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Hear samples and full recordings from IOCSF concerts, albums, and events.
New live album: “Messiahs: False and True”
IOCSF is excited to announce the release of its third live album, Rex Isenberg’s “Messiahs: False and True.” Written for choir, organ, bass drum, and narrator, IOCSF performed the West Coast premiere of this brilliant exploration of messianic figures — heroic and horrific — and society’s common response to them, in spring 2022.
Released on September 7, 2023, the album is now available through Apple Music as well as on the iTunes Store and streamed on Spotify.
RECORDING DETAILS
Recorded at St Luke’s Episcopal Church, May 21, 2022, San Francisco, CA
Recording and Mastering by Zach Miley Productions
Our latest live concert, Best of the Zest! A Concert of Audience Favorites
“Hope in Times of Disquiet”
In trying times, hope is not only important, it is necessary. We feel that music is something that can bring hope to everyone. All of the tracks on our second live album, “Hope in Times of Disquiet,” were recorded live in concert between 2016–2019, so in our digital booklet we have included the original program notes that were featured at the time of each piece’s performance. The heart image on the album cover is a painting by Cameron Wee, created while she was a 4th grader at Chinese American International School. Her painting perfectly embodies the spirit of this album and IOC’s mission to share love and joy — and hope — through our music. Enjoy!
This album is available through Apple Music and can also be purchased on the iTunes Store and streamed on Spotify.
RECORDING SAMPLE DETAILS
Live recordings from 2016–2019 concerts
St Mark's Lutheran Church, San Francisco, CA
St Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland, CA
All Souls Episcopal Church, Berkeley, CA
“Everything Old is New Again”
On our first live recording, “Everything Old is New Again,” we emphasized ways style and technique have evolved over time while still maintaining the unique and prized aspect of choral music — the ability to convey meaning and gravity. Choral singers have the opportunity to express language musically; choral composers therefore have the responsibility to set the words they select in beautiful ways that are also meaningful. IOCSF presented parallel settings of sacred texts from composers both new and long departed.
Listen on SoundCloud
Milton Babbitt's Music for the Mass
Originally composed in 1941, Milton Babbitt's Music for the Mass was recently published by Harold Rosenbaum at G. Schirmer, Inc. The mass was written in response to the Roth Quartet's inability to play Babbitt's string trio for a concert of faculty compositions at Princeton, where Babbitt was on the faculty in the newly-formed music "section." Although Babbitt is most famous for his work in serial organization and musical electronics, his early Music for the Mass composition showcases his mastery of compositional techniques, such as extreme chromaticism (perhaps foreshadowing his expansion of Schoenberg's twelve-tone system), rigorous counterpoint, and the emergence of beautiful melodies from within the chromatic and contrapuntal structure. It is notable that the traditional Credo is absent from the mass. When asked about this by Harold Rosenbaum, Babbitt responded, "My boy, I don't believe in Credos." The work was premiered in Princeton with string accompaniment to assist the chorus in the more difficult movements. IOCSF was thrilled to present the first performance of Babbitt's masterpiece as he originally intended, seventy years after its composition.
Available on Apple Music