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My name is Chris Hoh and I have written the music here. Thanks for checking it out! Mostly choral, these compositions include religious texts, American poetry, Shaker hymns and environmental sayings. The writing goes from few to many parts -- with a few vocal solos and instrumental ensembles. Style/influences? Poulenc, Rheinberger and Britten from abroad along with Americans Billings, Ives, Copland, A. Parker, Paulus and Rorem. You'll find evocative texts, vivid harmonies and intriguing counterpoint. I hope you like this music and you send me your comments!February Piece of the Month: "When Singing In Concert" More advice for choirs: Bass, tenor, counter or treble, listen up! It's funny but also on the mark. This quaint advice comes from the preface to "The Southern Harmony." It is part of "A Few Plain Hints: William Walker's Words for Singers" for vocal soloists, SATB chorus and piano. More info about "When Singing In Concert" on this piece's individual page.
Video Channel! You can watch HohMadeMusic on YouTube. Some are concert performances, others are slide shows. More to come. Follow this link to the Christopher J. Hoh channel on YouTube. Consider subscribing and telling your friends. Special thanks to Musikanten Montana, Kerry Krebill, conductor, videographer Jerry LaRusso and recording engineer Don Mitchell for many of the live recordings.
HohMade Music a click away! the "Listening Room" offers quick access to featured pieces.
| Premieres, Repeats & Look-Aheads During Thanksgiving time (for Americans), I was grateful for many blessings, including the terrific premiere of "I Breathed A Song: Four Fireside Poems" in Vienna's Musikverein on November 25th. Contralto Solmaaz Adeli and Saxophonist Paul Chuey performed superbly and really made music, I held up my end on the piano, and the audience loved these new art songs. Within the preceding weeks, "Angele Dei," "Agimus Tibi Gratias," and "Ecumenical Meditation" were heard in Washington, Boston and Carnuntum-Petronell respectively. I was delighted to learn that the commissioners of "Ecumenical Meditation" would reprise that work and that the choir came from Serbia -- a land and people I've come to love in years of diplomatic work. Plans are for future performances in Nis, Serbia and Rome, Italy, so that's gratifying too. 2012 promises excitement, but now I'll just mention it's the 250th birth anniversary of Samuel Holyoke, a prolific composer, teacher and publisher of Federal-period America. I just arranged for choir his hymn "Cardigan" (O Thou that hears't when sinners cry) from Isaac Watts' versification of Psalm 51. It would be suitable for Ash Wednesday (coming up on February 22, 2012). More about Holyoke commemorations to come, including some cheerful music! | In the Good Ole Summertime Recreation and re-creation are so important. Many places have a holiday today to observe Mary's ascension (Maria Himmelfahrt), making a long weekend this year. So I'm catching up and posting news on this site. In many countries of the Northern Hemisphere of course August is prime vacation season. It's a chance to get away from the daily grind and out into nature, pause, relax, appreciate anew. I'm trying to do some of that and my plans have included all kinds of great music, from Bach to operetta to great choral works and exciting premieres. Meanwhile, I've been composing new psalm settings for choir and orchestra, using the same instrumentation as Stravinksky's Symphony of Psalms. Although 4 of the planned 5 movements are written, I still see many more sonic possibilities to explore. Oh well, we'll save those for a future work! I'm also starting Lieder on American poetr, which are to premiere in Vienna this fall. That is again a new direction for me -- a change and fun. Whatever you are doing, I hope you can get in some R&R yourself! |
