Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King

Description

Perusal Score (watermarked, non-printing): Download Now
Instrumentation: SSAATTBB choir
Difficulty: College/Professional
Duration: 4 minutes
Composed: 2015
Premiere: 18 October 2015 by the Genesis Chamber Singers
Performance History: complete performance list
Text: Hugh Dougall
Themes: Easter, Last Supper, eucharist, sacrament
Program Note: This new setting of Hugh Dougall’s text “Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King” came as a response to Joseph Young’s request to write a new work for his Boston-based ensemble, the Genesis Chamber Singers. It was to be performed on a concert programmed around works that shared common influences: the same text, the same source melody, etc. Choosing from the already programmed works, I took as my inspiration the “Pange Lingua” plainchant. The original text is about the Last Supper, and I paired that melody with a Eucharistic text from the Latter-Day Saint tradition. This juxtaposition interwove threads of influence both musical and personal. The work doesn’t just grace a version of the melody with a new text. In so doing, it echoes and honors the spiritual heritage bequeathed by my Polish and Spanish Catholic forebears and the way their faith has influenced my life: transformed but indebted with gratitude.