« Psaume de Joie »
« Psalm of Joy »

1998
Durée : 10 minutes

Commissioned by the « Societé des Concerts de l’Ecole Nationale de Musique et de Danse de Saint-Omer », this piece premiered in Saint-Omer Cathedral, with François Bocquelet as choir-master, within the context of a series of concerts « Saint-Omer en Musique ».
It was composed for a four-part amateur chorus (Soprani, Contralti, Tenors, Bass), two stands of percussion and double-bass.

List of percussion instruments :
Stand 1 : Glockenspiel, Marimba, 2 suspended cymbals, 1 tam-tam, 1 snare drum
Stand 2 : Vibraphone, 1 tom-tom, 1 kettledrum, 5 chinese blocks, 1 pedal-operated bass drum (from a drum set).

The text, extracted from the Bible, is the Psalm XXXIII in the « Poetic Books ».
The chosen french translation was made by Louis Segond in 1874.
Beyond its literary merits, it is out of copyright.
This is advantageous when it comes to using words for a setting to music : there is no permission to ask, and one can feel free to solve some problems inherent in french language : specially the « e » mute and some liaisons between words.
The will of composing music rather easy to sing and perform was always prevailing.
It is a modal-coloured language.
The polyphony is sustained by the marimba and the vibraphone.

Unpublished. Ask the score to the composer

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