• Premiere: Lent 2007 / Grace Episcopal Church / Newton, MA / Dr. Linda Clark

• Instrumentation: SATB, optional keyboard accompaniment

• Duration: 2:45'

• Text: John Brownlie (1859 - 1925)

• Suitable for choirs of all levels

• Appropriate for worship or concert performance

Program Note

Completed February 23, 2006 in Newton, Massachusetts. This was the first piece written for the choir of Grace Church, under Dr. Linda Clark's direction. It utilizes a seldom-sung text from the 1982 Episcopal Hymnal, written by the Scottish minister and prolific hymn-writer, John Brownlie.

With this piece, I began my long education in writing for "any given Sunday" choir. Simply put: what can be accomplished by your typical amateur choir, on any given Sunday, with about 20 minutes of rehearsal time?  As a composer, it is paramount to find the sweet spot that is just on the cusp of the "any given Sunday" choir's threshold of ability. Put another way - how does one engage and challenge a choir, without making the piece too difficult, while at the same time, keeping the piece relevant for worship?  From my experience, it's impossible for a composer to learn such a skill, without having sung in such an ensemble, getting to know it and its members from the inside.