0E3BD812-C33D-4369-9741-9AFAC69C4FCD

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ID0E3BD812-C33D-4369-9741-9AFAC69C4FCD
TitlecodeR00997
Title NameSleepers Awake
Marketing CopySetting of Patchem's "Rest, Heart of the Tired World," commissioned by the Center for the Humanities, University of Missouri, St. Louis.
InstrumentationMezzo-Soprano Solo:Timp.Perc(2): Str (4.4.4.4.0)
CommissionCommissioned by the Center for the Humanities, University of Missouri, St. Louis
Dedication(not set)
Program NotesPerhaps the first thing one should know about Claud Baker's Sleepers Awake is that it has absolutely no connection with the famous Bach cantata "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme," BWV 140 which is known in English by the same title. Rather, Mr. Baker's work is a setting for solo voice, percussion and strings of a poem by Kenneth Patchem. That poem, "Rest, Heart of the Tired World," appears in a collection of Patchen's verses called "Sleepers Awake," and Mr. Baker chose this title for the present composition, thereby amplifying the text of the poem.

The piece was commissioned by the Center for the Humanities at the University of Missouri, Saint Louis (UMSL) and was premiered during the Center's 1998 "What Is a City?" Conference. In writing this work, Claude Baker sought to spotlight the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's educational outreach activities. During his eight-year tenure as the Orchestra's Composer-in-Residence, he helped develop the partnership between the Symphony and UMSL. He thus conceived Sleepers Awake for an ensemble drawn in equal measure from the ranks of the Saint Louis Symphony, on one hand, and from the Saint Louis Youth Orchestra and UMSL students on the other. Kenneth Patchen's poem considers the darker aspects of urban life ("cities keep their cold terrible watches"), but envisions the possibility of redemption ("redress form the crimes/Of [this] most brutal habitation..."). --Paul Schiavo
Title Brand2
Year Composed1998
Copyright Number(not set)
Copyright Year(not set)
Duration7
Ensemble Size13
Date Created2008-10-31 20:31:40.000000
Date Updated2025-09-30 20:31:40
Inhouse Note(not set)
Bsc Code(not set)
Text AuthorPoem by Kenneth Patchem
Premier Performance Memo-Brevard Music Center/Tom Joiner. 28 Jul 2000.
-World Premiere. Katharine Lawton Brown, mezzo. Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/James Richards. 11 Nov 98.
Recording Credits(not set)
Review(not set)
Awards(not set)
Title Category12
Title Movements(not set)
Title Grade(not set)
Set Series ID(not set)
Title Instrument Category TextMedium Voice
Title Sub Category Text(not set)
Title Sub Category55
Title Instrument Header73
Title Grade Text(not set)
Clean Urlsleepers-awake-r00997