Composer: Daron Aric Hagen
Performer: Gabrielle Barkidjija, Bryan Murray, Every Voice Generations Choir, Cecilia Chorus of New York, Shavon Lloyd, Amir Farid
Orchestra: Cecilia Orchestra of New York
Conductor: Mark Shapiro
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8579180
Release: 2025
Size: 1.02 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Everyone, Everywhere
01. I. Rude Awakening
02. II. Everyone
03. III. Everyone, Everywhere
04. IV. I am a Person
05. V. Everywhere
06. An Irish Airman Foresees his Death
07. The Bixby Letter
Composer Daron Hagen has been finding growing audiences for tonal vocal works that use a wide variety of techniques, from serialism to popular music, in expressing ideas and characters. Everyone, Everywhere, commissioned by the Cecilia Chorus of New York and recorded here in its 2023 live world premiere performances, showcases his public-facing style in an ideal way. Its texts are drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the work marks the 75th anniversary of that statement, which, to say the least, may have found new relevance. Hagen, however, weaves in sections from other writings and speeches, ranging from those of Aristotle to U.S. Representative John Lewis. The music is likewise elegantly woven, with the work of two separate choruses (the Every Voice Generations Choir also appears), orchestra, and a pair of soloists all deployed logically in connection with the words. The youthful, idealistic soloists, mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Barkidjija and baritone Bryan Murray, have just the right sound, and a different baritone, Shavon Lloyd, is also effective in the briefer finale. These are appealing works that bring some technical challenges, but they could be programmed with impact by any university choir, and one might do oneself a favor by hearing them now, on the ground floor.
Daron Hagen is a multi-award-winning composer with a lifelong commitment to emotionally accessible and heartfelt music-making. Everyone, Everywhere is a sweeping cantata composed to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Taking a variety of texts, it charts the articles of the Declaration, opening in fanfare optimism and ending in tenderness, to form a passionate cry for justice and peace. The other settings, utilising texts by W.B. Yeats and President Abraham Lincoln, are both ardent and intimate.
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