1 Research Memorandum Series Journal of The American Choral Foundation, published by Chorus America | L. Brett Scott, Editor No. 201 Fall 2012 The Choral Works of Stephen Chatman COMPILED BY GRAEME LANGAGER Biography and Compositional Style T his issue provides insight into the music of Stephen Chatman, inter- nationally known Canadian composer and teacher. Graeme Langager gives us a complete listing of Chatman’s published and unpublished choral compositions. He supplements this list with a brief biography of the composer, a discussion of Chatman’s compositional style and a more in-depth look at select pieces. Graeme Langager is currently Director of Choral Activities at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He previously served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Arkansas and Cuesta College in Califor- nia. Dr. Langager received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Con- ducting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and is active as a clinician, guest conductor, composer and arranger. L. Brett Scott, editor As an undergraduate, Stephen attended Oberlin Conservatory initially as a piano major, but switched to composition after only one semester. His musical training there was academic and modernist. Ober- lin at that time was a center for avant-garde music, bringing in many visiting modernist composers and scholars, and Chatman was heavily influenced by this compositional point of view. He attended the Univer- sity of Michigan for graduate studies from 1972 to 1976, working with Ross Lee Finney, Leslie Bassett and William Bolcom (all Pulitzer Prize winners), and Eugene Kurtz. In 1974 Chatman received a U.S. Ful- bright Grant to study with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Hochschule für Musik in Köln. In 1976 Chatman was offered a position at the Uni- versity of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. A Brief Biography of Stephen Chatman Stephen Chatman was born in Faribault, Minnesota in 1950. His father Alfred was a junior-high teacher of American History and English, and was also an accomplished amateur pianist. In 1959 the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin where Chatman’s father had taken a teaching position. Around this time Stephen’s early musical training first began, and his love for music and composition blossomed. He be- gan playing piano at age eight, and started composing at around age nine. Chatman’s father accompanied singers and instrumentalists at the University of Wis- consin’s School of Music, and Stephen was introduced to many of the university’s music faculty and music students. Alongside his love of music, Chatman also enjoyed playing a variety of sports during his youth, including hockey, basketball and baseball.
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Research Memorandum SeriesJournal of The American Choral Foundation, published by Chorus America | L. Brett Scott, Editor
No. 201 Fall 2012
The Choral Works of Stephen Chatman Compiled by Graeme lanGaGer
Biography and Compositional Style
This issue provides insight into the music of Stephen Chatman, inter-nationally known Canadian composer and teacher. Graeme Langager gives us a complete listing of Chatman’s published and unpublished
choral compositions. He supplements this list with a brief biography of the composer, a discussion of Chatman’s compositional style and a more in-depth look at select pieces.
Graeme Langager is currently Director of Choral Activities at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He previously served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Arkansas and Cuesta College in Califor-nia. Dr. Langager received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Con-ducting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and is active as a clinician, guest conductor, composer and arranger.
L. Brett Scott, editor
As an undergraduate, Stephen attended Oberlin Conservatory initially as a piano major, but switched to composition after only one semester. His musical training there was academic and modernist. Ober-lin at that time was a center for avant-garde music, bringing in many visiting modernist composers and scholars, and Chatman was heavily influenced by this compositional point of view. He attended the Univer-sity of Michigan for graduate studies from 1972 to 1976, working with Ross Lee Finney, Leslie Bassett and William Bolcom (all Pulitzer Prize winners), and Eugene Kurtz. In 1974 Chatman received a U.S. Ful-bright Grant to study with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Hochschule für Musik in Köln.
In 1976 Chatman was offered a position at the Uni-versity of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
A Brief Biography of Stephen Chatman Stephen Chatman was born in Faribault, Minnesota in 1950. His father Alfred was a junior-high teacher of American History and English, and was also an accomplished amateur pianist. In 1959 the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin where Chatman’s father had taken a teaching position. Around this time Stephen’s early musical training first began, and his love for music and composition blossomed. He be-gan playing piano at age eight, and started composing at around age nine. Chatman’s father accompanied singers and instrumentalists at the University of Wis-consin’s School of Music, and Stephen was introduced to many of the university’s music faculty and music students. Alongside his love of music, Chatman also enjoyed playing a variety of sports during his youth, including hockey, basketball and baseball.
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Since then he has taught at the UBC School of Music, where he currently serves as Professor and Head of the Composition Division.
