Description

For mixed choir, brass & percussion (full score, brass & perc.). Slow-fast setting of Biblical text (Romans).

Psalm 148 was commissioned by The Southern Chorale at the University of Southern Mississippi for their February, 2005 performance a the American Choral Director’s Association Convention in Los Angeles, California. Written at the request of Dr. Gregory Fuller, Director of Choral Activities at USM, the work represents the most recent collaboration between the composer and his former student.

Cast in a tripartite formal design, the declamatory opening section of the work quickly gives way to a boisterous allegro replete with repeated note motives and jazz-inspired rhythms. The melodic materials are passed back and forth between brass and choir, enhancing the energetic character of the middle section. Recapitulating the material from the opening, the work closes in the same dramatic fashion as it began.

The translation used is taken from “Today’s English Version” of the GOOD NEWS BIBLE.

Duration: 4:25

Grade: IV

Vocal scores are available here.