Description
(Text)
"...for the waters are come in unto my soul..." - Fragments of Psalm 69, is a sixteen minute work for mixed chorus, wind quartet (flute, B-flat clarinet, horn, and bassoon), and piano. The text, consisting of particular lines from the King James Version of Psalm 69, depicts the varying emotional states of a devout person in great distress. The piece consists of three main sections: the first evokes a sense of hallucination and lack of focus, the second is more static in mood and texture, and the third recapitulates material from the first section. The work's large-scale structure is articulated by the use of certain musical techniques and/or musical textures. During the first section particular lines have been set in a freely imitative counterpoint that borders on heterophony. In the second section, chords are sustained for longer periods of time and the male and female voices are clearly separated. Musical ideas and techniques from the first section reappear in the third, allowing the listener to hear the general formal divisions in the piece.
(Author portrait)
McDonough, Daniel Daniel McDonough, MM: Studied Music at Bowling Green State University. Composer
