Bell Carol Fantasy

Janáčkova Filharmonie Ostrava | Stanislav Vavřínek, conductor

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When an orchestra player expressed interest in playing Carol of the Bells as part of a fun December rehearsal, I checked out what arrangements already existed. To me, they all seemed too simple and repetitive, so I set about writing my own. I discovered that the familiar carol has its roots in a traditional folk chant about a swallow bringing a New Year’s message of a plentiful new year, and the title comes from the Ukrainian word for “bountiful.”


I decided to emphasize the sense of bountifulness and I open this arrangement with the familiar bell tune now played slowly and elongated by the low, autumnal clarinets. I let this new “theme of abundance” build and fill out colorfully among the whole orchestra before fading away. The flutes offer a suggestion of birds passing in gentle flight. This theme soon becomes recognizable as the well-known bell motif as the piece launches into the familiar carol tune. To close out the work I bring out the dance energy of the cross rhythms and counter melodies.

"Kim Diehnelt’s “Bell Carol Fantasy” recruits the Janáčkova Filharmonie Ostrava for a particularly moving and pensive delivery of rich strings." -- TAKE EFFECT August 2024

 

Choral Music Recordings

 

 

Many of my choral works have been recorded by the "First Readings" ensemble in Minnesota.
Please enjoy listening to their superb singing. 

 

I Had No Time   

A 6-part a cappella setting of the poem "I Had No Time To Hate" by Emily Dickinson (1830 -1886)

 

The Blue Bird 

 (L’Oiseau Bleu) for SATTBB Choir   Text by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861 - 1907)

 

Si Vis Amari Ama 

 Si vis amari ama for SATB choir a cappella (If you would be loved, love.) Text by Seneca. 

Devouring Time 

Sonnet 19: Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws - for SATB choir. In a contemporary setting of Shakespeare’s sonnet infused with early music traditions of polyphony, modal tendencies, and tone-painting, the ageless poet celebrates the artist’s triumph over time.  2015

 

 

"You are Flowers" for Oboe and Cello

 Deb Stevenson, Oboe. Matt Agnew, Cello.

 

 "You are Flowers" for Oboe and Cello. 2021

 

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"Milvanne" for Oboe, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello

 

Performed by Rendezvous Arts, 2021

 

"Milvanne"  for Oboe, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello.

 “Across a flowing expanse, Milvanne soars with powerful grace, elated spirit, and buoyant playfulness. A kite unbound. Majestic. Lyrical.” 

 

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Yarmouth Time - For Violin And Cello

In the Spring of 2018, I spent three months on Cousins Island off the coast of Yarmouth ME as the KISMET Foundation Artist-in-Residence. Yarmouth Time reflects my impressions during this period of being surrounded by intense weather, nature, and beauty.

After an introductory “sunrise,” I capture my experience of two nor’easters with stormy gusts of wind and snow, leaping waves, swaying trees, and shifting gales. As the winds swirl away into calmness, a song arises as a nod to the warm hearts of the people of Yarmouth, echoing their welcoming town motto “Our Latchstring Always Out.” Seabirds, gulls, and ospreys add their own commentary.

Then, I tapped into the feel and enjoyment of walking the local trails, moving through nature, and taking in the scenery, bird calls, fresh air, and vibrant colors. Just before setting off on this walkabout, however, I inserted a sound from the Casco Bay seascape which was new to me — a lobster boat motor.

The work concludes with a sound-portrait of the frequently seen yet ever awe-inspiring pinkhued sunset over the eastern coastline.

"Yarmouth Time" 

Ensemble: Trio Casals

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Album Notes

Navona Records

Striadica: A Symphonic Passage

 

“The every-day, reshaped by contingencies. The time-bound path twists through certainty, bewilderment, and fragile reconstruction. Upon release, recognition arrives.”

 

 

Striadica: A Symphonic Passage

Legends & Light, Vol. 2: New Works for Orchestra

Filharmonie Brno, Pavel Šnajdr 

 

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Album Notes

Navona records