Meditation on the Holy Spirit for organ and brass quintet

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$29.99
$29.99
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2016
14 minutes
​
27 ​pages (score)
19 pages (organ part)
​4 pages each (brass parts)

​Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for the 2017 Great Lakes Regional Convention

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Meditation on the Holy Spirit was written for the opening worship service of the 2017 American Guild of Organists Great Lakes Regional Convention.  Nelson Mandela was the inspiration for the work, in particular his commitment to serving the good and his strength in the face of adversity. The form is ABAB, where the A sections are areas that build powerful structures (strength against adversity), and the B sections are meditative responses (submitting the self to the greater good). Just as a meditation involves a long period of clearing the mind and controlling the thoughts, so this composition contains large areas of unchanged or gradually changing states, from ecstasy to peace.
 
The piece opens with tentative brass fragments over barely audible organ murmurs, suggesting the awakening of black consciousness in South Africa’s hinterlands.  Three times this gradually develops into expressions of power at 1:16, 2:22, and 3:44, as Mandela’s brave spirit beats against the injustices of apartheid.  The music cuts dramatically to silence (4:20) and the contemplative organ is left alone to paint a brief picture of a small prison cell.  Calm instrumental melodies begin to project themselves over soft organ chords (4:53); this is the endlessness of time, as the unjustly imprisoned man watches years go past.  Hope is restored by a peaceful five-part chorale for the brass instruments (6:28).  The original fragments and murmurs begin again (8:01), as the new hope begins to dismantle the old order.  This time the music builds even more gradually, eventually to triumphant ecstasy (10:46), with Mandela rising victorious from the ashes of the crumbling regime.  After another dramatic silence (11:55), the organ weaves a final web of tranquility, into which the other instruments momentarily join and then depart.  The person who had every reason to seek revenge when released from prison, comes out instead with a message of peace and mercy.
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