Performance Marketing Agency

The Elements

The Elements

Sonata for Flute (or Violin) and Piano (or Organ)

This three-movement work is composed in a readily accessible tonal style. Colorful harmonies and concise structural elements highlight each movement. Throughout the Sonata, melodic lyricism is a constant characteristic which will present an engaging musical experience for performers and audiences. Duration: 8:10

Mindful of You

Commissioned by a choral society in memory of their beloved accompanist, this is an SATB divisi unaccompanied setting of a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The text remembers a departed friend through the seasons of the year. All of nature's elements are in mourning. A sweet, tender piece, not difficult for an ensemble used to singing a cappella. Duration: 3:00

My People Are Rising

This text is part of a longer work by Mohja Kahf titled My People Are Rising: An unfinished poem begun in Spring 2011 for an unfinished Revolution begun in March 2011. It speaks so viscerally of the tragic events in Syria that it was impossible to imagine setting it with Western harmonies. And so the composer began an exploration of Arabic music, with its quarter-tone scales, its lack of vertical chordal structure, its abundantly ornamented heterophony. Since quarter-tones are not a part of our Western choral training, the scales are tempered a bit (resulting in a fair number of augmented seconds) and a violin is added to the melodic mix for pitch support. The voices and violinare accompanied by a doumbek player, who is highly encouraged to improvise: the written notation is only there as a guide. This piece is dark, dramatic, and powerful, yet not without triumph. Duration: 8:30

All Await

All Await was commissioned by Trinity Presbyterian Church, Berwyn, Pennsylvania, in celebration of the church’s 150th anniversary. It received its premiere performance at Trinity Church in December, 2012 by the Chancel Choir and Director Paul Vanderslice. Nancy Gifford was asked to compose a celebratory piece for this occasion based on an Advent theme. The text was inspired by a fourth-century hymn of St. Ambrose of Milan, Veni, Redemptor gentium. In this context, All Await echoes elements of traditional western sacred music while using today’s language. The piece begins plaintively in the E natural minor mode and suddenly breaks into joyful polyphony. In the second section (theGloria Patri adapted into English), we move into E Major and the music becomes more rhythmic and robust. The climax of the piece describes the angel Gabriel’s message to Mary, when “the Word of God descends.” Dramatically descending melodic lines appear, sung in turn by each voice part and then played by the organ. Repetition and reinvention of these musical ideas follow, with marked contrasts in texture, dynamics, articulation, and expression. Short organ interludes occur throughout the piece, introducing new sections of choral music. This work ends with a short coda, closing with the words “All await,” sung by the chorus three times and answered by the organ.