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The Prayer of Saint Francis (2008) SATB (div.) unaccompanied 3'

Text: Attributed to Francis of Assisi

Premiere—2008, by the Cathedral of St. Paul Choir, James Biery, cond.

This work is part of PROJECT : ENCORE^TM of Schola Cantorum on Hudson. PROJECT : ENCORE^TM works have been premiered, and then evaluated via blind adjudication by prestigious conductors as being works of excellent quality. The online, searchable database is located here.

LISTEN

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred let me sow love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is despair, hope,
where there is darkness, light,
where there is sadness, joy,
O Gracious God, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and in the dying to the human self
that we are born into the eternal Christ.

Note for performance: While the conductor may wish to sing the opening wordless section on [ah] or [oo] to make it more audible, the composer prefers the more internal, private [mm]. It doesn't even really matter if the first sounds aren't clearly heard, for the music recurs immediately. A sense of prayer, gradually reaching out to the listener, is what is desired.