Shadowcatcher (opus 52 nr 2)

Programme notes

Shadowcatcher opus 52 No. 2 for double chorus a cappella and rapper is based on a text by Singaporean playwright Elangovan after the following sufi saying by Haidar Ansari: a voice told me last night: there is no such thing as a voice whispering in the night. Casteels wanted to challenge the undeserved image of choir being conservative by superimposing a rapper voice on an a cappella choir. The piece was commissioned and premiered by the SYC Ensemble Singers conducted by Jennifer Tham in 2015 during a Singapore Choral Festival Celebration concert entitled 50 Songs for Singapore in celebration of Singapore's Golden Jubilee. The first iteration of the work, opus 52 no. 1, was commissioned by the Anglo-Chinese Junior College Alumni Choir in 2003. The structure consists in: rap 1, chorus A, rap 2, chorus B, rap 3, chorus 3 and coda. Choruses A, B and C are built on the same structure albeit in stretto. In opus 42 no. 1 the musical texture was divided into 38 vocal parts whereas in opus 52 no. 2 the division is reduced to a more practical SSAATTBB setting. The body percussion is enlarged to consist of tongue clicking, finger clicking, thigh patting and foot stomping. Foot stampings and thigh slaps are colotomic. The limits of perception and cognition are offered up as a kind of emancipation. The shape-shifting whole tome scales, body percussion and the incorporation of sign language attempt to reconfigure the image of choral music as one attempts to engage with the fractured experiences that constitute modern life.

Disambiguation

shadow catcher is refers to opus 52 nr 1

Shadowcatcher is refers to opus 52 nr 2

Completion of the composition 

21-III-2015

Full score contains

opus 52 nr 1 (page 1), opus 52 nr 2 (page 37), the sign language for opus 52 nr 2 (page 100), the harmonic and melodic structure (page 101)