‘The Lord is my shepherd……..’
This 9 minute setting of Psalm 23 for male choir, soprano soloist, and small wind ensemble was commissioned by Orphei Drängar – arguably Sweden’s foremost male voice choir. In its current, final form it has never been performed.
An early, shorter version of Pastorale for a smaller ensemble of woodwinds was performed by the University Mens Choir of Indiana, PA, under the late James Dearing in 2003.
In 2013 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, and Vibraphone/Glockenspiel.
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 MIDI recording of this work.
“A valuable and very beautiful addition to 20th century male choir literature.” Dr. Robert Sund, Uppsala, Sweden.