Quoddy Voices Director, John Newell, has been at work on an extensive YouTube playlist of the group’s favorite choral works for all to enjoy. The list now boasts 22 pieces, with performances in a wide array of styles and even an interactive video of vocal warm-ups and stretches. Of the most recent additions, Newell wrote his singers the following ‘program notes’:
Sicut Cervus, by Giovanni Palestrina. A great performance by the Cambridge Singers (conducted by John Rutter). The text: Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
Hear My Prayer, Elijah Rock, and Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel, all arranged (and conducted) by Moses Hogan. Classic settings of three great African-American spirituals.
For the Fallen, by Douglas Guest. A short, incredibly moving ode to those who have died war. Often sung at Remembrance Day services in Great Britain. The text is by Lawrence Binyon, written in 1914.
Rejoice in the Lord Alway, by Henry Purcell. One of the great Baroque period classics… sometimes known as the Bell Anthem, as the instruments imitate the tolling of bells in descending scales. I sang this in high school, and remember taking it in a bit faster tempo, which I still prefer.
The playlist may be found here: Quoddy Voices Favorites.
The work of Eastport Arts Center is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.