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Timo Andres' "Word of Mouth" at Carnegie Hall

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, one of America's finest chamber ensembles, is no stranger to new music. In fact, through long-term, innovative commissioning programs, Orpheus has comissioned and premiered dozens of new works by living composers—often explicitly linked to their lush performances of canonical European masterworks. 

Timo Andres has worked with Orpheus in the past, being chosen for their Project 440 commissioning project in 2010, and seeing his Thrive on Routine performed by Orpheus at Galapagos Art Space in 2012. For Andres' new commission, the composer meditates on American identity and the tradition of Sacred Harp singing, resulting in his new composition, Word of Mouth.

Named for the Word of Mouth Chorus, a widely-recorded Sacred Harp singing group from the 1970s, Andres' new piece premiered on February 7, 2015, in a program alongside works by Schubert and Mendelssohn, whose own Songs Without Words echoes Andres' exploration of the relationship between instrumental music and the human voice.   

The New York Times called Word of Mouth an "exhilirating chamber symphony suffused with optimism."

Check out the video below for more information. 

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