Miserere

For SATB Choir, Duration: 7:30
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MISERERE is a setting of verses from Psalm 51. Written at a pivotal moment in his life, David, King of Israel, confronts his own capacity for sinfulness and the harm it has wrought in the lives of others. But in its later verses the prayer turns to a hopeful, even serene realization that in repentance lies the promise of forgiveness and restoration. My setting is structured to underscore these two contrasting aspects of the Psalm. A relatively unsettled first half explores the ramifications of dualities such as good and evil, man and God; the second half gives way to music of great purity and serenity, climaxing in a canon of eight parts (four in the male voices, four in the female). Musical symbolism associated with the sacred music of Bach - including such devices as the "Kreuz" ("Cross") motif and number symbolism - figures prominently in the score's principal ideas.
Completed in August of 2004, MISERERE is dedicated to my children, Christian and Genevieve.

This performance took place on May 22, 2007 by the Mt. Eden High School Chamber Choir, Ken Rawdon, director.

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Text of Miserere

Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam

misericordiam tuam: et secundum

multitudinem miserationem tuarum,

dele iniquitatem meam.

Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea, et

a peccato meo munda me.

Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego conosco,

et peccatum meum

contra me est semper.

Cor mundum crea in me, Deus,

et spiritum rectum innova

in visceribus meis.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great

mercy: and according to

the multitude of thy tender mercies,

blot out my iniquity.

Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and

cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge all my transgressions,

and my sins

are always before me.

Create a clean heart in me, O God,

and renew a right spirit

deep within me.

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