Robert Kyr: A Time for Life

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Album Details

EAN/UPC: 884501964296
Catalog No: CR-411
Release Date: November 12, 2013
Liner Notes

An environmental oratorio by composer Robert Kyr, commissioned by Cappella Romana in 2007 and now recorded for the first time, this work explores the urgent issue of ecological crisis caused by humanity s inability to live in harmony with the natural world.

A Time for Life draws from texts in Greek Orthodoxy, the Bible, and Native American prayers with an ultimately optimistic approach. The work traces a journey from the glory of Creation through potential modern destruction to a hopeful future, in which humanity serves as a responsible steward of the earth and thus realigns itself with the creative forces of existence, resulting in a spiritual awakening that leads from a state of division and separation to the way of unity and wholeness.

Kyr’s music wept for the Earth. It shuddered and then grew stronger, blooming into beauty before evaporating in silence.

The Oregonian

    Part 1: Creation

  1. i. Prologue
  2. ii. Proclaiming
  3. iii. Arriving
  4. iv. Praising
  5. v. Trembling
  6. vi. Rejoicing
  7. Part 2: Forgetting

  8. i. Prologue
  9. ii. Supplication I: We Ignore Your Word
  10. iii. Witness I: Look and Behold
  11. iv. Supplication II: We Devour Your Forest
  12. v. Witness II: Breathe and Remember
  13. vi. Supplication III: We Defile Your Oceans
  14. vii. Witness III: The Survivor
  15. viii. Supplication IV: We Destroy Nature
  16. ix. Witness IV: Howl, You Shepherds!
  17. x. Supplication V: We Pollute the Air
  18. xi. Witness V: The Joyless Land
  19. xii. Supplication VI: The Dying Planet
  20. xiii. Witness VI: The Sacred Way
  21. Part 3: Remembering

  22. i. Dance of Life
  23. ii. Canticle of Life; First Soliloquy
  24. iii. First Canons
  25. iv. Chorale, First Verse
  26. v. Second Soliloquy
  27. vi. Chorale, Second Verse
  28. vii. Second Canons
  29. viii. Third Soliloquy
  30. ix. Chorale, Third Verse
  31. x. Third Canons
  32. xi. First Chorale
  33. xii. Epilogue

MusicWeb International

There can be no questioning Kyr’s skill as a composer. Just listen to the first five minutes, as singers enter one-by-one — there are only eight — to the accompaniment of a single solitary cello… Speaking of the choir, the Cappella Romana here demonstrates why it has a devoted fan-base in the Pacific Northwest and, via records, across the globe. There is not a weak link or uninteresting voice among these eight singers ” –Brian Reinhart

Oregon ArtsWatch

For music to come across like this, composers and performers need each other, and Cappella Romana’s performance was masterly. Balance and blend were top-notch at all times. ” –Jeff Winslow

Classical Net

great religious music, really great religious music, touches us all through beauty, musical thought, and sincerity of purpose. Therefore, this project is not only a major statement of ecumenical ideals, but also a major musical statement. ” –Brian Wigman

Fanfare

The florid music of this 2007 piece is often magical in its effect … There is no doubt that Kyr writes from the heart. His concerns are of concern to us all. A blessedly poignant, timely disc, beautifully produced ” –Colin Clarke

Leitourgeia kai Qurbana

It is nice to see Cappella championing repertoire like this; it demonstrates an impressive artistic vision. Happily, the performance on the disc demonstrates a very real breadth of ability that is equal to that vision ” –Richard Barrett