Edie Hill

“…an exquisite bit of musical impressionism that conjured visions of snowdrifts and moonlight and tinkling icicles and howling wind across the Minnesota tundra.” -on Cold Blue Night, for solo… Read more “An Exquisite Bit”

A “masterpiece”  Regarding the world premiere of Cancion de el alma by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber… Read more “A masterpiece”

“…Passenger Pigeon is particularly moving…[a portion of] the text [by Holly J. Hughes] features Martha, a carefully preserved specimen, whose glass eyes appear to be on an eternal, but futile,… Read more “moving”

“… a joy to [perform]… with maximum capacity for expression. Delicate, but strong. A surprisingly athletic task.” -on A Little Lovely Dream, SATTB a… Read more “A joy to perform”

“Ms. Hill’s composition was astoundingly beautiful… an impressionistic masterpiece.” -on Invocation, flute… Read more “on Invocation, flute concerto”

“… delicate and sprightly with a foundation of dignified solemnity… [A Birthday] drew the loudest and most enthusiastic ovation of the… Read more “Delicate and Sprightly (a Birthday)”

“When [Passenger Pigeon] takes off, Edie taps the stunning depth of her awe for flying creatures in music of intense motion and speed. She grabs hold of the notes and… Read more “Stunning depth of awe (Passenger Pigeon)”

“[Spectral Spirits] for soloist and chorus, plethoric and robust, is performed by a fully committed choir with rigor and intensity, and by soloists who, in perfect balance, capture the wisdom… Read more “plethoric and robust (Spectral Spirits)”

“…the overall effect is haunting.” “…Spectral Spirits is one of the most interesting and engaging new compositions that I have heard in quite some time. Brava, Ms. Hill!” Full Review… Read more “Engaging (Spectral Spirits)”

“Edie Hill, one of the Twin Cities’ best known creators, has been named [the Rose Ensemble’s] composer-in-residence, and the first of two works intended for the ensemble was given its… Read more “Bloomed harmonically”

“Singing [We Bloomed In Spring] was a beautiful Stare at the Sun memory, as the piece infuses its singers with joy. With the rise and fall of the melody and… Read more “a lyrical dance”

“Edie Hill’s cycle The Giver of Stars: Six Poems of Amy Lowell opens the collection, leading off with “Pyrotechnics,” … The song begins with a loud, attention-grabbing cluster in the… Read more ““Edie Hill’s cycle The Giver of Stars: Six Poems of Amy Lowell opens the collection, leading off with “Pyrotechnics,””

In Spectral Spirits, Edie finds so much joy and exuberance in describing [the Carolina Parakeets’] motion, their colors, their uniqueness: a composer writing about animals that are close to her. Full Rising… Read more “So much joy and exuberance (Carolina Parakeets)”

“… wonderful leaps, tempo contrasts, and sense of drama pervade [Hill’s] work.” -on Between the Limbs,… Read more “A sense of drama…”

“Few are creating more varied or distinctive works than… Read more “Distinctive”

“Such fine vocal writing allows the singer and conductor to simply follow the score in letting the sound of the composition speak for… Read more “Fine vocal writing (An Illuminated Transience)”

“[Edie Hill: Clay Jug] was among the finest choral releases in Navona’s catalogue.” “[Evolutionary Spirits] opens with Hill’s Poem for 2084 which features gorgeous lines with ancient modes and settings reminiscent of the late… Read more “Evolutionary Spirits”

“Her three-movement piece of airborne tone painting shows how much can be done with a single line…” -on Flights of Fancy, for solo… Read more “with just a single line…”

“—an almost Wes Andersonian cabinet of wonders.” “Species rise and fall again, with little sentimentality. As much as Hill may have grieved each loss, we’re given a slightly blanker canvas… Read more “-an almost Wes Andersonian cabinet of wonders (Spectral Spirits)”

Cancion de el alma hailed as “a… Read more “A revelation”

“…bold…radiant, deftly crafted…” “…[Spectral Spirits] quickly establishes its power to touch both heart and mind with its rich, polychordal harmonies.” “…[Hill’s writing] displayed a madrigalist’s ear for sonic detail and… Read more “bold…radiant, deftly crafted (Spectral Spirits)”

“Hughes begins with a beautifully detailed description of John James Audubon’s artistic rendering of a pair of passenger pigeons (below) from his avian portraits collection, The Birds of America. The… Read more “bursting with life”

“Edie Hill’s work reveals both exciting creativity and strong craftsmanship. She has an obvious kinship with the choral medium and a sensitivity to the potential of the human voice.” -on… Read more “Creativity and Strong Craftsmanship (Poem for 2084)”

“[Evolutionary Spirits] takes its title from a line in Hill’s opening Poem for 2084, a prototypically splendid example of The Crossing’s artistry. For six minutes, the male and female singers… Read more “Glorious Harmony (Poem for 2084)”

