The Crossing & Donald Nally - John Luther Adams: Canticles of the Holy Wind (2017)

Lauded by the New York Times as a “…hypnotic and ethereally beautiful invocation of wind, sky and birdsong,” John Luther Adams’ Canticles of the Holy Wind, performed by the renowned chamber choir The Crossing, is his most technically challenging choral work, and yet the music’s mesmerizing aura of stillness encourages listening at its most elemental. The piece is composed for four choirs of eight singers each, and moves through spaces that are as fantastical (“Sky with Four Suns”) as they are serene (“The Hour of the Doves”), always with a connection to our inner world, as well as the world around us.

“John allows us to interrupt our otherwise endlessly forward-tumbling lives,” notes Donald Nally, The Crossing’s conductor, “and experience these sounds as if we were sitting in the woods for an hour. An hour of wind and of sky and of birds. We are drawn to this music, not just for the beauty of its shimmering harmonies and the overwhelming climactic moments, but also for way it inspires a ‘hearing’ of nature, in real time, as we sing it.”

TRACKLIST

01. Canticles of the Holy Wind: I. Sky with Four Suns - The Crossing & Donald Nally
02. Canticles of the Holy Wind: II. The White Wind - The Crossing & Donald Nally
03. Canticles of the Holy Wind: III. Dream of the Hermit Thrush - Amy Garapic, The Crossing & Donald Nally
04. Canticles of the Holy Wind: IV. Sky with Four Moons - The Crossing & Donald Nally
05. Canticles of the Holy Wind: V. The Singing Tree - The Crossing & Donald Nally
06. Canticles of the Holy Wind: VI. The Blue Wind - The Crossing & Donald Nally
07. Canticles of the Holy Wind: VII. The Hour of the Doves - The Crossing & Donald Nally
08. Canticles of the Holy Wind: VIII. Sky with Nameless Colors - The Crossing & Donald Nally
09. Canticles of the Holy Wind: IX. Cadenza of the Mockingbird - Amy Garapic, The Crossing & Donald Nally
10. Canticles of the Holy Wind: X. The Yellow Wind - The Crossing & Donald Nally
11. Canticles of the Holy Wind: XI. Dream of the Canyon Wren - Amy Garapic, The Crossing & Donald Nally
12. Canticles of the Holy Wind: XII. Sky with Endless Stars - The Crossing & Donald Nally
13. Canticles of the Holy Wind: XIII. The Hour of the Owls - The Crossing & Donald Nally
14. Canticles of the Holy Wind: XIV. The Dark Wind - The Crossing & Donald Nally