The Blue Hour

Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider with A Far Cry

New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records release The Blue Hour, a song cycle written collaboratively by the female composers Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider; this unique joint vision among a female collective is available October 14, 2022. The cycle was commissioned by, and is performed with, the Boston–based chamber orchestra A Far Cry. (Nova also is featured as vocal soloist.) Set to excerpts from Carolyn Forché’s epic poem On Earth, the music follows one woman’s journey through the space between life and death via thousands of hallucinatory and non-linear images. Exploring memories of childhood, of war, of love, and of loss, The Blue Hour amplifies the beauty, pain, and fragility of human life from a collective female perspective.

Snider says, “As composers, the five of us share an interest in storytelling, communication, mood, and atmosphere. A Far Cry had matchmade us for these reasons, but even they didn’t know the degree to which the five of us had inspired each other over the years. For example, Rachel Grimes was a lodestar for me—I had transcribed some of the music from her band Rachel’s twenty years ago just so I could play through it at the piano —and this music had a profound influence on my first song cycle, which I’d written for Shara Nova, who had also long been a muse for me. I had similarly revelatory experiences encountering the music of Caroline and Angélica; I was deeply inspired by them both.”
She continues, “When we first gathered to talk about this project, it was a circle of stories just like this, a sharing of deep gratitude for what we had meant to each other on our respective musical journeys. The process of creating the song cycle together reflected this. One of us would share an idea on Dropbox, and the next composer would find a kernel of inspiration within it for another piece, and so on. What I love about this song cycle is that you can hear, musically, what we have meant to each other over the years. It is an embodiment and celebration of a kind of musical sisterhood.”
A Far Cry violinist Alex Fortes adds, “Forché’s poem catalogs the scattered thoughts, visions, and imagery of a life passing ever closer to death, organized through the objective but arbitrary tool of alphabetization. The music similarly draws from an eclectic set of influences, at times setting the text quite literally ... and at times using extended string techniques to create kaleidoscopic sound-paintings of Forché’s moments of fantastical, jarring imagery. The various movements, each entirely written by one of the composers, accesses the personal vernaculars and interests of each composer.”

Credits:
The Blue Hour by Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider.
Text excerpted from the poem “On Earth” from the book Blue Hour by Carolyn Forché.
Copyright © 2003 by Carolyn Forché. Text adaptation created for this musical work by the composers in consultation with Joseph Cermatori. Rights Administered by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP), and Associated Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI), New York, NY.
Vocals: Shara Nova
Additional vocals: members of A Far Cry, Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Sarah Kirkland Snider
A Far Cry:
Violins: Alex Fortes, Annie Rabbat, Clara Kim, Jae Cosmos Lee, Jesse Irons, Katherine Winterstein, Megumi Stohs Lewis, Omar Chen Guey, Zenas Hsu,
Violas: Caitlin Lynch, Celia Hatton, Jason Fisher, Sarah Darling
Cellos: Alan Richardson, Kee Kim, Michael Unterman
Basses: Karl Doty, Randy Zigler
Sound design: Michael Hammond, with Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider
Produced by Rachel Grimes and Shara Nova
Artistic Production team: Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Andrew Scheps, Alex Fortes, and Jesse Lewis
Mixed by Andrew Scheps, Tonequake
Mastering by Helge Sten, Sten Audio Virus Lab
Strings recorded at Futura Productions, Roslindale, MA
Chief Recording Engineer and String Producer for A Far Cry: Jesse Lewis, Immersive Music Project
Recording and editing engineer: Kyle Pyke
Additional string editing: Shauna Barravecchio, Christopher Moretti, Karl Doty
Chief Recording Engineer for Futura: John Weston
Assistant Engineers for Futura: Travis Karpak, Jacob Steingart
Lead Vocal Engineer: Patrick Dillett at Reservoir Studios, New York City
Assistant Engineer: James Yost
Second Engineer: Peter Jensen
Additional vocal engineering: Shara Nova at Blue Sword Studios, Detroit
Lead vocal editor: Casey Foubert
Vocal pre-production mixing: Mitchell Graham
Project management: Rachel Grimes, with Carissa Stolting
Fundraising & Fiscal Sponsorship: Celine Thackston, Unmanageable Arts www.unmgmt.org
A Far Cry administrative staff:
Grace Kennerly, Executive Director
Tim Mauthe, Operations Manager
Alison Fessler, Marketing and Development Manager
Album Photography: Anja Schutz
Photograph Assistant: Jamie T. Berger
Makeup: Alayna Rakes
Hair: Alayna Rakes
Hair color by Mallory Blough at Bianchi Salon, Royal Oak, MI
Additional photo editing: David Dutton, DM Smith
Photographer for Rachel Grimes: Jessie Kriech-Higdon
Photographer for Caroline Shaw: Tyler Bertram
Album design & layout: DM Stith
The creation of this recording was made possible with generous support from the Lannan Foundation, with additional support from: the Steven Mackey and Sarah Kirkland Snider family, Alec Johnson and Rachel Grimes, Caroline Shaw, Vernon Fawlkes, and Barbara Troolin
Gracious thanks to: Carolyn Forché, David Fetherolf, Emily Cadman, Judd Greenstein, Carissa Stolting, Andrea Troolin, Grace Kennerly, Zoë Knight, Peggy Monastra, Luciana Souza, David Middleton, Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra. Shara would like her teachers Josephine Mongiardo and Michelle Obrecht, Alyson Miller at Soundaccountants, Nate Thatcher, and to additionally thank Civitella Ranieri artist residency for providing the support and inspiration necessary for her to compose her songs.
Shara Nova Artist Management: Andrea Troolin at Ekonomisk Management
Booking: Todd Walker at Outer/Most Agency
Published by BLUE SWORD PUBLISHING
Administered by Domino Publishing Co. (ASCAP)
Rachel Grimes published by Mossgrove Music (BMI)
Rachel Grimes administered by Rough Trade Publishing
Angélica Negrón published by El Gran Caleidoscopio (ASCAP)
Management: St. Rose
Sarah Kirkland Snider published by G. Schirmer Inc. (ASCAP)
Management: Andrew Stein-Zeller
Caroline Shaw publishing: Caroline Shaw Editions (ASCAP)
Management: James Egelhofer
1. Prologue
2. Opening
3. A black map
4. A memory
5. A syllable
6. Angelica-balefire
7. Canticle
8. Dark
9. Early summer’s green plums
10. Even if by forgetting
11. Firmament
12. 1st Refrain
13. Ghost swift
14. He told her how
15. Her hair
16. I am alone
17. In the toy store
18. It appears to be an elegy
19. J’ai rêvé
20. Keeping a record
21. Library lilac
22. My dear
23. Nevertheless
24. Oil soap
25. Older than clocks
26. Poppy seed
27. 2nd Refrain
28. She heard no one’s footsteps
29. Tendril
30. The ganglia
31. The hole
32. The name
33. The silence
34. Twirling
35. Vesture
36. We are as paper
37. Yet the women
38. You are the ghost
39. Zero
40. 3rd Refrain