Prior to 1976, most of Chatman’s compositions were “complex, virtuosic, and atonal”. He had only written two choral compositions to that point, one of which remains unpublished. From 1976 through the early 1980s Chatman’s compositional style be-came more mature and rounded, incorporating a va-riety of techniques and traditions (collage, modality, minimalism, traditional forms, eclecticism and post-modernism). A major shift in Chatman’s composi-tional style began in 1982. His choral compositions since then have been more lyrical and diatonic, and have been more folk-like in melodic shape, phrase structure and form. The first piece in this new com-positional period was You Have Ravished My Heart, premiered by the Vancouver Chamber Choir in 1982 and enthusiastically received. Chatman has remained very active as a choral composer, receiving numerous commissions each year.
Chatman has received numerous awards for compo-sition throughout his career. In July 2012 he was given the Order of Canada, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on a Canadian citizen. Stephan lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife Tara. He has four children, is a history buff and enjoys art and poetry.
Stephen Chatman’s Compositional Style Chatman’s music can generally be divided into three categories: instrumental music (often virtuosic), simple choral music accessible to a wide range of ensembles and challenging choral music for advanced ensembles.
Chatman’s compositional gestures, particularly in his choral music, are similar to those used by many other contemporary choral composers, but there are patterns that emerge in his use of melody, rhythm, harmony, tempo, texture, form and forces that differ-entiate his works from those of his contemporaries.
Melody and Harmony
Chatman’s compositions are generally tonal and tri-adic. Added tones such as ninths, sevenths and sixths are occasionally used to provide color. Chatman’s distinctive choral sound is often created by devices such as open voicings, parallelism and ostinato ped-als. There is a prominence of leaps of fourths and fifths in Chatman’s music that can sound similar to passages by Copland or resemble a simple Canadian folk song. Primary melodic and motivic materials are commonly built on rising figures. Chatman regularly quotes melodic material from his own compositions. He describes this process as starting organically as a
general expression of his melodic style. This evolves later in the compositional process to an intentional, literal device. For example, melodic motives from How Sweet and Fair were originally from Prairie Dawn and were later used in Earth Songs.
Rhythm, Tempo and Phrasing
Chatman is particular about rhythm and tempo. His metronome markings should be taken literally, and for him tempo is as important as such other ele-ments of music as melody, rhythm and harmony. Al-most all of Chatman’s music is marked at a heartbeat tempo (between 76 and 92). This heartbeat is often portrayed through a steady pulse of moving quarter notes. Chatman is also intentional regarding breath marks and phrasing, and rests and breath marks are to be observed literally in order to preserve the in-tended phrasing. His use of senza misura is a hallmark compositional trait. In the pieces where it occurs, a degree of freedom (tempo, text stress, and phrasing) is appropriate. Remember and I am not Yours contain examples of this compositional device.
Text and Texture
Chatman’s love for poetry influences his choice of texts. For him the text is the first and most important build-ing block of any composition, informing nearly all ma-jor musical decisions. Chatman looks for particular cri-teria when choosing a text. Beyond the inherent beauty of the poetry itself, the poem should have a beautiful poetic sentiment, prominent open, easily sung vowels and a poetic form and structure that relates to or can be adapted to a musical form. Chatman will often use ono-matopoeic sounds instead of text. Dryad’s Bells, Magical Machine, Clocks and Woodpeckers are examples of these “sound pieces.”
Voicing and Instrumentation
Chatman’s choral compositions are typically for stan-dard forces (a cappella, or accompanied by piano or organ) in standard voicings (SATB, SAB, SSAA, TTBB). Some works make use of an obligato solo woodwind instrument, such as How Sweet and Fair (clarinet), Thou Whose Harmony is the Music of the Spheres (oboe) and It Will Not Change (saxophone). Several compo-sitions are available in alternate voicings. Chatman typically uses simple transposition to create these al-ternate versions of existing works, so that the vocal lines retain their original shape and character.
A Discussion of Selected Works Concert Pieces
Voices of Earth is a three-movement work commis-sioned by Toronto’s Upper Canada Choristers. It was written in 2004 and published in 2007. The texts are
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by the Canadian poet Archibald Lampman (1861-1899). The individual movements are published sepa-rately in different voicings.
• TheBirdandtheHour–SATBorSAB,withpiano. The melodies and piano accompaniment in this
movement are meant to represent the hermit thrush singing in the quiet Ontario countryside. The first melodic statement is presented by the voices in unison then the rest of the piece becomes essentially canonic—in two to four parts—with the lower voice(s) at times following the harmonic motion of the piano part. This movement is Chat-man’s favorite of the three, and is dedicated to his sister who died in 2004 from a sudden heart attack at the age of 53.
