The Pleasure's in Walking Through:
     A Song of the Seasons
     by Walter Ross

This thirty-minute cantata for soprano, chorus, and orchestra (2222-2220-strings) was a commission from the Oratorio Society of Charlottesville/Albemarle in celebration of their twenty-fifth anniversary. The Society requested that the words be by America's Poet Laureate, Rita Dove, who had settled in Charlottesville to teach at the University of Virginia. With her permission, I alternated her poetry with some lyrics from old English carols.

The cantata is in two sections separated by a Pastorale for strings. Rita Dove sang the solo part at the premiere in 1998. The work is neo-modal/pandiatonic in style, and the choral and orchestral parts can be performed by non-professional musicians.

This work is available from the composer.

It has not yet been recorded professionally. For information on borrowing tapes of concert performances or rehearsals, please contact the composer at: