Pastorale

‘The Lord is my shepherd........’

    This 9 minute setting of Psalm 23 for male choir, soprano soloist, chamber winds and vibraphone was commissioned by Orphei Drängar – arguably Sweden’s foremost male voice choir.

    Pastorale received its world premiere by the University Mens Choir of Indiana, PA, directed by Prof. James Dearing, on October 19, 2003. Mary Logan Hastings from Mannheim Opera was the soprano soloist. The performance was enthusiatically received by the large audience in the Gorell Recital Hall in Indiana PA.

    In 2010 Pastorale was extensively revised and its instrumentation augmented to its current form: Flute, Oboe, Cor Anglais, Clarinet in B flat, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn in F, Tenor Trombone, Bass Trombone, Euphonium and Tuba. The Pohja Military Band and its director, Mr. Juha Pisto commissioned this revision ahead of their performance on November 20, 2010 in the city of Oulu in Finland.

    In this gentle and evocative setting of the most frequently set of all the psalms, the choir supports and answers the soprano soloist, the winds frequently setting up a rhythmic counterpoint with the voices, while the vibraphone’s endlessly repeating figurations spin a luminescent web. The harmonic language is strongly triadic, the most obvious inspiration being the vocal music of Mozart.

    Please contact me for a score and recording of this work.

“A valuable and very beautiful addition to 20th century male choir literature.”  Dr. Robert Sund, Uppsala, Sweden.