• Snow–SATB,SABorSSAAacappella. This movement, written without meter, is meant
to emulate a vast, austere winterscape. The open-ing statement of the melody is presented in uni-son by the women’s voices and accompanied by droned open fifths in the men’s voices. The second statement of the melody is harmonized, still with a drone. The final statement of the melody is har-monized by all voices.
• VoicesofEarth–SATB,SABorSSAA,withpiano. The form of this piece is like the first movement—the
first statement of the melody is presented in unison by all voices, and evolves into canonic polyphony.
How Sweet and Fair is a two-movement work com-missioned by the Mount Royal Choral Association (Calgary). It was written and published in 2001. The texts by Edmund Waller and Robert Herrick use the imagery of flowers to convey the beauty we have for a short time, and the inevitable death that follows.
• Go,LovelyRose–SATBandclarinet. ToDaffodils–SATBandclarinet. In both movements the vocal writing is predomi-
nantly homophonic, with brief moments of canon-ic polyphony. Rhythmically and melodically the steady quarter-note pulse is an ever-present re-minder of the inevitability of the poetic theme; half notes and mixed meter are used for word stresses and phrasing purposes. The clarinet is pastoral in character and quotes Chatman’sPrairieDawn–aConcerto for Clarinet, String Orchestra and Harp. The motive at measure thirty-eight in the second movement was reused in Earth Songs, a recent large work for chorus and orchestra.
Dryad’s Bells was commissioned by the Academy Chamber Choir of Powell River, BC. It was written in 1998 and premiered and published in 1999. The text for the piece is onomatopoeic, using only four sounds: ding, dong, bong and ding-a. The compositional struc-ture is very concise. The piece begins with a two-voice
pedal-tone rhythmic ostinato in the men’s voices, above which melodic motives are presented by the women’s voices in canon. As the motives develop they lead to a shift in tonal center a major third higher, at which point the men’s and women’s voices reverse roles. The women sing the ostinato pedal and the men sing the melodic motives in canon. As the piece progresses, the melodic motives develop in elongation. The descend-ing melodic passage in measures 5, 7 and 10 develops from five notes to seven notes to nine notes. In the fol-lowing section at measures 23 and 55 motives of dif-ferent lengths (two beats, three beats and five beats) create a sensation of complex hemiolas.
Due East is a four movement set commissioned by the Philharmonic Choir of the Newfoundland Sym-phony. It belongs to a series of compositions that also includes Due North (1986) and Due West (1997) which shows Chatman’s love of Canada’s landscape. It was written in 2006, premiered in 2007 and published in 2008. The texts by Tara Wohlberg are on Canadian Maritime themes. The individual movements are published separately.
• Nor’easter–SATBdiv.acappella. This movement is broad, full and insistent. It is en-
tirely homophonic and employs a pervasive tech-nique of parallel motion within the women’s and men’s voices and contrary motion against the upper and lower voice parts (women’s voices moving in the opposite direction of the men’s voices at all times.) Open 4ths and 5ths add to the distinctive sound.
• MinkeWhale–SATBacappella. This movement is light and lively and also begins
homophonically. The second section is presented in canon to depict the whale (enthusiastically, playful-ly) swimming and hopping through a school of fish.
• FarewellNancy–SorASolo,SATBdiv.acappella. The strophic text is adapted from an original New-
foundland folk text. Chatman wrote his own mel-ody, purposefully not listening to the original tune so as not to be influenced by it. It is predominantly homophonic, with the final strophe being sung by a solo female voice. Open 4ths and 5ths pervade the movement, adding to the large-scale unity and the distinctive sound (most notably in the final strophe as the chorus provides a drone for the soloist.)
• Fishing–SSATBBacappella. Mixed meter (7/8, 4/4, 6/8, 2/4) and rhythmic osti-
nati are the predominant musical gestures of this playful and memorable madrigal-like movement.
Peace was commissioned by the Cantabile Men’s Chorus of Kingston, Ontario. It was written in 2010 and premiered in November, 2011. Originally written for a cappella TTBB voices, Peace is also published for SATB, SAB and SSAA. The musical material is
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Jumalisten Joucko was commissioned by the Elmer Iseler Singers of Toronto, Ontario. It is an arrange-ment of a Medieval Finnish chant for SSAATBB chorus and optional drum. The piece begins with a simple, quiet statement of the chant above a drone. It develops gradually to include parallelisms (fourths and fifths) and polyphony above a pedal tone in the basses. The chant text (Rejoice, O people of God. A boy is born in Bethlehem of a virgin.) is appropriate for the Christmas season.
Musica, Dei Dominum Optimi was written in 2007 on a commission by the Choral Arts Ensemble of Rochester, Minnesota. The text is a setting of an anonymous 16th-century Latin poem that describes how music—the gift of the supreme God—can lift the hearts and minds of people and even calm wild beasts. It is written for SATB (div.) voices. The piece is essentially homophonic throughout, and shifts in dynamics, tempo and harmonic tension provide the forward motion for the piece.
Missa Brevis was commissioned by the Surrey Chil-
dren’s Choir of Surrey, British Columbia. It was written in 2007 and premiered in 2008. Originally written for SSSAA and soprano solo with piano, it was adapted for SSATB and soprano solo with piano. It sets the Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei from the traditional Latin Mass. The primary compositional feature of the Kyrie is found in the piano part, where rising parallel seventh chords move in steady quarter notes below lyr-ic vocal lines. The Benedictus begins with a solo voice singing a short incipit, senza misura. A chant-like pedal tone is sung throughout this movement below a simple homophonic, diatonic harmonization of the melody.
identical in each except for slight re-voicing of some chords. The text is by Sara Teasdale. Each strophe of the composition begins at a point of unison before expanding into homophony.
I am not Yours was also commissioned by Canta-bile Men’s Chorus of Kingston, Ontario. It was writ-ten and published in 2010. Originally written for a cappella TTBB voices, it was later adapted for SATB or SSAA voices. The poetry is by Sara Teasdale. The ambiguous nature of the text—perhaps reflective of Teasdale’s own struggles with unrequited love—is portrayed musically by Chatman’s use of senza misura and subtle harmonic shifts.
Sacred Compositions
Gloria, for SATB/SATB double chorus, was commis-sioned by the Jubilate Chamber Choir from Vancouver. It was written in 1997 and published in 1999. The dou-ble choir is used in three ways: antiphonally, as a single, predominantly polyphonic SSAATTBB chorus and as a unified, predominantly homophonic SATB chorus. The A section opens with the two choirs singing antiphonal-ly and quickly develops to eight-part polyphony based on short melodic motives presented in canon. To close the opening section, the eight-part polyphony becomes four parts then moves to unison. The B section is slower and antiphonal, after which the A section returns with a recap of the opening musical statement.
Lullay my Liking was commissioned by Brigid Coult for the Richmond Chorus of Richmond, British Colum-bia in 2008. It was published in 2011. It is for SATB chorus and 3 solo voices, with piano or harp. The form is strophic with a simple refrain.
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Bitter for Sweet (2006) 2’SSA or SATB, piano
Text: Christina Rossetti
Commissioned by the Mississauga Children’s Choir
Premiere: March 24, 2007, Mississauga Children’s Choir, MTNA Conference, Toronto
If thou wilt, remember (2012)SATB, clarinet, piano
Text: Christina Rossetti
Commissioned by the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir, Yuri Klaz, director
Available from composer
Five British Columbia Folk Songs (1983) 10’The Potlatch Fair (SATB or TTBB) Mary, Come Home (SATB or SSA) TheGrandHotel(SATB or TTBB) Skidegate Love Song (SAB) JohnKanaka(SATB)
SATB, SAB, SSA, or TTBB chorus
Commissioned by CBC Radio for the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Jon Washburn, director
Premiere: February, 1984, Ryerson United Church, Vancouver, Vancouver Chamber Choir
Published (each separately): #1,3 Oxford University Press, 2008
Published (each separately): #2,4,5: Alfred Publishing
Five Canadian Folk Songs (1995) 11’ Alavolette O Prairie Land AnOldManHeCourtedMe She’s Like the Swallow (SATB and SA) Lukey’s Boat
SATB
Commissioned by the Vancouver Chamber Choir
Premiere: Vancouver, 1995, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Jon Washburn, director
Published (each separately): First published, London, Ontario: Jaymar, 1996; copyright transferred to Boston: Highgate Press, ECS publishing, reissued 2004
Gloria (1997) 3’SATB/SATB double choir
Text: Mass
Commissioned by the Jubilate Chamber Choir, Jocelyn Pritchard, director
Premiere: March 1980, Vancouver, UBC Singers, James Schell, director (Stephen Chatman conducted the premiere)
Rental: Bryn Mawr, Pa.: T. Presser (E.B. Marks), 1980
In Flanders Fields (1998) 2’SATB or TTBB (alternate version for SATB, orchestra)
