Advent Vespers Project
Solemn Vespers - the fully-sung evening service of psalms and hymns - is one of the oldest worship traditions in Christianity. For centuries, musicians have written music specifically for this service. The music of Vespers has expanded over the centuries from simple plainchant and hymns to festal choral anthems and instrumental works to even colossal operatic pieces. The worship service itself is very flexible: it can be led by an ordained minister, a non-ordained member of a Christian community, or corporately without hierarchical leadership. It can be fully-sung and musically ornate, spoken, or with a blending of the two. There can be room for preaching or silence. Few worshiping communities outside of monasteries regularly hold a Vespers service, and I am convinced this is at least in part because there are few readily-available resources to aid communities in singing this beautiful evening service.
Ritual music for Christian worship has been my favorite means of creativity since I first wrote short hymns and choral anthems for my home church in Fort Worth, Texas. I have written dozens of liturgical works, including Responsorial Psalms, Introits, Communion Antiphons, and Hymntunes. I am especially excited about writing pieces for the lesser-utilized worship services, like Vespers, Office of Readings, and Compline.
For this project, I will be writing a set of pieces to support the musical worship of Vespers for the four Sundays of Advent. The special season of preparation for Christmas can be a great opportunity for our communities to spend additional time in special worship, reflecting on the mysteries of God present in the world today. Over the coming years, I will be composing a series of pieces for Christian worship. While these will be based on Roman Catholic worship, they can all be easily adapted for many Christian traditions. I hope you will join me on this creative journey and that the works that come from it will enrich your worshiping communities.
The Components of This Composition Project
Antiphons and Psalm Tones
Four sets of choral Antiphons with harmonized Psalm Tones
The Psalms are at the heart of the Vespers service. Each of the four Sundays of Advent have their own assigned Psalms framed by an Antiphon that helps frame the Psalm in the Advent story. I will compose antiphon settings for chorus and Psalm tones that can be sung by the chorus, the congregation, or in alternation. I will also select a handful of the Psalms settings to be recomposed as Responsorial Psalms so that they can be easily adapted to other worship contexts.
Hymn Tunes
New hymn tunes to familiar Advent texts
The tradition of singing hymns in liturgical worship had its first home in the Liturgy of the Hours. Poets wrote texts to associate praising God with the different hours of the day. Eventually, hymns became poetic places of theological exploration - a singable wisdom we could all commitment to memory and heart. I will be composing new hymn tunes to these familiar hymn texts:
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Now the Days Is Over, Night Is Drawing Nigh
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Creator of the Stars of Night
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The King Shall Come When Morning Dawn
Choral Anthems
Four new choral anthems in a variety of scorings
Choral anthems are easily integrated into a variety of worship and concert contexts. These four anthems will be at the intersection of eventide and Advent for use within a Vespers service or for easy use in a variety of contexts. Each composition will be between three and five minutes.
For this project, I am setting the composing two small choral anthems:
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Now The Day Is Over, Night Is Drawing Nigh (a hymn-anthem based on the hymntunes above; SATB with Organ and Optional Congregation),
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Benediction - the Aaronic Blessing (SAB with Piano)
