The second Ode to Lotta song is “Rise Up, My Love,” which appears in the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible. As a youth in the 1920s, Lotta Hitschmanova was surrounded by love, and her new country of Czechoslovakia was thriving. Continue reading →

“Ode to Lotta: a Canadian Choral Cantata” opens with “As dawn breaks,” a choral arrangement of Erik Satie’s Sarabande No. 1 for piano, with lyrics that evoke Nature waking up on a summer morning.

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“Ode to Lotta: a Canadian Choral Cantata” – to be premiered by the Vancouver Chamber Choir on Nov 28  –  is by far the most challenging creative project I have taken on in my “late in life” choral composing career. Why have I done this?

Three basic reasons emerge:

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“Ode to Lotta: a Canadian Choral Cantata” is premiering in Vancouver on Nov 28. Over the next 5 weeks I will be posting about what led me to create the very first, large-scale choral work of my “late in life” composing career. Continue reading →

At a certain age, we risk forgetting our names, our occupations, and even our website URLs……and thus, visual aids can sometimes help us.  

Looking back at 2025, it was an emotional rollercoaster of a year:

• Great excitement in January as the second of my grandkids became a delightful addition to our family here in Toronto.
• February brought sorrow, when I learned that Maggie Dace Hollis my old Vancouver friend from the 70s had passed away in 2013. We had lost touch with each other and didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, but I felt so blessed when I discovered that Beverly Glenn-Copeland had recorded a song (La Vita) with Maggie in 2004, a true blessing to hear her beautiful voice once again, as we used to sing together back in the day.

• And March brought even greater sorrow when I learned of the passing of my Uncle Duncan (who was like a father to me). It happened just a couple of hours after we had had a long chat on the phone about his latest theoretical physics paper that he was working on. The completion of which is one of my most important and most meaningful activities for 2026.

• May brought the celebration of life for my Uncle Duncan, beautifully organized by cousins Madeleine and Keith, and filled with wonderful reminiscences of this remarkable man who touched so many people.
• Somehow, at the end of May I also managed to complete my 28th marathon at the Ottawa Race Weekend while also fundraising for OrKidstra. Sincere thanks to all my sponsors!

• And May also featured a wonderful trip down memory lane, thanks to my intrepid chauffeur Paul Dixon, who managed to get us from North Van to Pemberton to Lillooet and back in one day, with a thousand images still dancing in my head, including never before seen vistas of my beloved “Black Tusk,” oh yeah!

• The summer was uneventful, except for the fact that Toronto frequently had the worst air quality in the world, a sad reminder of the state of our planet these days.
• Late summer and fall featured some of the most creative artistic designs that I have ever seen before, on my body! 😊 If you want to know what it was, check out these two “magical” words: pityriasis rosea.
• Just as I was becoming “red spot free” I got the amazing news that Tom Morgan and his amazing Ars Nova Singers would be premiering my Mahler song arrangement and then singing it as part of a Voces8 concert in Denver! What an October experience that was, buckets of gratitude to Tom and his choir and Voces8.

• And since I had to skip my 5km event at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, I did a “make up” 5km in Denver, and was thus able to fundraise for Native Child and Family Services of Toronto. Again, thanks to all my sponsors!

• Then in November an even more unique experience in my life, as Kari Turunen and his Vancouver Chamber Choir performed 19 of my songs at a memorial concert for my Uncle Duncan, held in my Aunt Pat’s home church. A special moment for me, my family and friends, never to be forgotten.

• This was followed in December by some more unique musical moments.
• Margareta Raab and her amazing Young Cathedral Voices at the Uppsala Cathedral again took my Polish Xmas lullaby arrangement of “Lulajze Jezuniu” on tour: to Warsaw and Krakow in Poland and then back to Uppsala in Sweden.
• And then, Alvez Barkoskie IV and his wonderful choir at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Oklahoma City sang the North American premiere of my Brahms “Ave Maria” arrangement at one of their services.
• Musically, there have been so many blessings this year, and so much gratitude to everyone who directed or sang my choral creations.
• I still feel the heaviness and ongoing sadness at the loss of my Uncle, but I do feel blessed that he supported me so much in my “late in life” composing career, and got to witness so much of it.
• And I hope that he might have been smiling just a bit (up there in the aether) when he heard the final song performed at his memorial concert, which was dedicated to him, “Good King Wenceslas”.

My wish for everyone who reads this is Good Health for 2026!

Sincere thanks to Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir for this spectacular recording. For song description and sheet music, see below.

Description: As a lifelong fan of Gustav Mahler’s music, when I started my “late in life” choral composing project in my mid-60s, I knew that one day I would have to tackle one of Mahler’s songs.

And now, in my early 70s, I am excited to share my a cappella arrangement of one of Mahler’s most remarkable creations, “Ging heut’ morgen über’s Feld,” from his song cycle “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” (Songs of a Wayfarer), which later became the opening theme of Mahler’s 1st Symphony.

“Ging heut’ morgen über’s Feld” is dedicated to my friend Elizabeth Gluckstal.

And for any choirs that might prefer to sing a happy ending to this song, I have created an alternate arrangement that leaves out the not-so-happy coda of the original song:

Sheet music (SATB div.): available at https://musicspoke.com/downloads/ging-heut-morgen-uebers-feld/.

2022 was an eventful year for everyone, and for me personally, as I entered the 8th decade of my life and the 7th year of my crazy “late in life” choral composing project.

The covid pandemic still loomed large everywhere, and in particular for those in the world of choral music.

Matthew Larkin directing the Rideau Chorale in a December 3, 2022 concert in Ottawa.

