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With all of the inequality, violence, and pain in our world, I continue to dwell on the importance and impact of love — love shown to others and love shown to oneself. When considering the focus for this Seraphic Fire commission, I didn’t necessarily choose the topic of love, it was a calling. I am a hoarder of poetry and one of my favorite collections is “Love Poems From God” — mystical poems by Daniel Ladinsky inspired by famous writers from around the world. This book is a composer’s dream with colorful, powerful, and succinct writings that talk of living fully, deep spirituality, self-contemplation, and love. When starting my work on this new composition, I opened Ladinsky's book to find a treasure trove of quaint parables and sage advice for us all as we seek meaning in our human condition. “The Hope of Loving” uses a selection of writings inspired by spiritual mystics throughout history to explore the idea of love and its manifestation in our lives. The work begins with the string quartet playing a descending sequence of a single musical interval — the perfect fourth. This interval appears throughout the work as a musical motive but also a sign post; acting as a sort of character or embodiment of love. The string quartet, soloists, and chorus serve equal roles throughout the work in bringing these mystical words to life. In each of the six movements, I have endeavored to capture various ways we, as humans, respond to and act on our idea of love; hopefully creating opportunities for introspection and realization. Love is our most valuable resource, our most precious possession, our doorway into fostering compassion. May you consider these texts and this music with an open mind and ask yourself, “to whom can I give more love in my life?” For it is through love, both given and received, that our world can change.

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Lalla, a 14th century Sufi-mystic poet from the Kashmir region of India, believed strongly in the development of the self while reaching enlightenment. The metaphor of dancing while feeling free or naked exemplifies the beauty of empowerment and self-worth. This work uses influences of Classical Indian music and other vocal effects to allow Lalla’s message to come to life.

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Lalla, a 14th century Sufi-mystic poet from the Kashmir region of India, believed strongly in the development of the self while reaching enlightenment. The metaphor of dancing while feeling free or naked exemplifies the beauty of empowerment and self-worth. This work uses influences of Classical Indian music and other vocal effects to allow Lalla’s message to come to life.

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“The Lighthouse Keeper,” an ode to a dear friend, is a series of vignettes capturing a life journey of joy, beauty, loss, and renewal. From the excitement of a roadtrip to Joshua Tree National Park, to a magical midnight swim in the Spanish Mediterranean, to the death of a friend at Point Reyes National Seashore, to celebrating new beginnings at Yosemite National Park, this work is a deeply personal, yet powerfully universal expression of a life shared in friendship. “Shifting Sand" is the second movement of "The Lighthouse Keeper" and evokes the excitement of setting off on a new adventure.

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Ritual is a rhythmically-driving sonic narrative that uses a created language for colorful timbral effects. The title alludes to societal rituals that persist for the sake of tradition, but necessitate deeper reflection and reconsideration. The drums and chorus rage with a gritty intensity, while a lone soloist offers a softer, more thoughtful perspective. Despite the soloist's attempt at change, their voice is ultimately overtaken by the power of tradition and the chorus and drums drown out any alternative perspective.

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A rhythmically-driving and energetic setting of words by famed suffragist Susan B. Anthony, "Rise Up" is a rousing call to action._x000D_

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With text by Walt Whitman, Proud Music of the Storm (2017) was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Chorus in celebration of their 40th Anniversary season. It had its world premiere on October 8, 2017 conducted by Joshua Habermann, and in June 2018 was premiered in an orchestral version with instrumentation matching that of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. More than just shared instrumentation connects Bernstein’s 1965 choral work with Runestad’s new one: both are songs of praise, and praise of music. Compare, for instance, the opening text of the Chichester Psalms from Psalm 108 (“Awake, psaltery and harp: I will rouse the dawn!”) with Walt Whitman’s lyrical second stanza of “Proud Music of the Storm” (“Ah, from a little child, / Thou knowest, Soul, how to me all sounds became music”). In Runestad’s words, his piece is an “ode to all sounds that make up Whitman’s world and how they inspired him to create.” Nature is a recurring and important theme for the composer, who finds great meaning in “connecting with trees and plants and water and rocks,” and who infuses his love of the outdoors into his music by selecting texts that exalt the natural world and advocate for its protection. Because Whitman’s poem is an ode to the sounds that comprise our world, from nature to music, the composer wanted the piece to sound familiar to listeners. The middle section, for instance, is a lullaby. In the orchestral version of the work, a glockenspiel recalls the sound of a child’s music box, and if you listen carefully, you can hear an homage to Johannes Brahms’s famous lullaby. Program note by Leah G. Weinberg, PhD. Please credit this author with any reproductions of this note.

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"Mariposa" is a movement from "The Lighthouse Keeper" - an extended work capturing a life journey of joy, beauty, loss, and renewal. This moving setting of the poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay is a meditation on savoring every moment we have with those we love.

