CHRISTOPHER TIN’S THE DROP THAT CONTAINED THE SEA
DEBUTS AT #1 ON THE BILLBOARD CLASSICAL TRADITIONAL CHARTS
NEW ALBUM FROM TWO-TIME GRAMMYTM AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER FEATURES
SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR, LE MYSTÈRE DES VOIX BULGARES,
ANONYMOUS 4, SCHOLA CANTORUM AND MORE
WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCE SOLD OUT CARNEGIE HALL ON APRIL 13, 2014,
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE JUNE 7 & 8 AT WILSHIRE UNITED MENTHODIST CHURCH
“That Drop that Contained the Sea is a powerfully dramatic work, well-conceived and skillfully realized…reflective of Mr. Tin’s deepening maturity as a composer.”
– New York Classical Review
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The second album from two-time GrammyTM Award-winning composer Christopher Tin, entitled The Drop that Contained the Sea, has entered the Billboard Classical Traditional Charts at #1 after its first week of release. The ten-part song-cycle explores the theme of water in its different forms, with vocal performances by fellow GrammyTM Award-winners the Soweto Gospel Choir and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, as well as early music superstars Anonymous 4, Mongolian pop star Nominjin, world-renowned fadista Dulce Pontes, GrammyTM-nominated choir Schola Cantorum and more.
The recording follows Tin’s debut album Calling All Dawns, which won the GrammyTM for Best Classical Crossover Album in 2011 and contained the hugely popular song “Baba Yetu,” which was the theme song for video game Civilization IV and won a GrammyTM for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists (the first piece of video game music to win a GrammyTM).
Says Tin of his new work: “I’m fascinated by the human voice. I love the different ways that people sing– from the early-morning call of the muezzin, to the melancholy lament of the fadista, to the lonely Mongolian long song echoing across the mountains. When I write new pieces, I try to share a bit of that love.”
Of the work’s title, he explained: “the title The Drop That Contained the Sea comes from a Sufi concept: in the same way that every drop of water contains the essence of the sea, inside every human is the essence of all of humanity. In keeping with this idea I’ve introduced a water theme in the prelude, and woven subtle variations throughout the album. It contains all seven notes of a major scale—four descending and three ascending—mirroring the flow of water through our world, and representing the vast ocean of melodic possibility contained within a single scale.”
The Drop that Contained the Sea received its World Premiere performance to a sold-out Carnegie Hall on April 13th, 2014, and will receive its West Coast premiere on June 7th & 8th at the Wilshire United Methodist Church in Los Angeles.
CHRISTOPHER TIN’s work covers diverse terrain: from thrilling fusions of orchestral and world music, to brooding reinventions of 90s electronica, to award-winning scores for film, video games, and commercials. Following his undergraduate education at Stanford University, Tin won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London where he earned a MMus with Distinction, winning the Horovitz Composition Prize. His music has been performed by orchestras including the National Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Metropole Orchestra. His music for video games includes Civilization IV and Pirates Of The Caribbean Online, in addition to working on Hollywood blockbusters X2: X-Men United and Lilo and Stitch 2, and a host of independent features, documentaries and TV specials. Major advertising clients include Puma, Verizon, and The Gap, and others. His compositions can also be heard as the startup sound for Microsoft’s Surface operating system, and a demo song for Apple’s Garage Band software, now found on every new Mac computer.
TRACKLISTING
THE DROP THAT CONTAINED THE SEA – Works on the Theme of ‘Water’
1. Water Prelude (feat. Angel City Chorale)
2. Haktan Gelen Şerbeti – “The Drink from God” (feat. Kardeş Türküler)
3. Temen Oblak – “Dark Clouds” (feat. Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares)
4. Iza Ngomso – “Come Tomorrow” (feat. Soweto Gospel Choir)
5. Tsas Narand Uyarna – “The Heart of Snow” (feat. Nominjin)
6. Passou o Verão – “Summer Has Gone” (feat. Dulce Pontes)
7. Devipravaha – “Goddess River” (feat. Roopa Mahadevan)
8. Seirenes – “Sirens” (feat. Anonymous 4)
9. Haf Gengr Hriðum – “The Storm-Driven Sea” (feat. Schola Cantorum)
10. Waloyo Yamoni – “We Overcome the Wind” (performed by the entire ensemble)
Composed and Conducted by Christopher Tin
Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
CONCERTS:
June 7 & 8 – Los Angeles – Wilshire United Methodist Church
