WILLIAM GEORGE

Singer/Songwriter/Composer/Voice Instructor

The Virtues

Megan Weston, soprano

Melanie Adams, mezzo-soprano

William George, tenor / ténor

Domagoj Ivanovic, violin / violon

Michael Molnar, organ / orgue

As Though the Word Blue Had Been Dropped Into the Water

Magdalena How, soprano

Jeff Pelletier, flute

Danielle Marcinek, piano

Vigil Strange I Kept On the Field One Night

William George, tenor / ténor

David Lakirovich, violin / violon

Danielle Marcinek, piano

Burnaby Mountain Song: Eurydice

Robyn Driedger-Klassen, soprano

Jeff Pelletier, flute

Alexandra Sia, cello / violoncelle

Luis Medina, guitar / guitare

Danielle Marcinek, piano

Running Into the Sea

William George, tenor / ténor

Jeff Pelletier, bass flute

Julie Begg, bass clarinet / clarinette basse

Stefan Hintersteininger, cello /violoncelle

Danielle Marcinek, piano

The Virtues: Vocal Chamber Works of William George

Since my composing career began in earnest about 20 years ago, I have specialized in music for the voice. Being a singer myself, I began composing for myself and my colleagues. My first pieces were written for specific programs and were composed for the vocal and instrumental forces available. This led to a unique catalogue of mostly works for voice and various instrumental chamber ensembles. This recording collects a few highlights composed over the past two decades.

The Virtues (2004) is based on the third part of the third vision in Hildegard of Bingen’s book of visions, Scivias (see her illustration). In this vision, Hildegard examines the “tower of anticipation” of God’s perfect will. Within each portion of the building Hildegard sees a group of Virtues. The Virtues occupy an important place in her theology; they are “brilliant stars given by God, which shine forth in human deeds.” A virtue is right action incarnate. The first three Virtues in the tower represent the initial manifestations of the ascetic life - Celestial Love, Discipline and Modesty. There follow two christological Virtues: Mercy (associated with the Virgin Mary and Christ’s birth) and Victory (connected with his conquest of Satan). Hildegard further characterizes the Virtues by assigning intricate symbolism to their iconography - colours, garments and attributes. In addition, each Virtue utters a self-defining motto. Bookending this cantata is Karitas Habundat, based on a plainchant composed by Hildegard. Heard first in a Prologue for violin and organ, it also serves as an Epilogue in a version for vocal trio. The text for The Virtues was adapted by Richard Gleaves, in collaboration with the composer, from english translations of Hildegard’s original latin. The Virtues was nominated for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

As though the word blue had been dropped into the water (2008)
In the late 80s, I was visiting a bookstore in the Puget Sound area and discovered a lovely poetry chapbook with seven poems by Northwest poet Robert Sund (1929-2001). I immediately fell in love with his poetry. 20 years later I finally set them to music. In setting these fragile verses I tried to stay faithful to the aesthetic of the poetry, "painting" the words and images. The flute often portrays a specific element in the poem - sometimes a bird, a muse, a feather, or a stream of water. More information about Robert Sund can be found online at robertsund.org.

The next three works are what I call monologues; compositions on extended texts for voice and instruments.

In Walt Whitman’s poem Vigil Strange I Kept On the Field One Night (2010), I was drawn to the contrast of the tenderness of the narrator/nurse caring for his wounded and dying patient (Whitman served as a nurse in the American Civil War) with the brutality of the war raging around them. Musically, the melody has a folk-like quality, representing love, optimism and peace, accented by dissonances in the piano underlying the tragic violence of the surroundings. I see the violin as an abstract angel, hovering over the dying soldier, playing her elegy as he dies in the narrator’s arms.

Burnaby Mountain Song: Eurydice (2015) is a collaboration with acclaimed Vancouver-based poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar, inspired by the protests to the Trans Mountain pipeline on Burnaby Mountain in British Columbia. It was commissioned for an Erato Ensemble program based on Orphic myths. I find the message and amazing images in Renee's poem very inspiring musically. The final text is a condensation of a longer poem. In adapting, my goal was to focus on the story line of Eurydice as eco-warrior returning to the world, specifically Burnaby Mountain (her earthly home) to protect it from current environmental threats. Eurydice here manifests in several different characteristics: idealistic young protestor, timeless aboriginal Earth Mother, fragile lost girl of myth, innocent folk singer, avenging angel. Each aspect of her personality is represented musically, tied together by a fragment from Gluck's "Dance of the Blessed Spirits."

Running Into the Sea (2016) is another setting of a poem by Robert Sund. This time the subject is skinny-dipping! Sund describes the exhilaration of the feeling of transformation and connection with nature as he runs into the ocean at night, feeling the ecstasy of the freezing cold waves over and over again. I tried to capture this feeling in music, with the tide ebbing and flowing. I also included a musical quote on the word “ecstasy” from my favourite musical “monologue,” Boyhoods End by Sir Michael Tippett.

COMPOSER BIO

William George is a composer and singer born and raised in California, and currently living in North Vancouver, British Columbia. He received his MM in Voice (Opera) from the University of Southern California and his BA in Music from California State University, Long Beach. After moving to New York in 1998 to sing with the Metropolitan Opera, Will co-founded New Music New York, a contemporary chamber ensemble. He composed several pieces for NMNY, including “The Virtues”, that was nominated for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in music. In 2005 William immigrated to Vancouver, where he co-founded Erato Ensemble, a chamber ensemble that performs everything from renaissance to contemporary music.

As a professional singer himself, Will has a special affinity for writing for the voice. His sensitivity to text setting leads his music to new places with every piece he writes. Will’s songs and vocal chamber works have been performed and commissioned by such organizations as New Music New York, Erato Ensemble, Vancouver International Song Institute, Kamloops Chamber Players, Holy Rosary Cathedral, and The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. Will is the recipient of multiple ASCAPlus Awards, and is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre.

William has had the good fortune to work with many renowned composers, and was especially close to Sir Michael Tippett and Marga Richter, whom he considers mentors. William’s recordings as a singer include EAST with guitarist Michael Strutt, two volumes of vocal music of Marga Richter, Geometrics by L. Warde, a collection of Irish folk songs and One + One with Erato Ensemble. In addition to classical music, Will is also lead singer/songwriter for the Vancouver roots-band band Horse Opera with whom he has released several recordings. More information can be found on his website williamallengeorge.com

CREDITS

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CMC Centrediscs / CMC Centredisques: Keith Stratton, Producer / Producteur

CMCCD 33823

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