JOHN BURGE
John Burge (b. 1961) is a Juno-winning Canadian composer and pianist. He received his Associate Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto while still in high school and holds degrees in Composition and Theory from the Universities of Toronto and British Columbia. Since 1987 he has taught at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. His experience singing in university and church choirs led to a lifelong love of choral music. His own choral compositions have been performed by such choirs as the Elmer Iseler Singers, BBC Singers, Amabile Youth Choir, Toronto Children’s Chorus and St. Louis Symphony Children’s Choir. His composition, Angels’ Voices, for SSA choir and orchestra, was performed at Carnegie Hall in 2005 and received the 2006 Outstanding New Choral Composition Award from the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors. A passionate advocate for Canadian music, Burge was a member of the executive council of the Canadian League of Composers from 1993-2007, serving as President from 1998-2006. In recognition of his very successful career as a composer and his work in support of the Canadian music ecosystem, he was inducted as a Fellow into the Royal Society of Canada in 2014.
Wind
by John Burge
SA with piano and optional wind chimes – CP 2372 – 5:00
The Wind was commissioned by the Florida All State Elementary Choir for a premiere in January, 2013 during a concert conducted by Earlene Rentz. The work is a setting of a three-verse poem by Robert Louis Stevenson for SA choir, piano and optional wind chimes. The poem beautifully captures a child’s view of the wind as an invisible entity that is mysterious in its motivation and in its demonstration of both subtle and powerful effects on the landscape. The singers are asked to generate wind-like vocalizations at times thereby creating a sonic image to match the words. These moments can be further accentuated by the use of a few wind chimes.
Performance Notes:
The vocalizations marked “sh” are to sound like wind and can be achieved if the undetermined pitch rises during the crescendos and falls during the diminuendos. Some singers could even add some soft whistling sounds. The wind-like vocalizations do not need to follow the rhythmic indications exactly and the conductor may want to sculpt the effects instead of beating time. The overlapping wind effects and final canon will sound best if the Sopranos and Altos are placed on either side of the stage. The use of a number of different wind chimes (glass and metal being preferred for their resonance) would work best if these were suspended on a rod and placed between the Sopranos and Altos. The wind chimes should be allowed to reverberate freely and may continue to echo into the next section but should not dominate the musical fabric too much.
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Catalogue
Special Collections
Gordon Lightfoot
Songs for the Sanctuary
Vancouver Youth Choir Series
Canadian Chamber Choir Series
Elektra Women"s Choir Series
La Série Enchantée (French))
The Zimfira Collection (Children)
Profondo - (Lower Voices)
Universal Gospel Choir
Jean-Sébastien Vallée Series
Diane Loomer Choral Series (Folk Song)