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"it is at moments after i have dreamed"
By Ian Krouse
Recommended by Peter Rutenberg
From Peter Rutenberg:
"[This piece] offers a bold, recurring series of themes, a richly-varied sequence of choral textures, an expanded harmonic palette that is primarily tonal, and a vibrant use of color across the full choral spectrum."
~Peter Rutenberg
Ian Krouse is a remarkably gifted composer who had never written a note of choral music until 1999 when I convinced him to compose a new work for my ensemble’s 10th Anniversary Concert. “River of Stars” was such a triumph that I came back for a second work in anticipation of giving the opening concert of Chorus America’s 30th Annual Conference held in Los Angeles in June 2007. The minimal stipulations were that the work be for unaccompanied chamber choir of 24 voices and use an American text in English. Ian and I met several times as the work began to take shape, beginning with the serendipitous finding of the cummings poem whose internal music seemed to leap off the page. The first complete draft arose quite spontaneously and required little fine-tuning.
"is it at moments after i have dreamed" offers a bold, recurring series of themes, a richly-varied sequence of choral textures, an expanded harmonic palette that is primarily tonal, and a vibrant use of color across the full choral spectrum. The text – sometimes heard in full phrases, sometimes fragmented with short motivic repetitions – imbues the work with an emotional fire and driving urgency. In short, it makes a very powerful statement about the unbridled immediacy of love.
Listen to "it is at moments after i have dreamed".
The singers, many of whom had sung the earlier work, were both delighted and slightly daunted on first read, owing to some of the more challenging moments. The mechanics were mastered quickly, however. The remaining rehearsal time focused on the more important aspects of the surging/relenting rubatos, the many measured climaxes, and the composer’s wish for a fresh, free, improvisatory feel.
The audiences, both at the preview and at the official premiere for Chorus America, went wild. It was a deeply satisfying and organic response, motivated undoubtedly by the spontaneous, passionate character of the work and the immediacy of its musical clarity.
Although LACS is a professional choir, the work was designed at my request to be accessible to most other levels of difficulty. Many college, symphonic, and community choirs, as well as more advanced high school choirs, will find “it is at moments” quickly absorbed by and very attractive to their singers. Top ensembles can be effective with 24-36 singers, but the piece will work well with twice or three times that many.
Date of premiere: June 6, 2007; Vibiana, Los Angeles, California; Opening Concert of 30th Annual Conference of Chorus America
Commissioner: Peter Rutenberg
Author/source of text: e. e. cummings
Length: 7:00
Parts: SSAATTBB (incidental S solo)
Publisher: Peermusic Classical
Recording information: Los Angeles Chamber Singers; Peter Rutenberg, Conductor; May 30, 2007 (concert preview), Mary Chapel, Mount St. Mary’s College
View the score.
Rutenberg
Peter Rutenberg is founding music director of Los Angeles Chamber Singers & Cappella, now in its 23rd Season. A choral music professional for 44 years, Rutenberg is also a Grammy® Award-winning conductor and producer; a composer of music for television, radio and concert hall; owner of RCM records; radio producer and former Director of Programming & Production at KUSC-FM; and producer, with the late Gene Parrish, of “The First Art” – Chorus America’s national choral music radio series (1993-2001). “The First Art” won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Broadcast Award in 1995; LACS won the ASCAP-Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music in 2000; and Peter Rutenberg was nominated as Grammy Classical Producer of the Year in 2011.
