Tarik O'Regan: Threshold of Night
Encyclopedia
Tarik O'Regan: Threshold of Night is the third release by the choral group
Conspirare
and the second recording of the work of Tarik O'Regan
. The chorus is accompanied by the Company of Strings and led by musical director Craig Hella Johnson. The album was recorded in October 2007 at the Troy Music Hall, Troy, New York
, the second Conspirare release to be recorded at this venue and was released by Harmonia Mundi Records
in 2008. The tracks are based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe
, Pablo Neruda
, Kathleen Raine
and Emily Dickinson
. The album debuted at number ten on the Billboard Top Classical Album chart
and was nominated for two Grammy Award
s.
Tarik O'Regan in their hometown of Austin, Texas
. The positive response they received led to this album which was recorded in October 2007 at the Troy Music Hall, Troy, New York
.
The album's second track, "The Ecstasies Above", is based on the poem "Israfel" by Edgar Allen Poe, in it the chorus is accompanied by a string quartet
, The Company of Strings. The title track, "Threshold of Night", is based on the poetry of Kathleen Raine. The track "Care Charminge Sleepe", which was written by O'Regan while he was getting his Master of Philosophy
degree at Corpus Christi College
, is based on a scene from Valentinian
by Elizabethan playwright John Fletcher
.
The album caught the attention of film producer
Jerry Bruckheimer
who has expressed interest in O'Regan working with him on future film projects.
It received two Grammy nominations
for Best Classical Album
and Best Choral Performance
.
ranked Tarik O'Regan: Threshold of Night number one on his top-ten list of favorite classical albums of 2008. He writes that the selections "vibrate with luminous melodies and ravishing, unsuspected textures". Also in The Star-Ledger, Anthony Venutolo writes that the chorus "finds the musical soul of the words in a way a simple reading never could". Stephen Eddins of Allmusic said the album "establishes a direct emotional connection that's hard to resist" and that the "sense of musical architecture is a key part of the success of [the] work" and that the recording is "clean and vibrant, with just enough resonance".
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
Conspirare
Conspirare
Conspirare is a choral ensemble based out of Austin, Texas. They were formed in 1991 by conductor and musical director Craig Hella Johnson as New Texas Festival but did not begin to regularly perform until 1999...
and the second recording of the work of Tarik O'Regan
Tarik O'Regan
Tarik O'Regan , full name Tarik Hamilton O'Regan , is a British composer, partly of Algerian extraction. His compositions number over 90 and are partially represented on 22 recordings which have been recognised with two GRAMMY nominations. He is also the recipient of two British Composer Awards...
. The chorus is accompanied by the Company of Strings and led by musical director Craig Hella Johnson. The album was recorded in October 2007 at the Troy Music Hall, Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
, the second Conspirare release to be recorded at this venue and was released by Harmonia Mundi Records
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
in 2008. The tracks are based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, Kathleen Raine
Kathleen Raine
Kathleen Jessie Raine was a British poet, critic, and scholar writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently Platonism and Neoplatonism, she was a founder member of the Temenos Academy.-Life:Raine was...
and Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
. The album debuted at number ten on the Billboard Top Classical Album chart
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
and was nominated for two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s.
Overview
Conspirare began their 2007 season performing the works of British choral composerComposer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Tarik O'Regan in their hometown of Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. The positive response they received led to this album which was recorded in October 2007 at the Troy Music Hall, Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
.
The album's second track, "The Ecstasies Above", is based on the poem "Israfel" by Edgar Allen Poe, in it the chorus is accompanied by a string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
, The Company of Strings. The title track, "Threshold of Night", is based on the poetry of Kathleen Raine. The track "Care Charminge Sleepe", which was written by O'Regan while he was getting his Master of Philosophy
Master of Philosophy
The Master of Philosophy is a postgraduate research degree.An M.Phil. is a lesser degree than a Doctor of Philosophy , but in many cases it is considered to be a more senior degree than a taught Master's degree, as it is often a thesis-only degree. In some instances, an M.Phil...
degree at Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
, is based on a scene from Valentinian
Valentinian (play)
Valentinian is a Jacobean era stage play, a revenge tragedy written by John Fletcher was that originally published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647. The play dramatizes the story of Valentinian III, one of the last of the Roman Emperors, as recorded by the classical historian...
by Elizabethan playwright John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
.
The album caught the attention of film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
who has expressed interest in O'Regan working with him on future film projects.
It received two Grammy nominations
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Classical Album
Grammy Award for Best Classical Album
The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album was awarded from 1962 to 2011. The award had several minor name changes:*From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year - Classical...
and Best Choral Performance
Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance has been awarded since 1961. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*In 1961 the award was known as Best Classical Performance - Choral ...
.
Reception
Bradley Bambarger of The Star-LedgerThe Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
ranked Tarik O'Regan: Threshold of Night number one on his top-ten list of favorite classical albums of 2008. He writes that the selections "vibrate with luminous melodies and ravishing, unsuspected textures". Also in The Star-Ledger, Anthony Venutolo writes that the chorus "finds the musical soul of the words in a way a simple reading never could". Stephen Eddins of Allmusic said the album "establishes a direct emotional connection that's hard to resist" and that the "sense of musical architecture is a key part of the success of [the] work" and that the recording is "clean and vibrant, with just enough resonance".
Track listing
All compositions by Tarik O'ReganTarik O'Regan
Tarik O'Regan , full name Tarik Hamilton O'Regan , is a British composer, partly of Algerian extraction. His compositions number over 90 and are partially represented on 22 recordings which have been recognised with two GRAMMY nominations. He is also the recipient of two British Composer Awards...
- "Had I Not Seen the Sun" – 1:52
- "The Ecstasies Above" – 17:25
- "Threshold of Night" – 6:19
- "Tal vez tenemos tiempo" – 7:49
- "Care Charminge Sleepe" – 6:13
- "Triptych" – 17:35
- "I Had No Time to Hate" – 2:13
Personnel
- Craig Hella-Johnson – directorMusic directorA music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
- Melissa Givens – sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
- Carr Hornbuckle – tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
- Nina Revering – soprano
- Kathlene Ritch – soprano
- Tracy Shirk – tenor
- Jonathan Subia – tenor
Production
- Blanton Alspaugh – editorEditingEditing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Tom Caufield – technical assistance
- John Newton – engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Ed RuschaEdward RuschaEdward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
– cover photoAlbum coverAn album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
Charts
| Top Classical Albums | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Source | Peak |
| 2008 | Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... |
10 |