Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin
Performance in the Hockett Family Recital Hall at Ithaca College
Ithaca, NY – 04/19/2017

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Miserere is the first word in Latin of Psalm 51, which could be translated to “Have mercy” or “Have pity.” I composed MISERERE for solo violin after a period in which I had not completed any music — if the reader could only imagine what it means for a creator not to have the time or energy to create!

When I sat down to write this quasi-rhapsodic work, I found myself reciting not the first word “Miserere” of this psalm, but rather the hopeful verse “Domine, labia mea aperies: et os meum anuntiabit laudem tuam” (O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy praise). Still unsure why this came to my mind when I started composing after 10 months: the only reason I can think of is that this is the invitation recited in the catholic liturgy (in which I was raised), at the beginning of the first rite in the morning. As I was to begin a new era in Ithaca, NY, and as I had sharpened my pencils and readied my papers to compose once again, I prayed for music to pour forth from my heart once more.

It is my hope, then, that both performer and listener can find in MISERERE a sonic landscape in which feelings of vulnerability and humility come forth. Most importantly, at the end of the work the ascending melody can be heard as an awakening back into life — I am creating once more. I am alive, and I am thankful.

MISERERE was composed for and dedicated to Peter Sheppard Skærved, with all my gratitude.

Ithaca, NY – November 2016

"Miserere" for solo violin (Live @ Ithaca College 04/19/2017)

Emmanuel Berrido