#emo-classical

[leliosworld]

[cantaloupemusic]

Steve Reich refers to Caleb Burhans as "a unique, unusual, and distinctive voice" — all of which the young composer and multi-instrumentalist brings to bear on his Cantaloupe Music debut EVENSONG (July 30). Order now at iTunes and you'll get two exclusive bonus tracks: “In Time of Desperation” (with Caleb on piano) and “As Desperation Sets In” (Bill Kalinkos, clarinet and John Orfe, piano). Featuring ALARM WILL SOUND, the TRINITY WALL STREET CHOIR and the TARAB CELLO ENSEMBLE, the recording is a testament to Burhans' versatility as a composer and the defining statement of his complex connection to the church — an “emo-classical” epic where sacred meets secular in a pure, dynamic expression of musical influences that range from classical to ambient to post-rock. While the album presents motifs from the Christian church service (book-ended with the opening “Magnificat” and the closing “Nunc Dimittis,” recorded with the Trinity Wall Street Choir), it refracts them through the modern lens of new music and the avant garde. Stay up on Cantaloupe Music and receive exclusive content: Cantaloupe Patch on Drip.fm - drip.fm/cantaloupe Become a member of the Cantaloupe Patch and we can share with you every delicious new Cantaloupe release straight to your inbox, and a steady stream of 12 years' worth of genre-destroying post-classical harvests from the creators of Bang on a Can. Cantaloupe Club - bangonacan.org/store/cantaloupe_club Subscribe to a Cantaloupe Club Membership you get every new Cantaloupe CD mailed to your door, before the official release date.

[cantaloupemusic]

This is one of my favorite tracks on Caleb Burhans' new record Evensong. Played by Alarm Will Sound. TOO EPIC.

Get the record here or here! 

[cantaloupemusic]

Evensong

Ask composer, singer, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Burhans about his relationship to the Christian tenets of faith, and he'll give you a thoughtful but conflicted answer. "Despite the fact that I've sung in church choirs for almost twenty years, I'm agnostic," he says. "So a lot of my music deals with my struggles with religion."

Evensong is Burhans' defining statement of his complex connection to the church -- an "emo-classical" epic where sacred meets secular in a pure, dynamic expression of musical influences that range from classical to ambient to post-rock. While the album presents motifs from the Christian church service (book-ended with the openingMagnificat and the closing Nunc Dimittis, recorded with the Trinity Wall Street Choir), it refracts them through the modern lens of new music and the avant garde.

This is Burhans' debut as a lead composer and recording artist, though he has long been recognized as a vital presence on the NYC new music scene. The New York Times has lauded him as "animated and versatile," a "sweet-voiced countertenor," and a "new music virtuoso." He is also a regular member of several groundbreaking groups and ensembles that have helped reshape modern classical music -- among them ACME,Alarm Will Sound, Beyondo, Bleknlok, Escort, itsnotyouitsme, Newspeak, Ensemble Signal and the Wordless Music Orchestra.

Alarm Will Sound, in fact, takes up the secular portion of Evensong, performing three pieces that test the very limits of a large ensemble's expressive capabilities. oh ye of little faith is the arguable centerpiece, described by none other than Steve Reich as "a lovely homage to Arvo Part's In Memorium Banjamin Britten." Further on, the Tarab Cello Ensemble infuses The Things Left Unsaid with contemplative longing. With whimsical and incisive liner notes by longtime friend, collaborator and guitarist Grey Mcmurray, Evensong marks Burhans' arrival as one of the most promising young composers to emerge from NYC's trial-by-fire proving ground. 

Get the CD at the Bang on a Can Store

[cantaloupemusic]

Steve Reich refers to Caleb Burhans as "a unique, unusual, and distinctive voice" — all of which the young composer and multi-instrumentalist brings to bear on his Cantaloupe Music debut EVENSONG (July 30). Featuring ALARM WILL SOUND, the TRINITY WALL STREET CHOIR and the TARAB CELLO ENSEMBLE, the recording is a testament to Burhans' versatility as a composer and the defining statement of his complex connection to the church — an “emo-classical” epic where sacred meets secular in a pure, dynamic expression of musical influences that range from classical to ambient to post-rock. While the album presents motifs from the Christian church service (book-ended with the opening “Magnificat” and the closing “Nunc Dimittis,” recorded with the Trinity Wall Street Choir), it refracts them through the modern lens of new music and the avant garde.