“… a joy to [perform]… with maximum capacity for expression. Delicate, but strong. A surprisingly athletic… Read more “A Little Lovely Dream, SATTB a cappella”

“Hill’s Spectral Spirits…addresses the plight of endangered or recently extinct birds in a 30-minute meditation on nature and loss, shot through with flashes of humor and an occasional dash of hope.” … Read more “Ear-ravishing music (Spectral Spirits)”

“The overall effect of [Hill’s] music is an evocation of magic.” -on… Read more “Evocation of Magic”

“Edie Hill offers a diverse collection of works on Clay Jug. She manages to shift the listener’s perspective of the choir from to track to track…For me, choir music can elate… Read more “Clay Jug”

“Edie Hill’s choral writing in “Spectral Spirits” is expert. She employs a smoothly unfolding harmonic language that is beautifully voiced between the highest and lowest ranges of the choristers, evoking… Read more “Smoothly unfolding harmonic language (Spectral Spirits)”

“[The program] also includes Edie Hill’s startling but beautiful work ‘Blue Jewel,’ which is part of the ‘Glass Works Collection’ heard on ‘Of and Between.’” “’Blue Jewel’ …exemplifies the vibrant… Read more “Vibrant music-making (Blue Jewel)”

“The creativity of another contemporary artist, Edie Hill, has a similar meaning – her music is often called ‘an evocation of magic’. Two of her compositions presented here, Poem for 2084… Read more “A very compelling listening experience (Poem for 2084 and Marvelous Error!)”

“…it is the album’s centerpiece [Spectral Spirits] that is the major attraction. … Hill’s music evokes the bird in its particularity, and the overall effect of this is profoundly sad. It… Read more “Born Review by James Manheim”

There were also two delightful portraits of animals on the program. In Dog from Duluth, Edie Hill’s simple, imaginative setting permitted the singers to luxuriate in misty, nostalgia over fond memories… Read more “Dog from Duluth”

“Hill allows lines and themes to develop and evolve almost below a listener’s ear. She doesn’t hike the dynamic and tempo to build intensity. Her music is rife with quiet,… Read more “Rife with quiet (Saint Paul Pioneer Press)”

“Hill’s masterful facility for setting words and exploiting the emotional richness of texts keeps her in… Read more “Masterful facility…”

“Hill’s [This Floating World, for solo flute] delicately captured wondrous scenes from nature…with serenity…clarity…intensity. Turbulent…outside the… Read more “Serenity…Clarity…Intensity”

“Both [Claudio Monteverdi and Edie Hill] place the text at the forefront of their musical expression…Edie Hill skillfully selects rhythms for singers to use. Her rhythmic choices are always based… Read more “Text to the forefront”

“We love to sing We Bloomed In Spring because of Edie’s command of – no, her accord with – rhetoric; how conversations shift, how our inner dialogue has its own… Read more “We Bloomed in Spring”

“In ‘A Sound Like This,’ she seizes six Bly paraphrases of the Indian mystic Kabir by the scruff of the neck and never lets go. Sung in near-darkness, her opening… Read more “Arresting (A Sound Like This)”

“…When Edie Hill’s ‘A Sound Like This’ began, with its urgent exhortation to “Listen!,” I just about jumped out of my skin…You’d think that triggering my fight or flight response… Read more “I just about jumped out of my skin! (A Sound Like This)”

“A True Heart is Waiting is flat-out beautiful—deep and tuneful and full of mystery that resists your knowing it too well.” (for TTBB voices, premiered by… Read more “Flat-out beautiful (A True Heart is Waiting)”

“She is especially adept at setting several different languages in very attractive ways…Hill is very skilled at selecting rich and ‘music ready’ texts as well…There is a fascinating sound that… Read more “Especially adept”

“…consistently beguiling.” “Hill’s elegy [Spectral Spirits] is affecting in accentuating the losses that accrue from such habitual modes of thinking and operating. After listening to this mesmerizing construction, we would do… Read more “consistently beguiling (Spectral Spirits)”

“Mesmerizing Choral Music” “The different solo instrument colors weave intricately through the choral texture with an at times almost mesmerizing vibraphone idea adding a magical sense to the gorgeous harmonic… Read more “Mesmerizing Choral Music”

“Last July we had a glorious week immersed in the lush, thoughtful music of Edie Hill. We took great care in setting down a full CD of her works, with… Read more “Thanks for sharing your art with us (The Crossing)”

A couple of gems round out the recording. Edie Hill’s This Floating World are musical illustrations of five haiku by the great Japanese poet Basho (translations by Robert Hass are… Read more “This Floating World”

“There are so many reasons we love to sing Poem for 2084…there is Edie’s extraordinary understanding of how contrapuntal voices can make indivisible musical fabrics out of highly individualized melodic… Read more “Wonderfully inventive (Poem for 2084)”