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includes PDF liner notes
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Raven Chacon: Voiceless Mass
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
In partnership with Yucca Alta Records, New World is excited to offer "Voiceless Mass" in a special double LP format. Three playable sides presented in black vinyl with etched artwork by Raven Chacon (as pictured) on Side 4, making each copy a unique work of art.
Purchase includes unlimited streaming of Voiceless Mass, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Includes unlimited streaming of Raven Chacon: Voiceless Mass
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Listening is the foundation of Raven Chacon’s (b. 1977) wide-ranging artistic practice. “I am a listener,” he simply declares, but the attention he gives to sound is complex and vast, encompassing far more than what is immediately audible. From his earliest works, Chacon has been dedicated to amplifying the unheard, calling attention to what is absent or unknown. Although Chacon classifies the compositions on this recording as chamber music, all three of these works “zigzag” through his noise studies and sound installations by integrating electronic sounds, extended instrumental techniques, evocations of sociopolitical themes, and, in the case of Voiceless Mass, the condition of site-specificity.
Derived from the Navajo word for “song,” Biyán (2011) [flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and percussion] denotes Chacon’s reflection on the function of singing in Navajo ceremonies, where repetition can continue throughout the night. The work’s three movements, played without pause, are organized in a block structure of repeating patterns, allowing listeners time to dwell in the mesmerizing soundscape and focus on the constantly changing micro-acoustic details.
Owl Song (2021), for sinfonietta and voice, “is an acknowledgment of the nocturnal hunting bird, considered by some to have the ability of shapeshifting,” Chacon writes. “Owl Song asks its instrumentalists to cycle through a variety of timbres on their instruments, often with individual speeds to traverse the composition. They are sometimes guided by a voice, her distance unmeasurable from themselves, and must call out not to locate her position, but to see if she is still with them.”
Voiceless Mass (2021), for pipe organ and large ensemble, was commissioned by WI Conference of the United Church of Christ, Plymouth Church UCC, and Present Music, and composed specifically for the Nichols & Simpson organ at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The commission offered Chacon a valuable opportunity to address critical issues concerning the legacy of the Catholic Church and the atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples—particularly the residential schools, forced assimilation, and abuse of Indigenous youth—and Chacon was eager to evoke this history directly within the walls of the sanctified institution. “This work,” he writes, “considers the spaces in which we gather, the history of access of these spaces, and the land upon which these buildings sit.” Though the title refers to a “Mass,” the liturgical rite and choral genre common to many Christian denominations, there are no vocal parts and no audible singing. “In exploiting the architecture of the cathedral,” Chacon explains, “Voiceless Mass considers the futility of giving voice to the voiceless, when ceding space is never an option for those in power.”
credits
released April 18, 2025
Producer: Eric Segnitz
Engineered and mixed by Ric Probst, Remote Planet
Voiceless Mass was recorded November 21, 2023 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Milwaukee, WI
Owl Song was recorded November 20, 2023 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
Biyán was recorded October 16, 2024 at Tanner/Monagle Studios, Milwaukee, WI.
Digital mastering: Paul Zinman, SoundByte Productions Inc., NYC
Cover art: Raven Chacon and Mihio Manus
Design: Jim Fox
supported by 29 fans who also own “Raven Chacon: Voiceless Mass”
Even at 80 years old, Pharoah Sanders played his tenor sax with the conviction of a gospel preacher. Every second of this album is arrestingly beautiful. As far as I'm concerned, this is essential listening for anyone who considers themselves a fan of music. 3sidesinasquare
