Live performances recorded in 2016, 2018, and 2019 by the St. Charles Singers. The title conveys the many musical colors, emotions, images, and sounds awaiting the listener who engages with this wide-ranging exploration of choral gems from the 19th and 20th centuries. The program comprises 15 sacred and secular works presented in two thematic sections: “Earthly Forms” and “Heavenly Shapes.” It opens with Charles Stanford’s pictorial The Blue Bird, evoking serene natural beauty and accented with a lovely soprano obligato representing a bird in flight. The journey concludes with Bob Chilcott’s Oculi Omnium, a warm, comforting setting of Psalm 145:15. We take special pride in presenting John Rutter’s setting of the Shakespeare sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day.” It was commissioned for the St. Charles Singers, which performed the world premiere in 2018
~ Jeff Hunt
