MacMillan “St. John Passion” premiere in Boston

Tonight marks the U.S. premiere of James MacMillan’s St. John Passion (not an SDG project), presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The BSO has a great collection of video and audio footage contextualizing this MacMillan piece at http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/content1.jsp?id=40900010 Also worth checking out is the collection of composer interviews currently featured on the BSO’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/bostonsymphony, which includes a brief bio on MacMillan and interviews with composers John Harbison and Osvaldo Golijov. Harbison comments on the musical history of the Passion genre. Golijov comments on the challenge of composing his acclaimed St. Mark Passion as a Jew approaching the Passion story.

In the video below, an interviewer asks MacMillan if he considers him (the interviewer) to be “Satan…the Devil in disguise”, a reference to MacMillan’s comments on anti-religious sentiment in the media. Interesting comments follow. What a way to kick off an interview!

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More on MacMillan’s media/religion-related comments here.

January 21, 2010 | Filed Under Interviews, Videos, New Music | Leave a Comment

echoes of joy

As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.

I love these words from the Hebrew Psalter. They express an ancient and uniquely human concern, one that grows with age—legacy. We all want our lives to count for something, and no one wants to be forgotten. Many of the folks I know have chosen to invest in the mission of SDG. What will that count for when “the wind passes over it”? Consider the ripple effects of this year alone:

“…one of the most exquisitely beautiful pieces I have heard in a long time…I felt absolutely transported into the very presence of God…It made me not want to even take a breath so as not to interrupt the sacredness of the moment.”

“I left the concert with a blessed feeling…music and words were so rich.”

“…today I can tell you with all security, that my life is different after the B minor Mass…”

“I have no words to express my happiness. I really felt God’s presence in every instrument, every voice, every movement of the hands of the conductor.”

I received an email from an arts organization last week encouraging me to “give the gift of music.” Indeed music is a great gift, one that leaves a lasting imprint on the soul. This is why the work of SDG matters immensely, even in our troubled 21st century world. SDG enriches lives through the most sublime and viscerally moving music imaginable, and as that music lives on it gives echo to the Psalmist’s cry:

But the steadfast love of the LORD
is from everlasting to everlasting…

What you do in the next 60 seconds can matter 60 years from now. As we approach the year’s end, I invite you to multiply the blessings of sacred music through giving to SDG. You can donate online, by mail or by phone at 630-984-4300. We count on you to help us bring joy to a listening world. It’s that simple.

Thank you for your support!

December 23, 2009 | Filed Under SDG general | Leave a Comment

Einstein and Beethoven

An interesting anecdote that recently came across my desk…

After his colleagues updated, as a seventy-fifth birthday gift, the music system they had given him five years earlier, Einstein began repeatedly to play an RCA recording of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. It was an unusual choice for two reasons. He tended to regard Beethoven, who was not his favorite composer, as “too personal, almost naked.” Also, his religious instincts did not usually include these sorts of trappings. “I am a deeply religious nonbeliever,” he noted to a friend who had sent him birthday greetings. “This is a somewhat new kind of religion.”

- From Walter Isaacson’s Einstein: His Life and Universe (Simon and Schuster, 2007)

…tracks well with Beethoven’s comment on composing Missa Solemnis:

My chief aim was to awaken and permanently instill religious feelings not only into the singers but also into the listeners.

November 23, 2009 | Filed Under Quotes | Leave a Comment

Recent highlights

Premiere of 'Mass for All Saints' - photo: Ed Inglod

So much has happened since I last took time to post here on my blog, which is not surprising since I haven’t done so since August! I marvel at people who have the time, creativity and worthwhile opinion to blog on a daily basis. That’s just not for me. But as best I can tell, life on planet earth seems to move along well with or without my blog so I won’t worry about it.

Things at SDG are seriously picking up momentum. Directing the organization has always been an engaging job, but especially so over the last year, and in the last few months the organization has crested a new energy level. Our board is especially fired up and engaged. Last month we had two day-long board meetings, the first of which focused exclusively on strategic planning for the future. Meetings like these always involve a lot of work in preparation but I really enjoy them (not sure the rest of the staff feels the same way!)

I consider composer/musicologist Peter Bannister’s appointment to the position of Associate Artistic Director a huge boost to our efforts. I actually teared up during our fall board meeting in voicing my respect and appreciation for Peter. He is a world-class composer of profound spiritual vision, and what he is doing for SDG by forging connections with composers, conductors and institutions is tremendously valuable.

Composer Jacob Bancks at the premiere of 'Mass for All Saints' - photo: Ed Ingold By this time tomorrow we will have celebrated two premieres in the last two months, both in the Chicago area. I’m overdue in reporting on the premiere of Jacob Bancks’ choral/orchestral Mass for All Saints, which was presented by the Millennium Chamber Players at St. John Berchmans Church on September 20. More news to follow soon on that project. I continue to be impressed Jacob Bancks. And I’m not the only one. The response of the audience in Chicago was telling. New music, even very well-written new music, isn’t always received so enthusiastically. Clearly, the composer connected with his audience. I’ve included here a few photos from the event (more here). I hope to be able to post audio clips from Mass for All Saints soon.

The move in process. A huge mess. Then there’s the re-location of our office, a minor detail, in some respects, in the evolution of SDG, but significant none the less. After nearly 15 years of operating out of a house in a beautiful, wooded neighborhood in West Chicago we’ve moved into an office building in Glen Ellyn and are already enjoying the convenience and ambience of the new location. Here’s the address:

Soli Deo Gloria, Inc.
800 Roosevelt Road A 100
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

We’ll host an open house sometime early next year. I look forward to having friends stop by and visit once we’ve gotten all the boxes unpacked, furniture in place and pictures on the walls. It’s been a major undertaking and made items of regular business more difficult to keep up with, but I’ve no doubt that it’s a step in the right direction for us.

Tonight I’ll take in the world premiere of a new choral work by composer Daniel Kellogg commissioned by SDG. Preserve Me, O God is the first in a series of short choral pieces we’re commissioning from leading composers based on the Psalms. I highly recommend Peter Bannister’s written intro to the Psalms Project, which you can download by clicking here. I’ve included below a bit of conversation on the project from a radio interview with Peter earlier this year.

SDG Associate Artistic Director Peter Bannister
comments on the Psalms Project:

Audio courtesy of Greg Wheatley and Prime Time America, Moody Radio.

I’m looking forward to visiting Lisbon next February for the DVD filming and live Internet broadcast of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. See http://sdgmusic.org/news/?p=203 and www.SDGmusic.org/Lisbon It promises to be a highlight. I enjoyed Minnesota Public Radio’s segment on the Missa Solemnis with the late American musicologist Michael Steinberg, which I’ve included here as well.