The Hope College Chapel Choir has released a new compact disc.
The CD, “The Heavens’ Embroidered Cloths,” includes 17 tracks recorded between 2011 and earlier this year at either St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church or Dimnent Memorial Chapel. Many of the selections were also featured during recent spring concert tours by the choir.
The works on the CD include “Lux Aurumque,” by Eric Whitacre; “Rejoice in the Lord Alway!,” by Stephen Sturk; “The Lamb,” by Kenneth Mahy; “Cantate Domino,” by Kirke Mechem; “The Christ Child,” by Gabriel Jackson; “O Clap Your Hands,” by William Mathias; “Love’s Music,” by Shirley McRae; “For You There Is No Song,” by Joseph Byrd; “Tread Softly,” by Allan Bullard; “Autumn,” by Jussi Chydenius; “Loosin Yelav,” arranged by Paul Carey; “The Gallant Weaver,” by James McMillan; “Watane,” by Mark Sirett; “Elijah Rock,” by Moses Hogan; “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” arranged by Edwin Childs; “Hear de Lambs a-Cryin’,” arranged by Paul Carey; and “Give Me Jesus,” arranged by L.L. Fleming.
The CD’s title is taken from the poem “Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by William Butler Yeats. A number of the selections feature musical settings of work by poets including Yeats, Walter de la Mare, Garcilaso de la Vega, James Joyce and Edna St. Millay.
The 45-voice Chapel Choir is Hope College’s premier choral ensemble. Comprised of auditioned singers, the Chapel Choir has toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada, and has traveled abroad on eight occasions, most recently to South Africa in May 2009. Among other engagements on campus and in the area, the choir is featured along with other music ensembles in Christmas Vespers, a Hope tradition that stretches back to 1941. The choir is directed by Brad Richmond, professor of music and director of choral activities.
The CD’s cover image was drawn by Richmond’s son, Graeme, and the photo of the choir featured on the back cover was taken at, and provided by, the Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where the choir performed as part of the group’s spring 2013 tour. The booklet design and layout were by Mark Cook.
The CD’s producers were Richmond, John Erskine and Glenn Brown. Erskine and Ryan Wert were the principal and associate recordists respectively, and Brown and Erskine served as balance technicians. The CD was mixed at GBP Studios in East Lansing, and printing and duplication were by The Eastco Group of Orchard Park, N.Y.
Copies of “The Heavens’ Embroidered Cloths” are available for $10 at the Hope-Geneva Bookstore, at the college’s Hope-Geneva Bookstore, which is located on the ground level of the DeWitt Center, 141 E. 12th St., and can be called at 800-946-4673 or (616) 395-7833.