Where the Shadow Glides collects works composed by American composer William McClelland over the course of a lifetime which have been chosen for their fidelity to the album's theme, an eloquent homage to nature.

Where the Shadow Glides begins and ends with beautiful choral works sung by The New York Virtuoso Singers (Harold Rosenbaum, conductor), the first piece accompanied by the organ, the last performed a cappella. Both these texts are from ancient times: "Caedmon's Hymn" , a setting of the first text known to be written in English, and "These Last Gifts", a translation of an original Latin text by Catullus. The album's center features pianist Blair McMillen in "Five for Piano", short solo works inspired by poetry. "Five for Piano" is flanked on both sides by "Songs for Voice and Piano", performed by mezzo-soprano Krista River, baritone Thomas Meglioranza, and pianist Donald Berman. Each song is set to poems of very personal significance to Mr. McClelland, by such poets as William Carlos Williams, Lidian Emerson, Elizabeth Bishop, Philip Larkin, W.S. Merwin, Hart Crane and others.

About this new CD, Mr. McClelland says "The choral and piano pieces on this recording are relatively recent works, while the songs are among those I've composed over the course of several decades. All are settings of, or were inspired by, poetry. Each of the three choral works has a connection to my late brother David, a remarkable artist who died in his late 20s. David made calligraphic manuscripts of the Old- and Middle-English texts, "Cædmon's Hymn," and "Hail Lovely and Pure," and the third choral work is a setting of an elegiac poem on the loss of a brother by the ancient Latin poet Catullus. The songs on the album are primarily settings of poems by 20th-century American and British writers that express mystical, symbolic or visionary views of nature."