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Download an MP3 file of a performance of this work by The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists, Matthew Culloton, director.
Download a PDF file of selected pages from the score of this composition. For perusal only -- not printable.
Commissioned by the Fairmount Presbyterian Church of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Premiered on October 23, 2016 - Robert Moncrief, Music Director
George Herbert's poem, The Call, has inspired many musical settings, most notably from within the Five Mystical Songs of Ralph Vaughn Williams. This new choral version, with added lyrics by the composer, approaches the text as both a personal expression of faith ("my faith, my hope") and a general statement ("Such a Way as gives us breath, Such a Truth as ends all strife"). Each verse of the Herbert poem is punctuated by the phrase "My faith, my hope, my strength, my Light."
The very tender verse of "Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart" is set in a lower, gentler key, with sweet dissonance. The music then rises to the original tonality for a final, triumphant statement which combines all of the invocations: "Come, my Heart, my Joy, my Faith, my Strength, my Light!"
Notes by the composer