Daron Hagen :: Works :: Choral

Joyful Music begins with a lengthy orchestral introduction, in which are heard the work's two main ideas: a lively and offbeat triplet theme heard in solo trumpet and vibraphone, and a more lyrical melody heard first in the flutes and the organ. A stretto passage closes this introduction, and the soprano enters above a rhythmically active background. The text is a simple expression of joy drawn from the Psalms of the Latin Bible: Laudate Deum; laudate eum ('Praise God; praise him'). The solo voice begins with a forceful invocation of this text, but continues in a more intimate style in introducing the lyrical main theme. When the chorus enters, it picks up this lyrical theme in a simple canon between women and men, sung above a sustained pedal point in the strings. The counterpoint becomes increasingly complex, with the soprano's lines arching above those of the chorus. In a sudden change of character, the men's voices introduce the lively music of the introduction. The mood becomes increasingly elated until a climactic Aleluia. A second orchestral passage begins with a trio of muted trumpet, vibraphone and flute. After this interlude creates a more subdued mood, a quartet of voices sings hushed but intense Aleluias beneath the soprano's more flowing phrases. Again, the chorus and orchestra build toward a climax; a feeling of exaltation remains until the work's closing Amen.

Commissioned by and Premiered by the Madison (WI) Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Symphony Chorus, Kitt-Reuter Foss, mezzo-soprano soloist, John Aley, trumpet soloist, conducted by Roland Johnson, Joyful Music was commissioned in honor of retiring Music Director Roland Johnson.

Reviews

Joyful Music grabbed attention instantly as John Aley's trumpet set out alone on an extended syncopated line that would build into a complex force throughout the work. Vibes, flute and soon many instruments all resounded around and through each other, almost verging on a brilliant chaos with no singer to be heard. Then her voice appeared, with a startling change of key, like the sound of a mother goddess demanding her many children to shush and listen. But Kitt Reuter-Foss quickly shifted to a warm, lyrical manner. And so the fluid 14-minute work grew, with a welter of contrapuntal lines rising in a lyrical mood to sudden and swerving key shifts. These changes marked the music's sumptuous form and character, as if this were all deep, shifting waves of the spirit. It felt like music of the present, uncertain and complex in its undercurrents, but driven by massed human forces that would muddle, rise again, persevere and rejoice for staying afloat. There are still untold depths of spirit to summon up here in America, as Joyful Music revealed."

--- Kevin Lynch, The Capital Times, Madison, WI, 12/6/93