Jesu, the Very Thought of Thee

A recent church-anthem of mine for 4-part men's chorus. "Jesu, the Very Thought of Thee" combines the beautiful Mendelssohn choral writing with the occasional barbershop quartet chords. As is usual with my writing, I wanted to capture the importance of what makes this text important. For example, the very thought of Jesus is sweet, but his face, the very face of perfection, is so important that it must be said repeatedly in a wild crescendo to show just how exciting the thought is as it cannot leave the choir's collective head.

Organ Postlude

There's a certain awesomeness found in the king of instruments, no? I found myself a couple of months back planning a recital, and decided to put the ol' organ to use. This little gem was the fruit of my labor. One thing I hoped and prayed this piece would do is work as a beautiful character work. I want it to tell a story, paint a picture, and evoke emotions in the listener other than pure aesthetic beauty. Ironically, the organ is (second to a synthesizer or theramin) the most artifical and mechanical of the instruments.  In order to paint a picture though, one needs color, and this mechanical one-man wonder brings one of the most versatile and idiomatic color palettes to the table. In this particular work, there's the mystic songs of the Angels, the loud, sounding boom of the trumpets calling order, the gates to heaven creaking open to let its wonders out, and (of course), the almighty I AM. Enjoy the symphony of sound, and may you use the organ to paint many a story with this work!