Miserere

Miserere is a setting of verses from Psalm 50 (Psalm 51 in Protestant translations). Written at a pivotal moment in his life, King David 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.

The music 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 the use of number symbolism, figures prominently in the score's principal ideas.

Miserere is dedicated to my children, Christian and Genevieve.

From the composer's notes to In This Place (Enharmonic Records, 2013).