Manifesto, the Signum Classics full-length album debut from the vocal chamber ensemble Cantus will be released digitally on June 25 and on CD exclusively to Cantus audiences in advance of the August 6 worldwide release. In keeping with Cantus' commitment to the creation of new music for tenors, baritones and basses, the preponderance of the works on Manifesto were written specifically for Cantus, and all are world premiere recordings.
In Manifesto, Cantus takes a nuanced look at identity and relationships - with friends, lovers, family and the divine. The album takes its name from "Manifesto", a minimalistic piece from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
David Lang set to text from Google's auto-complete list of the query "I want to be with someone who..." The text aims to paint an honest portrait of society's shared-yet-secret longings in this age of technology.
Originally commissioned by Cantus for the ensemble's program entitled The Four Loves - which explored the four Greek ideals of love - Lang's "Manifesto" represented romantic love. Also commissioned for the program and recorded on the album are
Roger Treece's "Philia" (friendly love),
Ysaÿe M. Barnwell's "Tango with God" (divine love), and
Joseph Gregorio's "To My Brother" (familial love).
Composer and Cantus alumnus
Timothy C. Takach exemplifies that friendly love with "Luceat Eis." Written for the commemoration of service members who died during the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the piece embraces the sentiment, "No man hath greater love than this, than to lay down his life for his friends."
Sydney Guillaume's "Gagòt" is a Haitian Creole song about finding peace within life's messes, and
Sarah Kirkland Snider's "Psalm of the Soil" - also commissioned by Cantus - is about the ongoing inward journey of self-discovery. GRAMMY® award-winning composer
Libby Larsen's "If I profane with my unworthiest hand..." is a take on the famous "love sonnet" from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
The album is anchored by song cycles: Song of Sky and Sea by
Paul John Rudoi set to ecstatic poetry from ancient mystic poets Hafiz, Rumi and Kabir; and Evening Stars, a trilogy by
Dale Warland with poetry of Sara Teasdale that traces the arc of recovery after loss.
Manifesto follows Cantus'
COVID-19 Sessions. Recorded in March of 2020, these 19 tracks were recorded as society began to shut down at the start of the pandemic and were released as singles throughout the fall of 2020 on Signum.
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