898 Hildegard for SATB and Orchestra – newly revised version for Las Vegas Philharmonic April 1, 2017

I recently revised 898 Hildegard for SATB and Orchestra, and very excited about this new version! The premiere of the original version for the Genesee Valley Orchestra June 3-4, 2016 was a success, and thrilled with their performance. I realized after hearing it that I still wanted to re-visit a couple sections: the climactic point and the ending of the piece. Knowing that I could have the opportunity to incorporate harp for the Las Vegas Philharmonic premiere April 1, 2017, this opened up many more creative possibilities for me, and decided to completely re-write the ending to feature the harp, clarinet, and flute.

Audio recording at this time is not available. For an idea of the piece, here is a MIDI realization:

898 Hildegard pg 2898 Hildegard pg. 3898 Hildegard pg 25898 Hildegard was commissioned by the Genesee Valley Community Orchestra to honor their founder, Sister Virginia Hogan, through the verse and melody of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). The title is borrowed from the name of a planetoid in our solar system, 898 Hildegard, thus connecting civilization’s ancient cosmos with the one that it continues to discover. I used excerpts from her chants “O Vis Eternitatis” and “O Gloriosissimi Lux Vivens Angeli,” in which the text is about eternity and angels. Then, I listened to the recordings of these chants on the Hildegard Society website (www.hildegard-society.org), and transcribed the performances in order to learn how these chants are presented rhythmically. After studying the intricate details of both chants, I then intertwined the original chant material with my own variations throughout, melding it together into a through-composed composition that not only displays my compositional style, but also highlights these beautiful chants by Hildegard von Bingen.

898 Hildegard was first premiered in Rochester, NY June 3-4, 2-16, and later revised for premiere by the Las Vegas Philharmonic April 1, 2017 at the Smith Center. http://lvphil.org/concert_schedule/performance.php?ID=69

http://lasvegasweekly.com/ae/2016/apr/05/las-vegas-philharmonic-2016-2017-season-star-wars/

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