Behold the Rising of the Son

Paul Mealor's Behold A Tender Babe is a work for Unaccompanied SATB Choir commissioned by the Hauser-Oberschneider family to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Summer Fields School. The work sets extracts from Robert Southwell's 'In Freezing Winter Night' and lasts around 4 minutes. A review in the September 2016 issue of Organist's Review states that the 'music responds sensitively and dramatically to the lines of the lyric it chooses to set rising triumphantly at the words 'with joy approach' before gently falling away as it repeatedly insists 'behold a tender babe'.' No less difficult but also no less rewarding is PaulMealor’s Behold a tender babe written a year earlier. But it is carefully written so that the difficulties are manageable. The two places where sopranos have a top C are the only points where sopranos divide so only the first sopranos ascend there. The music follows the details of the words with drama at ‘do homage to thy King’ and then falling away most beautifully to ‘behold a babe’. - Julian Elloway

No. 3 from Four Prayers from the High Holyday Liturgy-Four Prayers from the High Holyday Liturgy.I. Hayom Harat Olam (11908)II. Ayl Melech Yoshayv (11909)III. Uv'shofar Gadol (11910)IV. Avinu Malkaynu Chanayno (11911)Hinay Yom Hadin (Behold The Day Of Judgement) is a suite of four choruses comprising settings of some of the most important prayers of the Jewish High Holyday Liturgy. These may be performed together or seperately in concert or if desired at the appropriate Service in a Temple or Synagogue.The holy season of the Jewish religious calender is unique because it does not celebrate a historical event nor any particular famous personage but is set aside as a period ofself-examination and re-evaluation for each individual believer. Legend tells on Rosh Hashana (the New Year) God opens the books which record all men's deeds and for ten days examines the course of every man's life during the past year. On Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) the books are closed and each man's fate is sealed until the next year. This allegorical vision should inspire every individual to scrutinize his life and resolve to better himself. The Jew firmly believes that God wants the repentance of the sinner so that he may live; therefore he believes that by penitence prayer and good deeds God's judgement can be swayed in his favour and he be inscribed in 'the book of life.'The four prayers were commissioned by Hazzan Samuel Rosenbaum and the Sisterhood of Temple Beth El Rochester New York.Uv'shofar Gadol is for SATB choir a cappella with Tenor soloist.

Easter bursts forth in full bloom with this new Larson seasonal anthem. The contemporary rhythmic language of the piece will lend itself well to the traditional/transitional church and the LiteTrax accompaniment CD gives directors an added performance option. Uplifting!