Naxos Blog

I enjoy listening to the Classical Music podcast - its a great way to discover new artists and recordings! I have particular interest in this choral podcast because I find contemporary choral music particularly interesting. Raymond, I'm interested to know if you've done any research on one of my favorite composers, Eric Whitacre. I'd love to find out who his choral inspirations are. I was in church one Sunday and heard a piece that sounded very close to his style, unfortunately I never got the name. Another favorite composer is John Rutter. English choral music has some of the most peaceful melodies I've heard. I'd be very interested to hear a podcast on either one!

Thanks

I know John Rutter's music well, and did a podcast about him quite a while ago. I know Eric Whitacre's name but not his music, but your email has piqued my interest. I will see what I recordings and information I can find; maybe I can do a podcast about him sometime.

I just stumbled upon this podcast while searching for a recording of Jean Ford Belmont's 'Skyloom', which I had the pleasure of singing in the Texas All-State Choir under the direction of Simon Carrington. To be honest, I had once subscribed to your podcast but eventually stopped because there was not more about choral music. It is very hard to find recordings of a broad range of choral music, especially contemporary choral music. So, I was very glad to see this podcast and learn about this new recording with a range of contemporary choral music (I promptly purchased the album on iTunes).

Above, Christopher mentions Eric Whitacre and John Rutter. Although my taste is not too much toward Rutter, Whitacre has written some very nice music--he especially seems to enjoy tone clusters. As far as my liking goes, I would like to hear more about Norman Dello Joio. He passed away only four months ago, and yet I heard nothing of it. Most of the recording I find of Dello Joio are his piano and instrumental works; yet, he wrote an outstanding body of choral music. I am particularly familiar with his 'Psalm of David', 'Come to Me, My Love', and 'Holy Infant's Lullaby'.