Alvin Singleton – Sing to the Sun

Award-winning composer Alvin Singleton has written music for theatre, orchestra, solo instruments and a variety of chamber ensembles. A composer-in-residence with the Atlanta Symphony in the late 1980s and a student of renowned Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi, Singleton's works have been performed by the orchestras of Boston, Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit and many more. Sing to the Sun is a set of five chamber works ranging from solo flute to large ensemble with chorus. Singleton exhibits in the recording of these five works the patience, appreciation of quiet subtlety, and psychological control that make for fine chamber music. Traditionally, chamber music is players' music and in that, traditionally "serious" (as are all five of the present works). But Singleton fans also expect to be caught up in the Singleton wit on one level or another - be it some unusual title or a certain odd presentation of notes laid out, usually early, in the piece itself. Both average listeners and cognoscenti find themselves caught up in wondering "what's next?" With this composer the listener is given clues that he or she is invited to participate fully in the musical experience about to unfold, something thought anathema by many recent composers.