“LIGHT”, written by composer Bettina Gray, is inspired by the “Phos Hilaron”, an ancient hymn originally written in Koine Greek. It is one of the earliest known Christian hymns recorded outside of the Bible that is still in use today.
Video promo about the Composers Forum Lehigh University (Most relevant section to 2:17)
Video of Sibelius rendered Score
Festival of Lights Live Performance 12/7/24
Website of Bettina Gray, Composer:
Thank you for your presentation of this wonderful work. My guess for the instrument would have been the glass harmonica. But I guess it’s easier to find a vibraphone today.
I’d also want to drop the name Jyrki Linjama. He’s a Finnish composer, writing beautiful sacred choral music using serial technique and dodecaphony ending up in ethereal music you’d never want to call atonal.
You are very welcome. I actually did once used tuned water glasses in a piece many years ago. I think the tone is similar but bowed vibraphone is easier to set up and control. I’m not too fond of the labels of tonal or atonal. Some so called dissonances sound refreshing to my ear. In a broader definition maybe we are learning to think of consonance and dissonance in new ways? Both are still necessary to keep harmonies moving from the poles of tension & release.
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Greetings - Thanks to all the folks who were able to join us on Zoom today. It was a great session with Bettina Gray. For those who could not attend, you can find the videos and score above. Everyone is welcome to ask questions, leave comments and feedback.
Hello Johan - I’d love to hear some of Linjama’s ethereal music. Could you suggest a title or two for me to look up for listening?
I also want to set the record straight. Per Norgard is not a Finn, he is Danish. I’m embarrassed that I told the story with the wrong nationality! (Blush, blush) He did compose his Third Symphony over time with constant playbacks and readings from the Danish national orchestra and chorus. I read that he composed it on television weekly and the entire country chimed in, but that might be a musical myth! You can read all sorts of things on the Internet. I wish I could verify that story!
My favorite piece of serial music is Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto (“To the Memory of an Angel”). The piece is one long movement, but divided musically into four sections. The fourth section, an Adagio, combines Berg’s tone row with Bach’s chorale ““Es ist genug”” (“It is enough”). Although there are many so-called atonal elements, to me the end result is sublime, other-worldly, and one of the most beautiful violin pieces I know. The recording by Sophie Mutter, with CSO and James Levine, is my favorite.
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Bettina, your presentation was fascinating! I loved your description of the week-long process of composing LIGHT - what an unforgettable adventure. And the end result is a lovely piece, both musically and spiritually. Brava!!
I love what you said in your comment that maybe we are learning to think of consonance and dissonance in new ways. Amen to that. Do you know the Alban Berg piece I mentioned in my comment to Johan? “To the Memory of an Angel”. The fourth (last) section of that piece is, to me, a wonderful example of the “new dissonance”. Ethereal, organic, inevitable, as if some eternal truth is being discovered. note by note. There’s so much music beyond functional harmony!
Thank you Julie, And yes I seem to thrive under the focused environment of a composing workshop. It works for some of us.
And no, I do not know the Berg piece - I will go look it up.
The piece I recommended for choral writing is Partita for 8 Voices as sung by a group called Room Full of Teeth. Truly remarkable and adventurous writing for voice. Also for those interested in bowed vibraphone there are some excellent YouTube videos of performances.
I know the Partita very well! The day that it won the Pulitzer in 2013, I wrote to the composer Caroline Shaw, who sent me a wonderfully supportive and enthusiastic email. I had been sharing the Partita with all my students who ranged in age at that time from 5 to 89! They all loved it. Caroline is from North Carolina and she told me that Carrboro (where I live) is one of her favorite places! She also told me that she wasn’t prepared for all the emails she got the week she won the Prize.
Thanks for reminding me of this piece. It’s time for me to share it with all my students again!!