The year 1955 was a tough one for Frank Sinatra, although it might not have looked that way to the casual observer. By then, the most popular singer of the 1940s had revived a fading career that had been built around the adoration of the war-era bobby-soxers and had launched an acting career that won him an Oscar for “From Here to Eternity.” But he was carrying a weighty sadness over his failing marriage to actor Ava Gardner, a relationship that burned hot and briefly.
So he developed the idea of recording an album full of songs that reflected his mood, addressing heartbreak and loneliness. It became what many regard as Sinatra’s masterpiece, “In the Wee Small Hours.”
While it’s an album rooted in jazz balladry, the Minneapolis-based vocal octet Cantus believes that it fits well with the song cycle tradition of such 19th-century composers as Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann. That’s repertoire the group has explored during its past summer concerts, harmonizing on some songs and taking turns with solo interpretations of others. Now Cantus is going to spend a week doing the same with “In the Wee Small Hours” at four Twin Cities venues.
One of Cantus’ two bass singers, Samuel Bohlander-Green, said the idea originally came from his fellow bass, Chris Foss.
“We had done full albums with our ‘Covers’ shows,” Bohlander-Green said, referring to concerts that featured the group’s arrangements of such albums as the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” and Joni Mitchell’s “Blue.” “And we had done some song cycles for our chamber series. And Chris said: Hey, what about ‘In the Wee Small Hours’?
“It’s Frank Sinatra, whose voice fits in most of our ranges. This could be a really interesting way to strip it down. To have a solo voice with jazz piano and to bring folks into a jazz club-type setting to enjoy our solo voices and our ensemble sound, as well.”

Tenor Jacob Christopher said that the album’s songs feel in tune with one of the group’s recent emphases — vulnerability.
“This was one of the first albums by a male artist to show that you can feel these deep emotions and not lose your masculinity,” he said.