- Mark Adamo
God's Grandeur (1996)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Programme Note
Text:
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Composer Note:
God's Grandeur makes a companion piece to Pied Beauty, the first Gerard Manley Hopkins poem on ecstatic themes that I’ve set for choir. While Pied Beauty seemed a quiet hymn to me, God's Grandeur read like a scene from awe to despair to an ecstasy of gratitude in one taut sonnet. That's why this piece seemed to need its own substantial, quasi-orchestral piano part, as opposed to unaccompanied motet style of Pied Beauty; and why God's Grandeur's vocalism ranges from fiery fanfare to desolate recitative to conclude, at last, in bright chorale.
Mark Adamo
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Composer Note:
God's Grandeur makes a companion piece to Pied Beauty, the first Gerard Manley Hopkins poem on ecstatic themes that I’ve set for choir. While Pied Beauty seemed a quiet hymn to me, God's Grandeur read like a scene from awe to despair to an ecstasy of gratitude in one taut sonnet. That's why this piece seemed to need its own substantial, quasi-orchestral piano part, as opposed to unaccompanied motet style of Pied Beauty; and why God's Grandeur's vocalism ranges from fiery fanfare to desolate recitative to conclude, at last, in bright chorale.
Mark Adamo