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Chicagoan William Ferris died in 2000, after a productive life making superb music. He founded the William Ferris Chorale, one of the great mid-sized choruses (about 32 singers), and wrote Snowcarols, the founding piece here, in 1980. That year, the work was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music.

Ferris composed all of the Christmas music on the Snowcarols album, a project designed to craft holiday music that was substantial in length and content. He succeeded, and the William Ferris Chorale is magnificent in its delivery. Some of the music is presented a cappella; the rest enjoys organ accompaniment or the full support of the Composer Festival Orchestra.

The choral music is challenging, especially the Snowcarols series (tracks 10-14). The melodies are not familiar, although the religious themes certainly are, and the pieces tend to be moody, melancholy, and introspective. Even the cheery exuberance of Christmas Eve has a discordant edge. In other words, this choral work is remarkable in its own right, but does not offer the warm and friendly refrains that many holiday music lovers will want and expect.

The earlier pieces (tracks 1-9) are certainly more accessible. The melodies are still not recognizable; even so, the rich orchestral fluorishes and lush harmonies more readily convey the holiday sense of heart-gladdening joy and uplifting passion. The opening The Lord Said to Me delivers the dramatic word of God in impressive fashion, and the sweetly-delivered Gentle Mary has the men and women alternating verses, singing in unison as they tell Mary's story. The oboe gives a lengthy lead-in and plays a major role on O Mary of Graces; its melancholy voice is soulful and hypnotic.

Everything on Snowcarols is well-written and unique, but I tend to favor the portion that is not the album's namesake. Beautifully done, William Ferris--you must have been exceptionally proud of your talented William Ferris Chorale. Lovely!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2009)

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From the liner notes:

William Ferris Chorale
Composer Festival Orchestra
Paul French, conductor
Paul Nicholson, organ

A lifelong Chicagoan, William Ferris knew snowstorms too. In 1979, Ferris was chairman of the theory department at the American Conservatory of Music. the hundred-year-old Conservatory was then still quite strict about the number of class hours required of each student to receive credit for coursework. So braving the snow (the Chicago blizzard of 1979), the dedicated and tenacious Ferris made the long and slow trek to his studio in the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue. Of course, not one student showed up. So to pass the time, he began paging through an old hymnal. Coming upon Gustav Holst's setting of Christina Rossetti's "In the bleak midwinter," he decided to use his newly found "free time" productively by making his own setting of the text. And from this came the genesis of Snowcarols. The william Ferris Chorale traditionally began its subscription series with a Christmas concert. After the first few seasons, Ferris tired of programs filled with twenty or so short works, beautiful though they might be, and wanted to build his program around a more substantial central offering. Much of the music that appealed to him called for large orchestras and choruses, well beyond the ensemble's early budgets. So he decided to tailor-make cantatas for the Chorale to sing. Three major works for which I (John Vorrasi) had the privilege of providing texts were the result of this practical impulse:.... and Snowcarols (1979-1980).

From the Website:

Nominated for the 1980 Pulitzer Prize in Music, William Ferris's Snowcarols receives its world premiere recording. Performed by the William Ferris Chorale, directed by Paul French, Snowcarols is filled with memorable melodies and brilliant orchestrations. Also included are several shorter Christmas-themed works by the acclaimed choral director and composer. This unique program reveals the big-hearted spirit of a giant of American choral music.

Cedille Records is the label of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation -- a foundation dedicated to preserving Chicago's rich musical heritage by documenting the work of its finest musicians, ensembles, and composers.

William Ferris Chorale

Snowcarols

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Track List