Considering Matthew Shepard (2016)

This large-scale choral work commemorates the 1998 killing of gay student Matthew Shepard in Wyoming: he was robbed, tortured, tied to a fence, and left to die. The intention is laudable, and the execution by the fine Texas choir Conspirare and a varied group of chamber musicians -- the music requires fluency in a variety of styles -- hard to fault. If this were the whole story, it would be a good one, but this Grammy-nominated album is notable beyond these factors. Start with the remarkable fact that it is the first large ... Read More

This large-scale choral work commemorates the 1998 killing of gay student Matthew Shepard in Wyoming: he was robbed, tortured, tied to a fence, and left to die. The intention is laudable, and the execution by the fine Texas choir Conspirare and a varied group of chamber musicians -- the music requires fluency in a variety of styles -- hard to fault. If this were the whole story, it would be a good one, but this Grammy-nominated album is notable beyond these factors. Start with the remarkable fact that it is the first large-scale concert work by Conspirare director Craig Hella Johnson, and that it not only succeeds, but accomplishes something entirely original. One might classify this work in various ways; Johnson's own term, fusion oratorio, is as good as any. It is also, as some of the movements are designated, a Passion, with Shepard's fence clearly standing in for Christ's cross. The first music you hear is by J.S. Bach, and Bach's Passions are a clear influence; the antigay protesters who defaced... Read Less