Chanticleer, a twelve voice male ensemble based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has through its own success, furthered the modern classical repetoire by comissioning new compositions from a variety of highly respected sources. Chen Yi, Bernard Rands and Steven Stucky are just a few of the distinguished composers whose eminently scholarly credentials grace this collection, loosely conceptualized around the theme of love. As may be construed by the twentieth century time frame from which these pieces emerged, some of them, while not thoroughly dissonant, are atonal. Others, such as Taverner's "Village Wedding," are somber mood sketches. |
