Reviews

Missa Lucis

“Lushly lyrical, ‘Missa Lucis’ has some lovely writing.  At times reminiscent of John Rutter, at other times offering a hint of Olivier Messiaen, Mager keeps things interesting and accessible.  His choral writing shows a good understanding of the vocal forces available to him.  There were some beautiful soloistic passages for the violin and flute…”

Sarah Bryan Miller, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2008

Illuminations

From reviews of the CD, Music at Carmel

“Perhaps the most intriguing work on the program is Illuminations, a song cycle for soprano, piccolo and harp (2001) by Stephen Mager. The six pieces of the cycle are settings of medieval manuscripts in Middle English and French touching on themes of love, absence, loss and resignation. The music combines medieval forms, rhythms, and melodic formulas with pleasantly modern harmonies, including polytonality. The three performers demonstrate loving and confident commitment to the score in this alluring performance.”

The American Organist, November, 2009

“…The rest of the disc [also includes] the recently composed Illuminations, a wonderfully original song cycle by Stephen Mager based on texts in archaic English for voice, piccolo, and harp. Though soprano Janice Fiore isn’t the ideal interpreter, the piccolo and harp contributions by Lois Bliss Herbine and Sophie Bruno Labiner are models of color-driven expression.”

David Patrick Stearns, philly.com, 2009

“Saltarello” from Illuminations

From reviews of the CD, Take Wing

“Lois Bliss Herbine seems to be saying in each piece, ‘Listen to me prove what the piccolo, and this composer, can do!’. . . Harpist Sophie Bruno makes a luminous contribution to an excerpt from Stephen Mager’s cycle for soprano, piccolo and harp based on Middle English lyrics and courtly love poems.”

Laurence Vittes, Gramophone North American Review, 2005

“Mager’s Salterello is attractive…”

Jonathan Woolf, Music Web International, 2005

I saw eternity

‘I saw eternity,’ subtitled ‘Reflections on a Bach Chorale,’ was lovely and accessible, a deserving piece of music…

Sarah Bryan Miller, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2006

Joy for Every Age

“While comparisons inevitably will be made with the cheery and eminently singable style of John Rutter’s Christmas works and arrangements, these excellent carol settings by Stephen Mager exhibit a slightly different kind of charm and sophistication that owes much to its more expansive, less melody-bound conceptualizations and more fully integrated orchestrations. Rather than just follow a tune, enhancing it with orchestral color and enlivening rhythms, Mager often adds a counter-melody or unique harmonization that recasts a familiar carol in a fresh setting that—as with Rutter—is always easy on the ears. Although textures are often full and the orchestral activity busy, we never lose the voices or the track of the main tune, and texts are always clearly expressed.

“Mager is conscious of mood and meaning and is very good at drawing listeners into the particular character of each carol. And although there are some very well-known carols here—Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabelle; Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht; Ding, Dong! Merrily on High—more often the pieces are less commonly heard and recorded, and Mager makes it even more interesting by offering new translations of some texts and by adding a couple of original compositions to the mix. Even in Bring a Torch he inserts a nifty “Gloria, Alleluia!” interlude of his own that flows beautifully back into the main melody. His use of the orchestra shows more than casual familiarity with styles of composers from earlier periods, particularly the latter-19th and 20th centuries (Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Ravel), and he often ingeniously twists a rhythm or makes a clever tempo shift (listen to O Come, Little Children, for example) to keep us keenly listening.

“The choral writing is first rate and these singers and players… are ideal advocates for this music. Balances aren’t always even and natural, but overall the sound is very complementary. My only complaint, and it’s a non-musical one, is that the rather drab CD cover does nothing to suggest what joy, excitement, fine music, and terrific music making is to be found inside. Warmly recommended.”

David Vernier, Classicstoday.com

When we asked Stephen to write something for KFUO-FM’s 50th anniversary, we expected it to have only a brief ‘shelf life.’ What we got instead was a carol for the ages. Mager’s music glistens and glows with a character all its own…For me, it always sounds like fresh fallen snow on a gray winter soul.

Ron Klemm, KFUO-FM, Saint Louis, Host of nationally-syndicated program, “Joy”

“In December 1998 I had the great pleasure of performing the carol, ‘Long, Long Ago’…with the Bach Society of Saint Louis at Powell Symphony Hall. I was immediately most impressed by its simplicity and beauty. A week later I featured Stephen’s CD Joy For Every Age during my weekly radio show… The arrangements are charming, presented in an appealing way, bringing fresh and vibrant life to these timeless carols. I heartily recommend this disc to all.”

Robin Weatherall, host of the classical review radio program “Classic Tracks” on KFUO-FM

Cantilena

“In a Living Composers Forum Recital (…) the two (William Bolcom and Joan Morris) sat listening as 11 singers and a cadre of accompanists sang first, four selections from the American Songbook, and then, four songs written by IU young composers, the most immediately rewarding, a Cantilena, set to an anonymous British lyric, by Stephen Mager.”

Peter Jacobi, The Herald Times, Bloomington, Indiana, 2008

Dream of the Pacific

“Mager excels at conveying a wide variety of feelings — affection, sentiment, exuberance, doubt, pain, deepest satisfaction — all in a musical language that is both lyrical and comprehensible. I suspect that Dream of the Pacific is probably more exciting to perform than it is to listen to, but that is no shame in an opera for young people — and I’ll take this over Amahl and the Night Visitors any day.”

Tim Page, The Washington Post, 2006

Compositions by Stephen Mager have also won the attention of the following conductors:

Philip Brunelle
Artistic Director and Founder Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota
Mr. Brunelle conducted French carol settings by Stephen Mager in the 1999 Welcome, Christmas! concerts in Minneapolis.

Dr. A. Dennis Sparger
Conductor and Music Director, The Bach Society of Saint Louis
Former Conductor, The Masterworks Chorale, Belleville, Illinois
Dr. Sparger has conducted the premiere performances of many of Mager’s choral works, including the choral symphony Sinfonia Pastorale in 1997. In a 1995 radio interview Dr. Sparger described Mager’s compositions as “Stunning, rousing… very visceral, wonderfully exciting music.”