Hesitant first steps towards in-person rehearsals and public concerts marked the first half of the year, which culminated in a massive outpouring of joyful, well-attended choir concerts in December, both here in Ottawa and throughout the choral world. And yet, the existential question of our age – to mask, or not to mask – could not be escaped, for both choirs and audiences.

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My newest song – William Blake’s “The Lamb” – is dedicated to my grandson Daniel, a wee lamb himself. It is a companion piece to my more intense choral creation, “The Tyger,” also based on a Blake poem. I invite you to have a listen and then continue reading below…

“The Lamb” appears in Blake’s poetry collection “Songs of Innocence” and there is indeed a child-like innocent quality to the poem, and also a spiritual questioning: “Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?”

Blake’s “The Tyger” appears in his collection “Songs of Experience” and explores the more terrifying energies that can be found in the natural, human and spiritual realms. It also asks a fundamental spiritual question, about good and evil: “Did He who made the Lamb make thee?”

A question for listeners. If the two songs were to be sung in sequence in a concert, which order works best for you:

1. to sing “The Lamb” first, and then build up to an intense, terrifying ending with “The Tyger”; or
2. to sing “The Tyger” first and end less intensely (and more optimistically) with “The Lamb?”

NB: to obtain sheet music for “The Lamb” (SATB div. or TTBB), visit: https://davidrainchoralcomposer.ca/songs/the-lamb-william-blake/

With thanks to my buddies in Quartetto al Volo for again rising to the occasion with this 4 part virtual choir recording.

Some random thoughts from a 70-something, “late in life” composer attending his first Podium, Canada’s national choral conference in Toronto:

• I was a true “sponge,” soaking it all in, heart and spirit open to learn from choirs, fellow composers, choral directors and music educators from all parts of Canada. And learn I did.
• After 2 years of the pandemic, the pent-up choral energy in the room was palpable. Canadian choral music is indeed alive and bursting out in song!
• And wow, I thought I had written some “not too bad” songs myself, but my mind exploded when I heard such a diverse mix of so many beautiful choral works by dozens of great Canadian composers over the course of 5 wonderful days, wow!
• Masks on, choirs still managed to break through that tough barrier and carry forward the aural beauty and intense emotions that only live choral singing can bring to audiences.
• And yet, one of the unforeseen byproducts of the pandemic is that so many choral lovers could attend this Podium virtually, from afar. And that made the conference even richer and more accessible to those without the means to easily travel.
• Podium 2022 was a logistical achievement of the highest order. Kudos to Choral Canada, Choirs Ontario, the Podium committee, the many dozens of presenters and panelists, and the Podium volunteers who were there to answer all our questions.
• Kudos to fellow composers Katerina Gimon, Marie-Claire Saindon, Tracy Wong, and Laura Hawley for organizing a special “Meet The Composer” booth for the more than 30 composers (like me) who benefited from this chance to interact directly with Podium participants!
• Amongst many highlights, Podium offered the chance to explore a subject that is close to my heart: how can people of different cultures find ways of overcoming their differences, to interact with mutual respect and understanding?
• On that note, I greatly appreciated the diverse 51-song Cameo Concert playlist that Podium assembled. I was honoured to have my Hymn to Biodiversity included (it was International Biodiversity Day on May 22!), but the song that really caught my spirit was Hussein Janmohamed’s “Eid Mubarak! Grateful Heart.” Worth listening to over and over again!
• Antonio Llaca from Carleton University gave us a fascinating exploration of the historical, cultural melting pot that makes up Cuban choral music. Music that has both European and African roots and which in turn has had a huge influence back in Europe, Africa and throughout the Americas.
• I was blessed to have attended the session on “Snewíyalh tl’a Staḵw (Teachings of the Water)”, a collaborative project with First Nations, led by Morna Edmundson, Jeanette Gallant, T Patrick Carrabre, and via video Rebecca Duncan. Be sure to mark June 9, 2022 (7pm PT) on your calendars, when Elektra Women’s Choir will premiere the 3 videos that capture this amazing 3 and a half year project on their Youtube channel. Not to be missed!
• Instead of Keynote speeches, Podium organized 3 “Critical Conversations,” where panels discussed themes such as expanding the choral canon, making diversity work within the choral world, and a particularly engaging and emotional session where we heard directly from indigenous voices on their experiences in Canada.
• What barriers or obstacles have existed within the choral world in Canada? How has race, religion, gender, orientation played a role? So much choral music is sung in acoustically magnificent churches and cathedrals. And yet, these physical religious structures may present an obstacle for indigenous performers and audiences, or those from other religious backgrounds. What can be done? Can these concert venues be made safe spaces for many who might be hesitant to attend? Or is there the need to expand choral concert venue possibilities? Could there be an opportunity here for reconciliation, through cross-cultural collaboration and partnerships? We need above all to listen to our indigenous colleagues, and others who have been marginalized, and allow their voices to help guide us on the way forward.
• Podium 2022 presented so many great concerts, but the one that stood out for me was “Captive,” put on by Winnipeg group Dead of Winter. Curated and narrated by Cree composer Andrew Balfour, this was the third in a series of Truth and Reconciliation concerts. The concert’s emotionally intense title piece drew inspiration from the life of Chief Poundmaker, who tragically died while incarcerated in Stony Mountain Prison. It was hard to walk away from this concert and not think of the many unresolved injustices that we settlers have inflicted on First Nations. I do hope this piece and this concert get many more performances across Canada, that might stir the hearts of many of us to seek our own pathways to reconciliation.

I hear that Podium 2024 will be held in Montreal. It will be interesting to see what lessons the choral world will have drawn from Podium 2022. Whether or not our choral landscape has grown more diverse and accessible to many more who may feel left out at the current juncture.

Thank you Podium 2022, merci beaucoup, meegwetch, ahsante sana!