The Crossing & Donald Nally - Motion Studies (2024)

The Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally, returns to Navona Records with MOTION STUDIES: Justine Chen’s Shallow Breath and Stealth and Nicholas Cline’s watersheds.

Reflecting on a culture where data mining and government traceability have become normalized to the point of population complacency, Chen captures poet Jena Osman’s musings on the 21st-century reframing of paranoia, privacy, and the pervasive desire to run away from the data that follows us. Evidence of these reflections is present in the tittering, sometimes whispering, sometimes soaring, and often frantic utterances of the ensemble in an unnerving collection of sequences that paint an antagonistic image of the modern machine.

In Nicholas Cline’s watersheds motion is boundary rather than escape: the movement of water is a point of political power, of conservation and waste, of replenishment, and of damage and territorialism. Joined by PRISM Quartet leader Matthew Levy on tenor saxophone, The Crossing’s signature crystalline sound ebbs and flows as they sing the history of water in America, placing opposing views and theories next to each other, and yet never forgetting the simple, joyful experience of rain. Cline’s musical landscapes are gentle; they seem to carry hope and gratitude in topics otherwise causing angst and worry.

A 2024 Best Choral Performance GRAMMY® nominee and multi-GRAMMY® winning ensemble, The Crossing continually proves itself to be at the forefront of new choral literature and performance. MOTION STUDIES is a release not to be missed.

Tracklist
01. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 0. Introduction
02. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 1. skimming
03. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 2. Her Heart
04. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 3. skimming.2-ad bits
05. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 4. She Feels
06. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 5. skimming.3-ad bits.2
07. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 6. The Only Sound
08. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 6a. But for their breath
09. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 7. Interrogation 1
10. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 8. skimming.4-Advertisement Final
11. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 8a. skimming.5
12. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 9. She Feels.2
13. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 10. Interrogation 2
14. Chen- Shallow Breath and Stealth- 11. Before it's too dark
15. Cline- Watersheds- prelude- water-witching
16. Cline- Watersheds- I. water borders
17. Cline- Watersheds- II. the lace-like fabric of streams
18. Cline- Watersheds- III. a method for finding
19. Cline- Watersheds- IV. to encourage the habits of industry
20. Cline- Watersheds- V. threads of the community fabric
21. Cline- Watersheds- VI. rain follows the plow
22. Cline- Watersheds- VII. the gentle rain which waters