I am happy to share this setting of the powerful verses on love, contained in the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians - a community torn by dissension and strife. I composed the original version, for SSATB chorus, in 2000; this arrangement for tenor solo was completed in summer of 2022. The beautiful and moving performance is by Adam Griffiths. Scores are available for purchase (print or download) at www.jwpepper.com. Best wishes to all!

The Greatest Of These Is Love - Tenor Solo

Jesu Crist, Myn Leman Swete (SATB)

Composed in 2002, this work was first performed in February, 2003. This is a live recording of the premiere, performed by the Enid Symphony Orchestra (Oklahoma), conducted by Douglas Newell, with the myself at the piano. In the first movement I explored the concept of the piano and orchestra as characters in a series of dramatic dialogues that create the formal structure of the movement. Distant Places was inspired by my experience traveling extensively to Asia in my work outside of music. The entire movement is quite song-like, even the intense chant-like passages of the middle section, played fortissimo. A short transitional passage in the piano leads directly into A Joyous Dance. It is in the classical rondo form; the second theme is inspired by my affection for the music of India, and a brief homage to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy begins the coda.

Piano Concerto - II. Distant Places

This intense and haunting work evokes the ancient world of Crete and the myth of the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Perhaps I was drawn to the topic because my mind often appeared to be a labyrinth (or, more precisely, a maze); it still does. Knossos is in a sense a musical reflection on what it is like to be lost, disoriented and in fear of the beast. I composed Knossos in 1981 and put in slight revisions in 2024. 

Scores are available for purchase at https://www.subitomusic.com/product/newell-knossos/. For more information about my work visit www.johnnewellmusic.com.

Knossos

I am happy to share this scrolling-score video performance of my high energy rendition of Psalm 100, featuring driving syncopated rhythms and exciting but approachable harmonic changes. An experienced choir and organist will enjoy the challenge; the congregation will definitely wake up. 

The recording is by Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir Virtual Singers, directed by Clifford King; the beautiful photo seen at the beginning and the end is by Carol Petri on Unsplash. I will be happy to provide a reference copy free of charge to choral directors for their review. 

Scores are available for purchase (print or download) at www.jwpepper.com. For more information about my work visit www.johnnewellmusic.com. Best wishes to all!

Make A Joyful Noise

This is my setting of passages from Revelations of Divine Love,  written by the 14th–15th century mystic Julian of Norwich. Today it is widely acknowledged to be one of the great Christian spiritual classics.  Julian wrote the “short text” soon after she recovered from a severe illness and describes sixteen visions that she had received: revelations of God's infinite love. The second version (“long text”), written perhaps twenty years later, is a series of expansive meditations on what she had been shown. 

This work begins with a spoken passage, the very first words of her work, directly followed by a soliloquy that includes some of Julian's best known quotations (e.g. "all shall be well"). I chose to adapt Julian's language into modern English, while remaining as faithful as possible to the style and intent of her original text. 

The beautiful and moving performance is by Kiersten Honaker. Scores are available for purchase (print or download) at www.jwpepper.com. For more information about my work visit www.johnnewellmusic.com.

A Revelation Of Love

This is my setting of a powerful prayer written by the great mystic St. Catherine of Siena (1347 - 1380). My Nature Is Fire first appeared as the fourth movement of my dramatic cantata Children of the Light (2014), a nine-movement work for mixed chorus, soprano and baritone soloists and piano four-hands. For this standalone version of St. Catherine’s prayer I merely adapted the keyboard part for solo piano. 

The dramatic and moving performance is Emily Nelson, soprano and Clifford W. King, piano. Scores (print or download) are available for purchase  at www.jwpepper.com. For more information about my work visit https://johnnewellmusic.com.

My Nature Is Fire

This is my setting for chorus selected passages from Psalms 96 and 98. It is a joyous, high-energy song of praise, with a majestic concluding "Alleluia!"   

The recording is by Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir Virtual Singers, directed by Clifford King. The beautiful photo is by Kristine Zimmerman on Flickr; it is used with her permission. I will be happy to provide a reference copy free of charge to choral directors for their review.

Scores are available for purchase (print or download) at www.jwpepper.com. For more information about my work visit www.johnnewellmusic.com. Enjoy listening and best wishes to all!  

Sing Unto the Lord!

This is my setting of Veni Sancte Spiritus, the famous sequence sung during the celebration of Pentecost. I have chosen to use an English translation of the original Latin text in order to more immediately communicate the power and very personal quality of the message. The work is for unaccompanied SATB choir, with moments of divisi for all parts.   

The recording is by Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir Virtual Singers, directed by Clifford W. King. 

Scores are available for purchase (print or download) at www.jwpepper.com. I am happy to provide a reference copy free of charge to choral directors for their review. For more information about my work visit https://johnnewellmusic.com

Come, Holy Spirit



On the Way was composed, mostly, in late 2023, another period of transition in my life: leaving places I had known for the last dozen years, getting oriented to a new home somewhat near to where I had lived long ago, seeing once again places I had known but which were now different.

The movements:
I. From Fragments  
II. Lament  
III. Begin Anew  

A few words about the work:

I. From Fragments - A putting together of a dozen fragmentary musical ideas - motives, as they are called. These arose from brief thoughts that popped into my head one night. I memorized them and, early the next morning, I got up and scribbled them down; these “notes-to-self” became the rhythmic ideas that propel the movement. They are: “I want to be heard. Here I am. This is what I do. Put it on the paper. From fragments, a whole. Sit, something will come. Now. Put it together. In the dark it comes. Underneath it all the river flows. My harmony. What is in me.”

II. Lament - This movement is very simply a lament over the brutality of ongoing wars and the suffering they bring to the innocent: the loss of life, of loved ones, of home, of a future. Will there ever come a time when humankind will cease its inhuman behavior?

III. Begin Anew - The final movement was actually begun in September, 2021. It took awhile for me to know what to do with the lyrical primary theme, beginning in unison and using a pentatonic mode, something that I had never before used in my instrumental works. A more dissonant, driven conversation emerges but we return to the hopeful first theme, beginning anew.

The first performance was given in June, 2024 by di.vi.sion piano trio: Kurt Briggs (violin), Matthew Goeke (cello) and Renée Cometa Briggs (piano). Many thanks to the trio for their interest in my work, and a special shout-out to Kurt Briggs, who recorded and produced this performance.


III. Begin Anew

Sky Music was composed for my friend Armand Ambrosini, a wonderful clarinet player. He chose the ensemble, and the first performance took place in Oklahoma City. It’s obvious that I love the sky. A video that I created using the first movement, River of Clouds, is available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIkKLwYX1uw. For more information on this and other works of mine visit www.johnnewellmusic.com

V. Song Of The Mountains And The Sky

I am a contemporary classical composer whose objective is to create works that reflect my personal sensibility, and that are inspiring and rewarding for performers and listeners alike.

Having always pursued an independent creative path, I especially find inspiration in the beauty and wonder of nature and in what I learn from the world’s sacred traditions.

My recent efforts include works for chorus, solo instruments, orchestra, and chamber ensembles. Many more details are at my web site https://johnnewellmusic.com.

III. Begin Anew

John L. Newell

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