Joel Eric Suben

SSAA Chorus A Capella

Composer's Note:

Without regard to any possible liturgical function, both settings utilize Psalm texts associated with the liturgy of the first Sunday in Lent. Meditabor in fact incorporates as a cantus firmus a Plainchant tune from Liber Usualis. Compositional intent is, first, to exploit the sonic beauty of Latin; and second, to make music that is introspective yet suitable for public presentation. Performers and listeners will recognize at once the duality of the musical language, whose diatonic, sometimes overtly tonal, component yields frequently to chromatic inflection for the purpose of intensifying expressiveness in context. This work is dedicated to Christine Howlett and the Vassar College Women's Chorus.