2F8DE4D9-FEE6-4BD3-B67F-79EFD51CD8B5

Update Delete

ID2F8DE4D9-FEE6-4BD3-B67F-79EFD51CD8B5
TitlecodeX741001
Title NameCelestial Meditations (Nine-Brass Choir and Organ)
Marketing CopyCelestial Meditations (2000) for organ and brass choir was written for and is dedicated to William Berg, Michael Stewart, and the Chicago Brass Choir, commissioned with a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Howard Skelman. The work is in one unbroken movement, divided into two sections. The score is prefaced by a quote by Thomas Traherne which served as the inspiration for the work.
InstrumentationOrgan, Brass Choir
CommissionCommissioned by the Chicago Brass Choir, February 2000.
Dedication(not set)
Program NotesCelestial Meditations (2000) for organ and brass choir was written for and is dedicated to William Berg, Michael Stewart, and the Chicago Brass Choir, commissioned with a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Howard Skelman. The work is in one unbroken movement. The score is prefaced by a quote by Thomas Traherne which served as the inspiration for the work.

"Your enjoyment of the world is never right, till every morning you awake in Heaven: see yourself in your Father's palace; and look upon the skies, the earth, and the air as celestial joys: having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among the angels." -- Thomas Traherne, 1672

The opening section is slow and contemplative -- the longing for paradise of a soul bound to earth (plodding through life). Glimpses of heavenly things come and go, but they are only fleeting visions -- not quite real. At Last, the "transport" begins -- a joyous outburst of motion, color, and light -- pressing on towards the "trumpet calls of heaven" and eternal glory.

The musical structure of the work is built around the mathematical Magic Square of the Sun (as expounded in 1533 by H. Cornelius Agrippa von Netysheim in his mathematical book De Occulta Philosophia). As the tonal structure of the square is traversed, it presses ever onward to the final D-flat tonality, which comes "out of nowhere" -- the final heavenly destination -- unlike anything that has come before. --Carson Cooman
Title Brand2
Year Composed2000
Copyright Number(not set)
Copyright Year(not set)
Duration8
Ensemble Size10
Date Created2008-10-31 20:33:20.000000
Date Updated2025-09-30 20:33:20
Inhouse Note(not set)
Bsc Code(not set)
Text Author(not set)
Premier Performance Memo-World Premiere. Chicago Brass Choir. Oct 2000.
Recording Credits(not set)
Review(not set)
Awards(not set)
Title Category1
Title Movements(not set)
Title Grade(not set)
Set Series ID(not set)
Title Instrument Category TextBrass Duo & Ensemble
Title Sub Category Text(not set)
Title Sub Category19
Title Instrument Header15
Title Grade Text(not set)
Clean Urlcelestial-meditations-x741001