Product Description
Oh
Holy Spirit
Inspiration
The choir I
sing with occasionally performs a piece based on the prayer "Hail
Mary". It is about 2 pages long and quite lovely. In 2017 I was
inspired by this music to compose my own piece based on a prayer by
Saint Augustine, in the spirit of this music. Because "Hail Mary"
contained bits and pieces of polyphony it seemed appropriate that I
should spend some time studying the masters of Polyphony. For about 3
months I reviewed the works of Byrd, Monteverdi and Palestrina. Just
some light listening! Once I felt comfortable with the style I began
work on what I thought would be a short 2 page piece. Well 2 pages
became 21 pages and a major endeavor.
The Music
The music
begins with an A Capella section featuring a simple melody
contrasted by different choir sections offering a sort of commenting
response. Following the first section, a high soprano introduces a
contrasting idea supported by choir "aahs" and finishes in the
relative minor keys, picarde third. The opening section now repeats
but with piano accompaniment which is then followed by the same
contrasting idea but with the full choir accompanied by rapid piano
arpeggios. A C section is then introduced where I exercise my study
of Renaissance music with the choir singing A Capella polyphony. At
the end of this section the original idea returns quietly followed by
a short polyphonic section. A pleading conclusion with the lower
voices holding a sustained note while the upper voices repeat a
variation of the original theme is introduced. Finally the piano
re-appears in a choir forte section which then quietly comes to an
end, a prayerful end.
Program Notes
A fried of mine
described the piece as follows:
"Wow
Kevin! Thanks so much for sharing! I love your use of polyphony! The
piece gave me a Gregorian chant meets Eric Whitacre vibe! "
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