News Archive

Song cycle Album available on CD

Ohio soprano Kay Raplenovich inherited a cache of family photographs from her maternal grandparents, and was inspired to write a series of speculative poems about the lives of the people in them. In 1997, she commissioned me to set 9 of them into a cycle of songs to be performed alongside an exhibit of works by artist Susan Daugherty Shafer. She has now released the premiere performance on CD. Find it here.

Recent projects

There Are Hundreds Of Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Ground - This is a meditation piece on a poem by the Arabian poet hero Rumi: Let the beauty we love be what we do/There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. The pacing is governed by the breath of the ensemble, and the energy increases in action and coherence to the middle of the piece, and then slowly dissipates to the end. Here are some sample pages.

The Next Table Over - Formerly entitled "Intermezzo." This is the third piece that I have written on commission for the group MACxima, a high school a cappella ensemble connected with The Musical Arts Center from Cincinnati. This work is like nothing I have done before. It is a wordless piece, instrumental in effect; an indistinct, desultory conversation between a group of people who know each other very well. Here are a couple of sample pages. The complete work is now available through Fresh Ayre.

Moore titles published by other fine companies

Soon to be available: "Hashkiveinu" by Transcontinental Music, and "Candles In Our Hearts" by Boosey and Hawkes. Both of these titles will be available through their respective publishers sometime before the fall; until then, they will be available through us here at Fresh Ayre.

From Creation's Start - One of the bands that I listened to obsessively during graduate school was Steeleye Span, one of the early exponents of the British folk rock scene. From them I learned "Gaudete" and also a song called "Cam Ye O'er Frae France," a bit of Jacobite ribaldry about the indelicacies of King George I's court. The tune found its way into the Church of Scotland, with new words written by Kathy Galloway of the Iona Community as "From Creation's Start." I recently completed an arrangement of this version for my choir calling for SATB choir, piano, and optional bodhran. Here are a few sample pages.

JDM Recordings

I have all the remaining stock of CDs for both of my professional groups, The Village Waytes (1989-1993) from Cincinnati, and Dare To Breathe (1994-2005) from St. Paul. They are all for sale through this website until they're all gone. CDs are $15, and the cassettes are $10. Order form

The Village Waytes

Dare to Breathe

Premiere a piece by David!

The following pieces have yet to receive a performance. Here is a really cheap way to put a contemporary premiere on your group's resume!

Chamber Music - A contemporary madrigal for mixed voices on a poem by James Joyce.
SSATBB a cappella
available from composer

Embrace - A love song for four solo voices and cello, written for my wife Jenny on our third anniversary. A setting of a poem by my friend Mark Dietrich.
SATB quartet
cello obbligato
available from composer

A New Song - A psalm of universal praise.
SATB, soli
piano, trumpet, percussion
order from Fresh Ayre Music

There Are Hundreds Of Ways To Kneel and Kiss the Ground - A meditation piece on a poem by Rumi.
SATB (div.), chime
order from Fresh Ayre Music

New Recordings

Kay Raplenovich and Michael Root: Album, contains:

www.kayraplenovich.com

Cantores Celestes & The Foggy Hogtown Boys: The Circle Never Ends, contains:

www.cantorescelestes.com

Sistrum, Lansing's Women's Chorus: Sweet Women, contains:

www.sistrum.org

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