Psalm 150 - VCU (1996)

Psalm 150 - lively gospel anthem
TNR: baritone solo TM: soprano solo FRIENDS: choir, djembe, tambourine

Hallelujah! Praise the LORD! Praise him. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise God in his holy temple; praise him in his temple in heaven with trumpet sounds, with lute and harp. Praise God for his acts of power, praise him for his excellent greatness. Praise God for his mighty deeds, praise him for all his greatness with drums and dance, with strings and reeds.
Praise ye the Lord, praise God in his sanctuary, praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts, praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with the sound of the trumpets, praise him with the psaltery and the harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance, praise him with stringed instruments and horns! Praise him upon the loud cymbals, praise him with the high sounding cymbals! Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.
Let everything that breathes - praise the Lord!

mp3 download

Commissioned by Toni Klughart for Resurrection Lutheran church choir, who chose the verse; it premiered at their Homecoming Evening Service (1996).
Recorded during my VCU Composition Recital (2001): me as male soloist, female soloist Terri Murphy, and our friends for backup choir, djembe.

How Oft, O Lord, Thy Face Hath Shown - VCU (1999)

How Oft, O Lord, Thy Face Hath Shown - personalized hymn
TNR: baritone MW: tenor AW: alto TM: soprano

How oft, O Lord, Thy face hath shone on doubting souls whose wills were true! Thou Christ of Peter and of John, thou art the Christ of Thomas too. He loved Thee well, and calmly said, "Come, let us go, and die with Him." Yet when Thine Easter-news was spread, 'mid all its light his faith was dim. His brethren's word he would not take, but craved to touch those hands of Thine. When thou didst thine appear and spake, he saw and hailed his Lord divine. O Savior, make Thy presence known to all who doubt Thy word in Thee; and teach us in that word alone to find the truth that sets us free. Amen.

mp3 download

While Minister of Music at Saint David's Episcopal, I chose music based on scripture within the liturgical year. For Easter, I sympathized with these hymn lyrics of religious doubt, resetting them for my adult choir.
Recorded during my VCU Composition Recital (2001): me as baritone, Matt Wenninger singing tenor, alto Amy Daugherty Wenninger and jazz soprano Terri Murphy.

For the Beauty of the Earth - VCU (1998)

For the Beauty of the Earth - familiar lyrics reset
MW: baritone TNR: tenor AW: alto TM: soprano

For the beauty of the earth, for the Glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies: Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light:
For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind's for the mystic linking sense to sound and sight:
For each perfect gift of Thine, to our race so freely given, graces human and divine, flowers of earth and buds of Heaven:

mp3 download
In hymn writing, it's typical to name the melody specifically, as it may be switched out to various lyrics and verses. This Ronda Melody was named for my mom in 1998.
Grabbing the attention of Saint David's Episcopal, Richmond, this hymn landed my first directing job as their Minister of Music. Each week we had something of mine performed by either kid's band or adult choir, plus I'd sing regularly and perform on various instruments (flute, clarinet, djembe, trumpet, guitars, piano, mandolin, flugelhorn, etc.) - a fantastic learning experience. Regrettably, I hadn't yet a recording studio.
Recorded here for my VCU Composition Recital (2001): baritone Matt Wenninger, T. Nathan Roane singing tenor, alto Amy Daugherty Wenninger and jazz soprano Terri Murphy.

Psalm 130 - VCU (1996)

Psalm 130 - sacred choral male fugue
TNR: bass MH: tenor ??: counter tenor

Out of the depths have I called to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice; let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
O Israel, wait for the LORD, for with the LORD there is mercy; O LORD; LORD, hear my voice.
If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand? For there is forgiveness with you; therefore you shall be feared.
I wait for the LORD; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope. My soul waits for the LORD, more than the watchmen for the morning.

mp3 download

A choral fugue of straight biblical text, performed in University Convocation (2000?). Singing above me are the amazing tenor Matt Hasmer, whose style always wet my eyes, and a red-headed counter tenor whose name I have regrettably forgotten but was blessed to work with at Centenary United Methodist, Virginia.
As with most of my sacred choral music, the lyrics were prayer to the God of my family, whom I was desperately yearning to also believe in.
Recorded poorly in mono, this was however the work's most accurate and passionate performance.

Psalm 69 - VCU (1996)

Psalm 69 - sacred choral anthem
TNR: baritone soloist BUM: choir

Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God Lord of Israel. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: when I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. Let the heaven and earth praise him.

mp3 download

My first church anthem written, premiered at my first church job (1995?) backed by the Berryman United Methodist choir. I'd come of age to question the religious beliefs of my childhood, found them lacking, and my young voice here offers authentic pleading for guidance, using text direct from the KJV. Recorded in mono onto cassette from the balcony, more professional performances later hadn't the same urgency.