Spirituals, a chamber symphony for ten players
March 13, 2005 Christ and St. Stephen’s Church, New York, NY; The North/South Chamber Orchestra, Max Lifchitz, conductor.
Spirituals –a chamber smphony for ten players – was completd in the spring of 2004 and was commissioned by Max Lifchitz in celebration of the 25h anniversary of North/South Consonance. The form of the work is much like that of a chorale prelude. Its character remsembles my other music in its attempt to speak to a universal truth through the evocation of a specific time and place.
The first movement is based on I love to tell the Story; the second on Fairest Lord Jesus; and the third is based on There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy.
Each of these hymns is referred to in Romulus Linney’s play Holy Ghosts. The play, which takes place in rural North Carolina among a group of Pentecostals was as much an inspiration when I reread it last year as it was when I saw its premiere at East Carolina University in 1971.
More Orchestra or Large Ensemble Works
The Bell, a cantata, Opus 182 1
Symphony no. 4 op. 170 based on texts from the Psalms (KJV), Opus 170 2
Harmony in Blue and Silver for Wind Orchestra, Opus 153 3
Song of the Open Road, Opus 134 4
Songs of Reconciliation, Opus 120 7
David and Old Ironsides, Opus 89 9
Holy Ghosts, No. 1 Chorale Prelude for Wind Ensemble, Opus 80 no. 1 10
Dark Orange Concerto; a concerto for viola and winds, Opus 77 11
The Triumph of Lightness, a concerto for cello and chamber orchestra, Opus 70 12
Songs of Innocence and Experience, Opus 55 14
Short Symphony for Band, Opus 47 15
The Sentimental Muse, a Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, Opus 45 16
What Goes Around Comes Around, Opus 40A 18
Idumea Symphony (Symphony No. 2), Opus 40 19
The Idea of Order at Key West, Opus 13 22
Continuum for orchestra, Opus 3 23
Novelette Arranged for String Orchestra, Opus 1A (unperformed) 24