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"I Was Love" was commissioned to celebrate the beautiful friendship between the University of Pretoria Tuks Camerata (South Africa) and Barnsley Youth Choir (England). Their respective conductors, Michael Barrett and Mat Wright, believe in the unifying power of music and wanted a new piece their choirs could sing together during a joint concert in England in the summer of 2022. Fenton Johnson was an important literary voice in the USA and forerunner of the Harlem Renaissance, a resurgence of African American arts and culture based in Harlem, New York City. Johnson’s art was influenced by his experience as an African American man living in a divided society. This poem, Revery, speaks to the deep connection we have as living beings on this planet. As all things are made of stardust, we are interconnected over millions of years of life — to lives before and after our own. This universality is a profound reminder of our connectedness across our human-created boundaries._x000D_ _x000D_

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"Flower Into Kindness" is a meditation on the goodness within us. With overlapping lines and lush, warm textures, it is a beautiful addition to any concert program._x000D_ _x000D_

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"Earth Symphony," the EMMY® award-winning, ground-breaking choral symphony from composer Jake Runestad and librettist Todd Boss, is a 5-part dramatic monologue from the voice of a post-anthropocene Mother Earth. The work imagines Earth’s hope for humanity, her discovery of its power, her ruination at its hands, her lament at its loss, and her recovery. By anthropomorphizing Earth herself, drawing on the familiar earth-mother trope, "Earth Symphony" enables entry into our own ecological shame, guilt, responsibility, potential, and redemption, all from a wide-angled, time-telescoped lens, thereby asking our most immediately pressing environmental questions in an entirely new way._x000D_ _x000D_ The full score does not include instrument parts. Instrument part rental is available here: https://jakerunestad.com/pages/rental-request

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"Earth Symphony," the EMMY® award-winning, ground-breaking choral symphony from composer Jake Runestad and librettist Todd Boss, is a 5-part dramatic monologue from the voice of a post-anthropocene Mother Earth. The work imagines Earth’s hope for humanity, her discovery of its power, her ruination at its hands, her lament at its loss, and her recovery. By anthropomorphizing Earth herself, drawing on the familiar earth-mother trope, "Earth Symphony" enables entry into our own ecological shame, guilt, responsibility, potential, and redemption, all from a wide-angled, time-telescoped lens, thereby asking our most immediately pressing environmental questions in an entirely new way.

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“Cello Songs” was commissioned by Doug Bella and David Hunt for the St. Charles Singers in memory of Doris J. Hunt._x000D_ _x000D_ On my living room wall, I have a letterpress broadside of the poem “Cello” by Dorianne Laux. Its central image is a dead tree, fallen into the arms of a living one. As years pass, it “…rubs its fallen body / against the living, building / its dead music / making its raw mark, / wearing the tough bough down / as it moans and bends, the deep / rosined bow sound of the living / shouldering the dead.”_x000D_ _x000D_ Todd Boss, a frequent collaborator of mine, has created a new text inspired by Dorianne’s poem. Intended as love songs, "Cello Songs" uses the four seasons as a structure to examine how the cello's richness and complexity might mean very different things to us at different times in our lives. The work moves through the seasons, from the gentle breezes of summer, to the fiery colors of autumn, to a soulful melancholy in winter, and ending with a rousing, beebop jazz finale of raindrops in spring! Also, each movement focuses on a different playing technique of the cello: summer - long tones, autumn - spiccato, winter - glissando, spring - pizzicato.

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"Beauty is Life" is a movement from “The Lighthouse Keeper,” -- an extended work capturing a life journey of joy, beauty, loss, and renewal. With soaring, overlapping lines like the warmth of ocean waves, this meditation on beauty was inspired by a magical night in the Mediterranean Sea in Spain and reminds us to savor every beautiful moment.

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Donna Kasbohm has set the 21 texts for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) largely for unison singing with descants, and piano or organ accompaniment with some C instrument parts. All are easily learned by both choir and assembly. _x000D_ _x000D_ Apart from OCIA liturgies, these pieces are useful throughout the year in various ways including as a sung response to the homily; a reflection during the Preparation of the Gifts; a Communion meditation; within Morning and Evening Prayer; at funerals, memorial services, and weddings; and at the beginning or closing of church council/committee meetings. 

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Composer Chaz Bower’s weekly work as a church musician informs his ability to craft highly singable music for choir and congregation. _x000D_ _x000D_ This collection of music for Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) is largely conceived for organ and SATB voices yet they can easily be sung in unison. Among the 21 pieces are some chant selections as well. Many selections in this collection will also find a home outside of OCIA liturgies. 

Accompaniment - ["None"]

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Accompaniment - ["Keyboard"]

Accompaniment - ["Keyboard"]

Accompaniment - ["Keyboard"]

This publication contains all the Gospel Acclamations and Lenten Gospel Acclamations that are included in the Catholic Community Hymnal—Second Edition, G-11150. Additionally, the appointed Gospel Acclamation Verses for all three years of the Sunday Lectionary cycle are provided, as well as the verses for all Solemnities and Feasts of the Lord and the Saints in the liturgical calendar. The bottom of each page with an Alleluia or Lenten response includes a number referencing the hymnal number of the particular acclamation. Despite this publication being linked to a specific hymnal, these acclamations may be used in any setting.

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The assembly part is optional.

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Accompaniment - ["Reduction"]

This setting of Herbert’s text introduces new music, employing a simple form with a quasi-ostinato motif at the start of each stanza, followed by a refrain-like treatment of the final stanza. A brief coda at the end provides a subtle harmonic nod to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ well-known setting of the same text.