SSATB, unaccompanied

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

This work was a commission project for Dr. Gary Schwartzhoff and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. It is not part of a larger mass, but was composed for a European tour where every movement was by a different composer. From a music theoretical standpoint, KYRIE is built on the tritone – an unsettled interval (both musically and sometimes theologically). When layered in several vocal parts, tritones have a very compelling effect. This work has an intense sense of yearning and longing in an attempt to find an anchor of peace.