Invocation – A Meditation For Orchestra
A couple of years ago, while admiring that eclectic elegance and aura of Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, I drafted a poem, or as a matter of fact, a prayer that would eventually inspire a modest organ work composed during my graduate work at Northwestern. This organ work entitled, Invocation, represents my initial attempts in creating a personal harmonic language inspired at the time by captivating psycho-acoustical principles, as well as by a desire to portray an experience of prayer through sound.
in the air
of hope
my
prayer
for
your
calmness
and love beyond
As part of my work as a musician I spend a considerable amount of time reflecting on the sacred. I often ask myself that ubiquitous and venerated question, “Is it possible to depict something so complex, grand, and mysterious like the divine through music?” At first sight, it seems to me that one is able to at least [re]create a ‘musical’ experience that would bring people closer to the ‘feelings’ of meditation and prayer. After all and when in doubt, it is also good to turn to other musicians for inspiration who arguably sought to express a similar musical experience. As Christoph Wolff in his remarkable tome on Bach’s biography, J. S. Bach: A Learned Musician, states,
Bach’s compositions, as the exceedingly careful musical elaborations that they are, may epitomize nothing else that the difficult task of finding himself an argument for the existence of God — perhaps the ultimate goal of his musical science.” (p. 339)
Recently, I expanded Invocation into a work for symphony orchestra. While it undoubtedly bears formal and structural resemblance to its origin, this new piece is a work in its own right, crafted to the requirements of a large orchestra while still keeping its very personal quality. You can view a score excerpt here:
