Soli Deo Gloria

The Psalms Project

“[A]mong all the books, the Psalter has certainly a very special grace, a choiceness of quality well worthy to be pondered . . . within it are represented and portrayed in all their great variety the movements of the human soul. It is like a picture, in which you see yourself portrayed and, seeing, may understand and consequently form yourself upon the pattern given.”
—Athanasius, c. 293-373 – On the Incarnation

“The Lord is my shepherd.” 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.”

For thousands of years, the words of the Hebrew Psalter have comforted and inspired us, helped us wrestle with our fears and frustrations, expressed our deepest sorrows and joys.  No emotion is too painful, no spiritual state too raw to be untouched by the Psalms. Few bodies of world literature equal the capacity of the Psalms to articulate the human spiritual experience, from questioning to praising, from begging to thanking. 

“They [the Psalms] are the water-jugs containing the heavenly wine and keeping it fresh and undiluted . . . They are a most abundant store, the fecundity of which cannot be exhausted, although so many peoples of the earth drink of it.”
—Cassiodorus, c. 485-585 – Exposition of the Psalms

The Psalms form a core part of worship for the Judeo-Christian community. The collection of 150 Psalms provides a biblical template for sung and spoken prayer that has shaped the entire liturgical tradition, from chants to anthems, from meditations to responsive readings. From a musical standpoint, the universal relevance of Hebrew Psalter seems to evoke—even demand—a creative artistic response.

“Given the quantity and quality of this musical corpus of psalmody, why solicit a new collection of settings? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that each succeeding generation has found its own concerns mirrored in and interpreted by these texts on a deep level.”
—Peter Bannister

It is for all these reasons and more that Soli Deo Gloria initiated the Psalms Project to invite some of the leading composers of our time to allow their imaginations to be fired by the Psalms’ depth of expression and continuing relevance to a 21st century audience.

Listen to Peter Bannister, Program Director for the Psalms Project, as he describes the vision and hopes for the project.

Peter Bannister comments on the Psalms Project.
Audio courtesy of Greg Wheatley and Prime Time America, Moody Radio.

(Click here for Peter Bannister’s written introduction to the Psalms Project.)

 

The Scope of the Psalms Project

The Psalms Project started with the concept of commissioning a series of choral works based on Psalm texts, suitable for fine church choirs, and our first commissioned piece was premiered in 2009: Daniel Kellogg’s “Preserve Me, O God,” based on Psalm 16. [See the sidebar to hear this work]

Additional commissions were already in process when we received the news from Lilly Endowment, Inc. that they had approved our proposal for a grant to support a three-year pilot program to enlarge the Psalms Project. With this grant, SDG will commission a total of 15 new Psalm settings from composers who represent a broad geographical and denominational scope (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish), with a mixture of established and younger composers who demonstrate a commitment to the highest musical standards. Each work will be between four to eight minutes in duration, set in English, Latin or Hebrew, and suitable for a fine church/synagogue, semi-professional or academic choir. Our intent is to work with composers who, despite their high professional standing at an international level, may be somewhat unfamiliar names in North American church music circles, in the belief that these fresh voices can be a source of artistic and liturgical renewal.

Yet the scope of the Psalms Project is much more than the commission and performance of 15 new works. The Psalms Project will provide opportunities for people to engage with the Psalms not only by listening to the performance of new musical works, but also by participating in workshops and presentations. We hope to enhance the impact of these Psalm settings with contextualization events that include workshops, composer residencies, guest speakers, presentations, essays and discussions in which pastoral leaders, parishioners, composers, Bible and music scholars and theologians together explore the contemporary relevance of the Psalms, with the aim of enriching scriptural reflection and the experience of worship.

During the three-year pilot project (from May 2011 to May 2014), we will be selecting three principal worshipping communities to expand the musical performance with these contextualization events. One composer of a Psalm will spend two weeks in residency in these locations, and leaders in theology and biblical scholarship will be invited to interact with the community in a variety of formats, including speaking engagements, panel discussions, question-and-answer sessions. Ultimately, the “pilot” nature of the Psalms Project is to see and understand the impact these musical works and surrounding workshops, presentations, essays and discussions have on the life of the Church, and on the choral community at large. What new spiritual territory do the Psalms introduce? How do new musical experiences affect performers and listeners alike?

In addition to these principal churches, we will invite seven other venues to participate by interacting with the composer who created the Psalm setting to be premiered at their church, with the composer onsite for rehearsals and the premiere. We hope to engage the congregation and choir on a deeper level with the music being performed.

 

The Goal of the Psalms Project

Under the direction of the Psalms Project Program Director, Peter Bannister (see sidebar for more about Bannister), we are looking forward to generating new resources for the life of the church in music. We believe there is fresh opportunity for music to play an important role in revitalizing congregations in the United States and abroad.

The ultimate intent of the Psalms Project is to impact the revitalization of faith communities in the United States and abroad by

• Supporting church musicians and pastoral leaders in their affirmation of the importance of artistic quality and human creativity within worship.
• Stimulating individual and corporate reflection on the role of the Psalter, poetry and music in the life of communities of faith through workshops, presentations and publications exploring the Psalms in the widest possible context.
• Reconnecting the liturgical life of Christian worship with contemporary composers of international stature.
• Enriching the repertoire of new choral music available for performance by church choirs, as well as concert-oriented and academically-based performing ensembles.

It is our deepest hope that the Psalms Project will not only bring renewal to worship settings but also will stimulate reflection on the poetry of the Psalter. Our goal is to make it possible for the works to published and heard (on CD and the Internet), to disseminate guest speaker presentations, essays, and program notes, and to produce a commercial recording of the 15 Psalm settings. We believe that enormous potential exists for faith communities to be nourished by these new gems of sacred music.

Program Director, Peter Bannister

Peter Bannister, SDG’s Associate Artistic Director and Composer-in-Association, is held in high regard internationally for his work as a composer and performer and his perceptive research and scholarship combining musicology and theology. Born in London, Bannister studied at King's College, Cambridge and as a French Government scholar in Paris, where he currently lives. He has been the winner of several prizes at national and international level as a performer and composer. As a solo pianist and organist, he has appeared with orchestras and in recital in a wide variety of European and American venues; his catalog as a composer comprises orchestral, choral, chamber and solo vocal and instrumental music, with performances, commissions and broadcasts in Europe and the U.S.

Follow Peter Bannister’s reflections online at “Da stand das Meer: a music and theology weblog.”