1/26/2024 – Ravens weekend!!!
Good evening folks,
As the excitement for the Ravens game is building, so is my excitement for this semester! Tuesday’s rehearsal was so much fun and it was great to see your smiling faces and to meet new folks. I am so looking forward to teaching and singing this music and I am also psyched about the folks who will be working with us.
I had a long meeting today with Stephen Holmes who is hosting us on March 9. It is going to be such a special day! Also, he will be working with us on the Durufle on April 9 which will be very helpful going into the concert weekends.
At the end of this note is the letter that I received from Roger Holland. I thought you would enjoy reading the background of this piece. Also, on Tuesday, Mark and David will be giving us some insight into Maurice Durufle and his wife. Just another glimpse into the man and his Requiem!
Now for the schedule for this upcoming Tuesday rehearsal:
7. Finish Lord Make me an Instrument.
Note there are a couple changes from the syllabus.
Have a great weekend, practice joyfully and enjoy the game!!!
-Marty
Hi Marty,
I am honored that you all will be performing the piece. This particular composition is one that is very dear to me, and one I am very proud of.
The inspiration for the piece came at a time when I was recording my home church choir – Our Lady of Charity Mass Choir of Our Lady of Charity RC Church in Brooklyn, NY. I was looking for original music to record and was in the process of writing some original pieces of my own to contribute to the project. This is one of six original pieces I contributed to the 12-song project. During this period, the father of friend passed away. Br. Tyrone A. Davis, C.F.C. (Congregation of Christian Brothers) is the Director of the Office of Black Ministry for the Archdiocese of New York. I have known him for many years, since I was a teenager at Our Lady of Charity. When Br. Tyrone’s father, James E. Davis passed away, he asked if I would play for the funeral, which, of course, I agreed to. At the funeral, as is typical, palm cards were distributed that had a picture of the deceased on one side and the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi on the other. (We now know that St. Francis did not write this prayer, but it has been attributed to him.) Though I was familiar with the prayer, something struck me in that moment. Almost immediately the opening melody came to me. When I got home I finished setting the text that day.
The song was the concluding track on the CD, not counting the bonus track we added. I orchestrated the piece and we recorded the song using MIDI instruments. Later, when recording music for my first full project for GIA Publications, Inc. titled “Building Up the Kingdom,” I partnered with GIA in financing the project and recorded the song with live instruments. Around 2001, James Abbington began the African American Church Music Series, an octavo series that GIA publishes and for which Abbington serves as editor. Abbington approached me about contributing compositions to this new series that would highlight the work of African Americans. I agreed and submitted two compositions which were accepted; “Lord, Make Me an Instrument” and a hymn arrangement – “The Church’s One Foundation.” Both were accepted for publication. I was probably the only person to have two compositions published in the first round of works published in the AACMS. “Lord, Make Me an Instrument” was also included in the first group of pieces recorded from the series in the collection “Stop By, Lord.”
I tried to use music to mirror the juxtapositions inherent in the text: “where there is hatred, let me sow love.” The language changes midway through and is in two sections: “grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console.” Then, “for it’s in giving that we receive.” The text seemed to evoke a call-and-response structure, and pairing of phrases, so I endeavored to create music that did the same thing. In terms of musical style, I’m a classically trained pianist who loves gospel music. In my opinion, this composition evinces my training and love for both.
I hope this is helpful.
Roger
And to make you smile!!!