Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim (album)

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Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim
Choose Life cover 500x500 final.jpg
Studio album by
The San José Chamber Orchestra and Chorus
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2011
RecordedAugust 18-19, 2008, and October 18, 2010, at Skywalker Sound
Genre Dramatic Oratorio
Length49:06
Label SJCO
Producer Barbara Christmann
Mona Lyn Reese, composer Mona Lyn Reese.jpg
Mona Lyn Reese, composer
Delores Dufner OSB, librettist S Delores Dufner 300px.jpg
Delores Dufner OSB, librettist
Barbara Day Turner, conductor Barbara Day Turner at Skywalker.JPG
Barbara Day Turner, conductor
Daniel Hughes, conductor Daniel Hughes at Skywalker.JPG
Daniel Hughes, conductor

Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim is a studio album of the Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim dramatic oratorio by composer Mona Lyn Reese and librettist Delores Dufner OSB, released by the San José Chamber Orchestra and Chorus in 2011. [1]

<i>Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim</i>

Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim, is a dramatic oratorio by composer Mona Lyn Reese and librettist Delores Dufner OSB, that draws on Jewish and Christian music and scripture, as well as the writings of Holocaust survivors, to create an interfaith commemoration of the Holocaust. It was composed during Mona Lyn Reese's 1993-94 Faith Partners Residency sponsored by the American Composers' Forum and the Otto Bremer Foundation. Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim, has received national acclaim and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1995.

An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is musical theatre, while oratorio is strictly a concert piece – though oratorios are sometimes staged as operas, and operas are sometimes presented in concert form. In an oratorio the choir often plays a central role, and there is generally little or no interaction between the characters, and no props or elaborate costumes. A particularly important difference is in the typical subject matter of the text. Opera tends to deal with history and mythology, including age-old devices of romance, deception, and murder, whereas the plot of an oratorio often deals with sacred topics, making it appropriate for performance in the church. Protestant composers took their stories from the Bible, while Catholic composers looked to the lives of saints, as well as to Biblical topics. Oratorios became extremely popular in early 17th-century Italy partly because of the success of opera and the Catholic Church's prohibition of spectacles during Lent. Oratorios became the main choice of music during that period for opera audiences.

Mona Lyn Reese composer

Mona Lyn Reese is an American composer, best known for her operas and choral music. Her work is melodic and accessible with an emphasis on driving or complex rhythms, movement, and contrasting textures. Her music communicates and expresses emotions traditionally or experimentally without allowing a prevailing fashion to dictate style, form, or harmony.

Contents

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Overture: O Holy One All Wise, Hear Me, My People"6:22
2."Holy One Beyond the Stars"2:11
3."O God of Israel"1:50
4."Reading 1 and Chant Ani Maamin"1:55
5."A Voice Is Heard in Ramah"1:24
6."The Death of Franz"2:10
7."Reading 2 and Chant In Paradisum"1:48
8."I Was Absent"2:44
9."Tender God, Have Mercy"2:38
10."Reading 3 and Chant Libera Me"2:16
11."All Ye Who Pass By"2:02
12."Reading 4"0:46
13."Stay With Me, God"2:22
14."How Could I Forget You?
Holy One, You Remained With Me Through Death
You are Precious In My Eyes"		4:51
15."Reading 5"0:47
16."In Your Likeness"3:07
17."I Will Not Forget
Adonai"		2:23
18."Reading 6"1:12
19."Choose Life"3:09
20."I Shall Not Die"2:41
Total length:49:06

Cast

The Choral Project

Based in San Jose, California, The Choral Project is a mixed-voice choir founded in 1996 by artistic director and conductor Daniel D. Hughes. The group's vision is "to heal our world through music and words," while their mission is "to connect to one another through choral theater, education and musical excellence."

Production

Leslie Ann Jones American recording engineer

Leslie Ann Jones is a multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer working as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company. She is a past Chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Board of Trustees, the organization that awards Grammys, and in 2018 was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame. She is the daughter of novelty drummer, percussionist and bandleader Spike Jones and his wife, singer Helen Grayco.

Skywalker Sound sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of George Lucas Lucas Digital motion picture group

Skywalker Sound is the sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of the Lucasfilm motion picture group. Its main facilities are located at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley, near Nicasio, California.

Artistic

Delores Dufner composer

Delores Dufner is an American sacred music composer, librettist, and organist whose works have been included in Catholic hymnals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Dufner is a nun of the Order of Saint Benedict at Saint Benedict's Monastery in Saint Joseph, Minnesota. She is on the faculty of Saint Benedict's College and Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. In 1994, Dufner was commissioned to write the libretto for the oratorio Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim. "One of the best-known hymn writers in the church today. More than twenty different publishers have included her texts in their hymnals and hymn collections. In 2017 Dufner received the Christus Rex award from the Lutheran Valparaiso University.

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References

  1. ↑ San José Chamber Orchestra
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