I Will Sing of Your Love (2006)

Art song with words from the Psalms.
for soprano, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, bass guitar, and percussion.
10 min.

Alternate Versions (2008)
1) soprano, five guitars, and bass guitar
2) six guitars and bass guitar

Soprano + woodwinds

May 17, 2008, San Francisco Conservatory Salon

David Tanenbaum, conductor
Brittany Hicks, soprano
Tracy Goodwin, flute
Devin Hinzo, oboe
Ricki Nelson, clarinet
Sarah Gagnon, horn
Jim Onstott, bassoon
Stefan Cwik, bass guitar
Iskandar, percussion

Guitars

January 25, 2008, San Francisco Conservatory Concert Hall

Brendan Evans, guitar
Guy Powell, guitar
Paul Psarras, guitar
Elliot Simpson, guitar
Mike Roberts, guitar
Stefan Cwik, bass guitar
Zac Selissen, guitar

Notes

I began I Will Sing of Your Love during the conflict between Israel and Lebanon in the late summer of 2006. Watching the Middle East saddled with misery upon misery, and feeling increasingly depressed and helpless myself, I tried—however feebly—to give voice to that suffering. The music for this piece was inspired by Qawwali—music of Sufi mystics—whose cornerstone is a passionate and highly virtuosic style of vocal improvisation. With Israel and Lebanon hurling rockets at each other, I could imagine no better medium for an Old Testament text than this transcendent Muslim music.

I created the all-guitar version of I Will Sing for my January 25, 2008 recital of original guitar music. With seven guitarists performing the Cervantes Suite, and seven parts available on this piece (minus percussion, which is duly covered by the guitars' percussionistic attack), this was a perfect opportunity to bring all seven soloists together. Despite being written for woodwinds, the piece turned out to be surprisingly well-suited for guitars, which are famously unruly in larger numbers.

That first performance may have been a little unruly itself, but a later performance joining soprano Brittany Hicks with the guitar team (minus me) really hit a groove.

Text

from Psalms 101 and 102, New International Version

I will sing of your love and your justice;
to you, O Lord, I will sing praise.
...when will you come to me?

I will walk in my house with blameless heart.
I will set before my eyes no vile thing.
...when will you come to me?

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry...come to you.
Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me...

For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
...I am reduced to skin and bones.

...when will you come to me?

I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
I lie awake...like a bird alone on a roof.
All day long my enemies taunt me...
use my name as a curse.

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain...

I will sing of your love and your justice...
Your years go on through all generations.

...when will you come to me?