Mar

27

Composer Daniel Kellogg and SDG Exe. Dir. Chandler Branch interviewed on Prime Time America

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Prime Time America, a nationally syndicated radio program produced by Moody Radio in Chicago, will broadcast a two-part series of interviews this week highlighting the work of Soli Deo Gloria. The first of two interviews will air today, Thursday, March 27, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. CT, and will feature discussion with composer Daniel Kellogg, whose SDG-commissioned oratorio The Fiery Furnace will be premiered next month by the San Diego Symphony. Kellogg’s interview will be followed by a broadcast at the same time on Friday, March 28, featuring an interview with Soli Deo Gloria’s Executive Director, Chandler Branch.

CLICK HERE to tune into Prime Time America live via the internet, or CLICK HERE for a listing of syndicate radio stations.

Mar

19

Discussing Jacob Bancks’ SDG-commissioned piano concerto

Filed Under Bancks: Lumen de Lumine, Videos, Commissions | Leave a Comment

In the video below, conductor Delta David Gier, Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, speaks with composer Jacob Bancks and Chandler Branch, Executive Director of Soli Deo Gloria, on the subject of Bancks’ SDG-commissioned piano concerto, Lumen de Lumine.



Click here for more information on Lumen de Lumine. For photos, videos and personal reflections on the project, visit Chandler Branch’s blog.

Mar

14

Composer Jacob Bancks comments on ‘Lumen de Lumine’

Filed Under Bancks: Lumen de Lumine, Concerts, Commissions | Leave a Comment

Rising American composer Jacob Bancks recently commented on his SDG-commissioned piano concerto, Lumen de Lumine. The world premiere of Bancks’ new work will take place on March 15 and 16, 2008, with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and pianist and co-commissioner William Phemister.

Lumen de Lumine (2008), concerto for piano and orchestra,
in memoriam Olivier Messiaen
Commissioned by Soli Deo Gloria, Inc.
and pianist William Phemister
Program Notes by the Composer

The primary inspiration for Lumen de Lumine (Latin, “Light from Light”) is the Easter Vigil service, which is celebrated annually by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians around the world on the evening preceding Easter Sunday. The Vigil is the longest and most complex Mass of the church year, often exceeding three hours in length, and is both extraordinarily powerful for those in attendance and challenging for those in charge (I speak from experience, as Director of Music at St. John Berchmans Church in Chicago).

What I have found most striking about this Mass, beyond its length and complexity, is the sheer variety of rituals that comprise the evening’s proceedings. Beginning with a fire outside of the church, the service includes a candle-lit procession; the chanting of the Exultet (an ancient Easter proclamation); seven readings from the Hebrew Scriptures; two readings from the New Testament; and, as if all of that weren’t enough, the celebrations of baptism, confirmation, and Holy Communion.

In writing Lumen de Lumine, I haven’t so much attempted to present the listener with a musical “summary” or “narrative” of the Easter Vigil, as much as I’ve tried to compose music that captures the overall effect of the evening’s various rites. The Vigil opens with a ceremonial procession from darkness to light; likewise, the opening moments of my concerto are very solemn in character, with many angular musical gestures, like light piercing the darkness. The second half of the first movement flows much more freely; this mirrors the storytelling of the seven readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, which form something of a history of the world, beginning with the creation account in Genesis.

The second movement, much more energetic in character, represents one of the truly distinctive elements of the Vigil. The word Alleluia, considered by Christians to be the highest and most exuberant word of praise to God, is traditionally neither sung nor spoken for the forty days preceding Easter, in accordance with the self-denial of the Lenten season. At the Easter Vigil, just before the reading of the resurrection account, the Alleluia is reborn; it is this joyful new beginning I’ve attempted to capture in music.

One additional note: Lumen de Lumine was commissioned in memory of French composer Olivier Messiaen, who was born a century ago this year. Messiaen was an extraordinarily gifted composer, keyboardist, teacher, and person of faith, and his music pushed all limits of harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and form, all the while maintaining warmth, depth, and sincerity. He is one of my musical heroes.

Mar

16

2nd performance of Jacob Bancks’ “Lumen de Lumine”

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March 16, 2008
2:30 pm

The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra presents the world premiere of composer Jacob Bancks’ SDG-commissioned piano concerto Lumen de Lumine. Music Director Delta David Gier conducts. The program will also feature Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem. For tickets, phone the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra at (605) 335-7933, or click here to purchase tickets online. For more information on Jacob Bancks and the Lumen de Lumine commission, click here.

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