Commissioned by Mark Trautman and the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, Elegy is inspired by 1 Corinthians 15:51–52, which beautifully conveys the mystery that surrounds the moment of death. "We shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye … " Christians find the enclosing passage comforting because it speaks to the resurrection of the faithful. However, the excerpt speaks to a Universal truth. Each of us will face a great mystery, a moment of transformation. We will cross a boundary between life and death, and “in that moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” the world will be forever changed. Our only glimpse into this profound mystery is the death a loved one. Whether what happens after death is a resurrection or a reincarnation, or simply the continuation of life for the living, when we lose a loved one, these outcomes are tempered by the poignant, bittersweet emotion of loss.


Elegy for String Orchestra

Composed for my dear colleague Laura Brooks Rice, Echo is a setting of Christina Rossetti's iconic poem for two-part women's chorus and piano. This is a live performance of the Drake University Women's Chorus. The work is published by G. Schirmer.

Echo

Commissioned by James Jordan for Westminster Choir College's annual Christmas program Readings and Carols, Who is this King of Glory features Solid Brass in an instrumental number that occurs during the changing positions of various choirs. It features an unusual meter—3+2+3/8—which reflects the eagerness and anticipation of Advent.

The recording was made during a live performance in the Princeton University Chapel. The score and parts are available directly from the composer and the recording from GIA [https://giamusic.com/resource/westminster-choir-college-an-evening-of-readings-and-carols-recording-1141?artist=6JxWMhvIsvIm]

Who is this King of Glory

James Kantor was a much-beloved, talented student and friend. This SATB a cappella arrangement was commissioned by him for his graduate recital. The performance is from that concert with James conducting. The piece contains a little joke. When the song's maiden asks who knocks at her window, the answer is 'Tis James! 'Tis James! For many reasons, this produced smiles and giggles. The work is published by G. Schirmer.

Arise! Arise!

Three Simple Settings is about youthful love — lost, mourned, and then found anew. The first movement evokes the solemn, haunting sounds of chanting singers floating across the waters.

Song
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

HEAR, sweet spirit, hear the spell,	
Lest a blacker charm compel!	
So shall the midnight breezes swell	
With thy deep long-lingering knell.	
 
And at evening evermore,
In a Chapel on the shore,	
Shall the Chaunters sad and saintly,	
Yellow tapers burning faintly,	
Doleful Masses chaunt for thee,	
  Miserere Domine!
 
Hark! the cadence dies away	
  On the quiet moonlight sea:	
The boatmen rest their oars and say,	
  Miserere Domine!

Song, Three Simple Settings, mvt. 1

Three Simple Settings is about youthful love — lost, mourned, and then found anew. Long Ago recalls the passion of love lost, the sounds of its rejoicing fading away into a poignant remorse.

Long Ago
Paul Hamilton Hayne

	HERE, long ago,
While the fair River in its spring-time flow,
	Murmured with happy voice
	“Rejoice! Rejoice!”
While youth’s full pulses thrilled within our breasts,
Far from life’s hopeless calms, or fierce unrests,
	We told our love;
The April sunset heaven was bright above,
	The earth below
Most beautiful — but this was long ago,
	Long, very long ago.


Long Ago, Three Simple Settings, mvt. 2

Three Simple Settings is about youthful love — lost, mourned, and then found anew. This setting of Blake's classic poem is brimming with joy, hope, and exhilaration. Because the work might be sung by various ensembles, such as a boychoir or women's chorus, substitute wording is offered, but not required.

Song
William Blake

FRESH from the dewy hill, the merry year 
Smiles on my head and mounts his flaming car; 
Round my young brows the laurel wreathes a shade 
And rising glories beam around my head.

My feet are wing'd while o'er the dewy lawn
I meet my maiden(1) risen like the morn.
Oh bless those holy feet, like angels' feet;
Oh bless those limbs, beaming with heavenly light!

Like as an angel glittering in the sky 
In times of innocence and holy joy; 
The joyful shepherd stops his grateful song 
To hear the music of an angel's tongue. 

So when she(2) speaks, the voice of Heaven I hear; 
So when we walk, nothing impure comes near; 
Each field seems Eden, and each calm retreat; 
Each village seems the haunt of holy feet.
 
But that sweet village, where my black-eyed maid(3) 
Closes her(4) eyes in sleep beneath night's shade, 
Whene'er I enter, more than mortal fire 
Burns in my soul, and does my song inspire.

If desired, the following word substitutions may be employed.

(1) maiden ~ lover
(2) she ~ he
(3) maid ~ fay (meaning fairy, sprite, enchanted spirit)
(4) her ~ his


Song, Three Simple Settings, mvt. 3

Recordings of my music have a tendency to go off the rails. Thus, this work is rendered with the help of my faithful machine. The work is available from G. Schirmer.
 
Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, in truth and love. Amen. — Based on 2 John 3

Grace Be With You

In the Eyes of the Shadow was composed following the tragic death of my student while teaching at the University of Alabama. The first movement ponders the feelings of shock and the unexpected. This movement, Light, brings an indomitable energy in defiance of Fate. The recording is from the premiere performance by the University of Alabama Wind Ensemble under the baton of Robert Bernhardt, long-time principal pops conductor of the Louisville Symphony Orchestra. The piece is available from the composer.

In the Eyes of the Shadow: Light

Joel Phillips taught at Westminster Choir College for 39 years. He is co-author of several textbooks in W. W. Norton’s Musician’s Guide series, including The Musician's Guide to Fundamentals, now the mostly widely used musical text in its market. His crowning achievement was becoming the 2015 Grand Prize Winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest [https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2015], an international competition that selects from among thousands of entries the proposed opening sentence to the worst(!) of all possible novels.

Elegy for String Orchestra

Joel Phillips

Related tracks