Maker of Our Being: Choral Works (inc. Oratorios)

Bassett's choral writing respects the voice while demanding genuine musicianship from singers. These works sit comfortably in the rehearsal room yet offer real compositional substance, giving your singers meaningful material that doesn't sacrifice accessibility for artistic integrity.

These works inhabit a thoughtful, introspective musical space. Bassett's harmonic language is modern yet lyrical, avoiding both extreme dissonance and conventionality, creating an emotional directness that speaks clearly to listeners while challenging singers' ears and musicianship.

This collection serves choirs with singers who can read contemporary notation and sustain musicianship through moderately complex harmonic writing. It works well for chamber choirs, college-level groups, and advanced high school choirs seeking substantive American choral repertoire.

• Establish the harmonic language early in rehearsals. Bassett's modern harmonic palette may feel unfamiliar at first, so spend time helping singers hear how chords function and resolve within his tonal language.
• Balance textural clarity with sustained singing. These pieces require singers to shape long lines while maintaining precise articulation and intonation within complex harmonic environments.
• Attend closely to dynamic markings and phrase shapes. Bassett scores with specificity; his use of dynamics often defines the emotional architecture of a phrase rather than simply adding color.

Program these pieces in a concert exploring American choral composition or in a program centered on contemporary sacred or secular texts. The collection's scope makes it suitable for featuring across a season or performing multiple works within a single concert to showcase Bassett's stylistic range.

• Reading and performing contemporary harmonic language
• Singing with accuracy in moderately complex textures
• Shaping sustained lyrical lines with precision
• Developing sensitivity to dynamic and textural nuance