Composer's new CD takes soundings of 'Creation's Voice'

For Catholic composer Nicholas Ascioti, writing music is one of the most important parts of his life.

"If I wake up in the morning and am breathing, I'm composing sometime during the day," he told The Evangelist.

He has just released his debut CD, "Creation's Voice," on the Albany Records label. It is a collection of five song cycles for voice and different instrumental arrangements.

Passion to create

Mr. Ascioti started his musical journeys on trumpet in elementary school and studied voice at The College of Saint Rose in Albany. That's where he also started composing classical pieces.

"Once I started composing," he said, "I developed a passion for creating music."

The first song cycle on the disc, "Credo," sets traditional Latin prayers -- such as the "Gloria Patri," the "Adoramus Te," and the "Ave Dulcissima," a hymn to Mary -- to his original music.

He enjoys writing music for Latin texts "for the sake of tradition. As a vocalist myself, I find it a joy to sing Latin; as a composer, it is enjoyable to write music [for Latin]. The way the words are, the syllables, works quite well when you apply music to it."

Relative sound

Other pieces on the CD are based on poems written by Mr. Ascioti's father-in-law, Rev. Richard Hibbert, a Methodist pastor in Vermont.

One piece, "Music of the Spheres," uses natural phenomena to tackle six different questions about human life and society. The song "Snowflake," for example, deals with the notion of no snowflake being the same as another.

"They're all different, but under one entity; and relating that to the human race, we're all people even though we have different backgrounds," Mr. Ascioti explained.

Spirituality

He is currently working with Pastor Hibbert to write a three-movement piece for choir and chamber orchestra called "Psalms for Peace."

It will deal with "taking a look at the situation that we're in right now in the world, how our spirituality can lead us to a better way and how does God move more to the forefront in our being?"

As a composer, he described his job as understanding sacred texts.

"If I'm going to write music that goes with this text," he noted, "I have to understand what it is that I am writing about. It's another way for me to study these sacred texts and learn more about them."

(Mr. Ascioti is director of music at the Burnt Hills United Methodist Church, but he attends St. Jude's Church in Wynantskill, where he serves as a lector and cantor. His CD is on sale at www.naamusic.com and www.albanyrecords.com.)

(10/12/06)