Chatman, Stephen - Due South (Complete Collection)

Due South is one in a series of four choral suites that explore the cultural and natural wonders of various regions of North America. Stephen Chatman's choral settings are broad in scope and tone; the tone painting evokes the stunning landscapes and their diverse communities. Both his original texts and those of poet Tara Wohlberg capture the enchanted worlds of North, South, East, and West.

 

1. Arise is the short opening of this suite of five pieces, and is set to glorious homophonic music with rising motives in the lower voices.

 

2. What's Cookin'? takes its sweet time tantalizing the listener with all the menu items of atruly Southern feast. Music, set to a slow tempo in swing eighths, makes the recitation tempting, if not downright sultry.

 

3. Bugs is a soundscape of insects and their songs. Precise vocal effects make this challenging but also whimsical, and the result is pure fun.

 

4. Love, O Love recalls an old-fashioned love letter in which the writer compares the beloved to the moon and the sun and pledges eternal love. The music begins with lush chords sung together, moves to an over-arching soprano line with gentle undulations in the lower parts, and finishes with the choir singing together again, "Love shines on you, my only one."

 

5. A perfectly apt finale to this choral suite, Kentucky Derby begins with a nod to "My Old Kentucky Home," and then it's off to the races, literally. The text of the suite is declaimed rapidly in patter-song format, almost as if the chorus is calling race as it progresses. A tour de force, and truly, "..a wild ride!"