A Conversation with Composer Dan Forrest,
This Sunday
The composer Dan Forrest is likely best known for major choral works such as “Requiem for the Living” and “Jubilate Deo,” pieces that have earned praise from audiences and critics alike.
But Forrest also creates new arrangements of beloved Christmas carols, and that makes him an ideal guest for the December edition of Maestro Moments, the free online series of musical conversations sponsored by the Corvallis Repertory Singers.
In fact, Forrest has just released “A Dan Forrest Christmas,” a new album of his arrangements that includes takes on familiar carols such as “O Come, All Ye Faithful” along with lesser-known songs such as “See Amid the Winter’s Snow.” (You can listen to the album on Spotify by clicking this link: https://spoti.fi/2W2ul4g)
Steven Zielke, the artistic director of the Repertory Singers and the director of choral studies at Oregon State University, will talk with Forrest during the Maestro Moments session, set for 3 p.m. Sunday, December 13. The Zoom session is free, but registration is required. Click on this link to register: https://bit.ly/2L5O5Sr
To help warm up for the Maestro Moments session, we asked Forrest a handful of emailed questions; here are some of his responses.
Question: When you approach one of these beloved carols, how do you strike the balance between respecting the original and bringing something new to it?
Dan Forrest: Someone (I’m not sure who) once observed that every generation needs its own setting of great folk songs. In the way that carols have become a “folk tradition” of their own, I like the thought of trying to write carol settings for my generation. So I look for ways I can honor these great tunes and texts, while “dressing them” in 21st century garb.
Another analogy might be providing a ring setting for a diamond – the diamond’s brilliance and value is intrinsic and can shine in a great variety of uses – but I’m looking for a way to hold up that diamond in a way that glitters in 21st century light and connects with ears of people right here, right now.
So my mindset is really one of honoring these tunes and texts, and “framing” them (there’s another analogy) rather than merely “using” them, or, worse, “ab-using” them.
I do tend to write a lot of original material in my “arrangements” — they really are more like chorale preludes, in a sense, where Bach added entire worlds of his own material to support and “frame” existing Lutheran chorales. I like that model. So I’m definitely bringing a lot to the table, but my hope, and intent, is to honor these priceless carols with settings that merely cast them in a new light but still let them shine out their timeless worth.
Question: What are the Dan Forrest holiday music essentials — in other words, what are the five or so pieces that you want to be sure you listen to at least once every holiday season?
Forrest: Well, I (and the Beckenhorst Singers) just released an album of my own Christmas carol settings, “A Dan Forrest Christmas” – it’s on Spotify, Apple Music, and all the other usual places. So maybe I can just point to that? It hit No. 3 on the iTunes classical charts, last week!
I also have the recording of my piano solo carol settings coming out any day now, called “Christmas Illuminations.” It’ll be in all those places as well.
(To see more of Forrest’s answers, go to the Repertory Singers’ website at https://repsing.org)
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