Text: John McCrae
Commissioned by the B.C. Arts Council for Chor Leoni Men’s Choir
Premiere: November 11, 1998, Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, Chor Leoni, Diane Loomer, director
Published (each separately): First published London, Ontario: Jaymar, 1998, copyright transferred to Corvallis, Oregon, earthsongs, TTBB version reissued 2004
In the Glow of the Moon (1992) 4’SSA, piano
Text: Tara Wohlberg
Commissioned by the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus, John Tuttle, director
Published: New York: Oxford University Press, 2008
…into a mist with bells (2000) 3’SAB or SSA
Text: Stephen Chatman
Commissioned by the Canadian Music Centre for the Vancouver Bach Youth Choir, Bruce Pullan, director
Published: New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 2001
I will lift up mine eyes (2005) 4’SSATB, organ, optional trumpet, and optional congregation
Commissioned by Central Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, Paul Grimwood, director
There is Sweet Music Here (1984) 10’There is Sweet Music Here (alternate version for TTBB, clarinet)SongoftheLaughingGreenWoodsMusic When Soft Voices DiePiping Down the Valleys Wild (alternate version for TTBB, clarinet)
SATB, oboe
Texts: Alfred Tennyson, William Blake, and P.B. Shelley
Commissioned by the Canada Council for Vancouver Cantata Singers
Premiere: November 23 and 24, 1984, Vancouver, Cantata Singers, James Fankhauser, director, Tony Nichols, oboe
Published (each separately): First published, London, Ontario: Jaymar, 1993; copyright transferred to Boston: Highgate Press, ECS Publishing, reissued 2004
The Star-Song (2005) 3’SATB, tenor drum
Commissioned by Vancouver Bach Choir for its 75th Anniversary
Premiere: December 11, 2005, Orpheum, Vancouver Bach Choir, Bruce Pullan, conductor
Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind (1992) 5’ (listed also under Concert Works)
SATB, piano
(Text: William Shakespeare)
Commissioned by the Choral Music Association of Calgary
Premiere: 1992, Calgary Mount Royal Youth Choir, David Ferguson, director
Published: first published, London, Ont.: Jaymar, 1995; copyright transferred to Boston: Highgate Press, ECS Publishing, reissued 2004
Carols of the Nativity (2002) 20’AsILayUponaNight Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella The Huron Carol AChristmasLullaby (also SSA version) The First Nowell Wassail AngelsWeHaveHeardOnHigh
SATB, optional piano or organ (alternate versions with brass quintet or orchestra accompaniment)
Text: Traditional and original carols
Commissioned by the Canada Council and the B.C. Arts Council for Phoenix Chamber Choir, Ramona Luengen, director
Premiere: December 21, 2002, Vancouver, Phoenix Chamber Choir
Make a Wish for Me on Christmas (2000) 3’SATB, SAB, SA, or TTBB, piano (also arranged for choir and orchestra)
Text: Stephen Chatman and Tara Wohlberg
Premiere: December, 2000, Barnt Green, West Midlands, England, Barnt Green Choral Society (originally entitled Good-byeOldTimer, commissioned by “Timbre,” Port Alberni, B.C.)
Published (each separately): Boston: Highgate Press, ECS Publishing, 2001
Shepherds, Rejoice! (2006) 3’SSATB, optional drum, optional organ
Text: Isaac Watts
Commissioned by the Acadia Choral Society
Premiere: December 2, 2006, Acadia Choral Society, Bar Harbor, Maine
The Greatest of These Is Love (1990) 10’TTBB, orchestra (2222/4221, timpani, percussion, strings)
Commissioned by the Canada Council for the Pacific International Festival of Male Choirs and the CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra, John Nelson, guest conductor
_______ “Proud Music of the Storm.” Centrediscs CMC 10304 (CD) 2004.
Agape Music www.hopepublishing.com
Alfred Publishing www.alfred.com
Berandol Music, Ltd. berandolmusic.com
Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. www.boosey.com
Canadian Music Center www.musiccentre.ca
earthsongs www.earthsongschoralmusic.com
ECS Publishing www.ecspublishing.com
Edward B. marks Music Co. www.ebmarks.com
Hal Leonard Publishing Co. www.halleonard.com
Mayfair Music Publications Inc. (Waterloo Music www.mayfairmusic.com
Oxford University Press www.oup.com
Theodore Presser Co. www.presser.com
List of Publishers
Chatman, Stephen and Tara Wohlberg. www.drstephenchatman.com
Meckna, Michael. 2001. “Chapman, Stephen.” TheNewGroveDictionaryofMusicandMusicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
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