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Richard Wayne Dirksen Centenary

Richard Wayne Dirksen Centenary

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The Temper

Setting of Herbert’s poem for SATB, orchestra, piano solo, and five (5) chanting choirs. Composed for the 60th anniversary of the National Cathedral School and involving all 380 students.

Genre: Extended Works
D No: 803
Text - Author or Scripture: George Herbert (1593–1632)
Performing Forces: See NOTES
Date Published: MS
Date of Composition: 1960
Notes: Words by George Herbert. Scored for flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet, strings, percussion, timpani and piano. No piano vocal score has yet been made. The piece was taught in sections and then brought together in two rehearsals: one with the orchestra and glee clubs, and one final dress with all the speaking “grades” on risers around the center of the crossing. It was composed for the sixtieth anniversary of the National Cathedral School for Girls and offered as a tribute to the school and its students, teachers, administrators, and supporters past and present. The challenge posed was how to involve all three-hundred-and-eighty girls in the school from the fourth through the twelfth grades. What do students do best and most wholeheartedly and together? They cheer! They love the excitement of contests. This text seemed eminently suitable for breaking up into many cheers! — many exciting exhortations in the racking contest between the mighty clutching stretch of God and the desperately aspiring reach of humankind. The glee clubs (the boys’ school helping) and the chamber orchestra with lots of drums and a forceful solo piano part played by Father Russell Woollen, likewise gave the whole the shape of a hard battle. It has not been performed again—a pity! [Performance time 12 minutes.]
Score:

803 The Temper

The first and only performance 


Categorized as: 800 Extended Works
Tagged as: orchestra full, SATB, trebles

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