There Will Come Soft Rains: Choral Music by Ēriks Ešenvalds

Featuring

Richard Nance
Ethan Wiederspan
Haley Kim
Jennifer Rhyne
Ally Atwood
Julie Landes

Morgan Myers
Rachel Bridges
Daniel Beal
Karl Eickhoff
Brent Johnson
Joshua Carlisle
Ethan Moon
Gillian Dockins
Zane Šmite
Austin Schend
Natalie Breshears
Dave Rowell
Jennifer Gorham
Luke Hartley
Blayne Fujita
Dalton Rouse
Manuel Tirado
Marissa Moultrie
Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West
Eriks Esenvalds

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Composer Biography

Ēriks Ešenvalds, the composer, studied at the Latvian Baptist Theological Seminary and the Latvian Academy of Music, and was a member of the State Choir Latvija.

Composition History

The piece "Northern Lights" was commissioned by the Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West and their conductor Richard Nance, who are the performers on this album.

Performer Biography

The Choir of the West, the premier choral ensemble at Pacific Lutheran University, has toured extensively in the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, Japan, and China since its founding in 1926.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Composer Ēriks Ešenvalds is drawn to the beauty and poignant simplicity of Sara Teasdale's poetry, having written at least 14 songs with her texts.

Composer Biography

While artist in residency at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, Ēriks Ešenvalds read about 150 books on the Northern Lights, including ship journals by explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Charles Francis Hall.

Compositional Technique

For his works "Northern Lights" and "Rivers of Light," Ēriks Ešenvalds drew inspiration from Arctic explorers' dramatic descriptions of the Aurora Borealis, rather than poetry.