Heaven and Earth: A Song of Creation

Description:

Cappella Records proudly announces the TWO-DISC release ofHEAVEN AND EARTH, performed by Cappella Romana with 45th Parallel Universe, directed by John Michael Boyer.

The release also features the world premiere ofHeaven and Earth: A Song of Creation, a unique collaborative setting of the Creation Psalm (103 LXX) by six acclaimed Orthodox choral composers: Tikey Zes, Richard Toensing, GRAMMY Award nominee Kurt Sander, Alexander Khalil, Matthew Arndt, and conductor John Michael Boyer. The Saint John of Damascus Society, which promotes new Orthodox choral music, commissionedHeaven and Earthfor Cappella Romana in 2013 in honor of the 2012 Higgs boson discovery.

Richard Barrett, Cappella Romanas Director of Publications, says in his extensive essay thatIkon of LightandHeaven and Earthare complementary musical compositions that focus on these parallel aspects of lightsupernatural and naturalin Orthodox spirituality. The two works offer a transcendent experience of musical beautyone informed by Orthodox spirituality and influenced by the contours of Byzantine chant.Ikon of Lightexplores the inner, mystical illumination of the soul as described by the medieval mystic St. Symeon the New Theologian.Heaven and Earthweaves Renaissance counterpoint, Slavic harmony, Georgian polyphony, and more around a central Byzantine melodic line. The composers create a tapestry of shimmering harmonies that finds unity through diversity, underscoring the Creation Psalms theme: How magnified are your works, O Lord. With wisdom have You made them all!

https://youtu.be/vj4YVGWuN_s