephen Paulus (1949 - 2014) Through All Things Minnesota Boychoir; Todd Price, p.Mark S. Johnson, cond. ACF score and recording (ISBN 0983388709)

On This Day

Births

• 1873 - Russian-born American composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff (Gregorian date: April 1);

• 1918 - German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann, in Bleisheim;

Deaths

• 1812 - Bohemian composer and keyboard virtuoso Jan Ladislav (Johann Ladislaus/Ludwig) Dussek (Dusik), age 51, in Saint Germain-en-Laye or Paris;

• 2000 - American composer Vivian Fine, age 86, in Bennington, Vt., following an auto accident;

Premieres

• 1723 - Handel: Concerto in F (HWV 331), in London at the Drury Lane Theater (Gregorian date: March 31);

• 1739 - Handel: Organ Concerto in A (HWV 296a) as a novelty at a benefit performance of Handel's cantata "Alexander's Feast"; This concert was organized "for the benefit and increase of a fund established for the support of decay'd musicians and their families" (Gregorian date: March 31);

• 1748 - Handel: oratorio "Joshua," (see March 9);

• 1887 - d'Indy: "Symphony on a French Mountain Air" for piano and orchestra, in Paris at a Lamoureux Concert;

• 1894 - Rachmaninoff: symphonic fantasy "The Rock" (Gregorian date: April 1);

• 1898 - Dvorák: symphonic poem, "The Wild Dove," Op. 110, in Brno;

• 1914 - Butterworth: "The Banks of Green Willow" in London;

• 1929 - Bartók: String Quartet No.4, in Budapest, by the Waldbauer Quartet;

• 1956 - Barber: "Summer Music," Op. 31, at the Detroit Institute of Arts by the Detroit Chamber Music Society (principal wind players of the Detroit Symphony);

Others

• 1928 - The New York Symphony and the New York Philharmonic Society unite to form the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York - now known as simply "The New York Philharmonic."