The Fredösphere

These are the details for the Maundy Thursday musical drama I've written, entitled I Have Finished The Work.  It will be performed at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor (see the directions to the church) during the Maundy Thursday service which starts at 6:45pm on March 24.  The drama consists of actors in pantomime backed by singers, mostly a cappella, performing in two sections that will take place at the beginning and end of the service.

I feel a strong sense of responsibility, given the context for this premiere performance is a worship service instead of a concert.  From my point of view, I'm glad to get a captive audience of 600 people or more.  Yet I'm aware many of those present will not come with any personal commitment to hearing new music, and a few will probably be put off by the whole thing.  I didn't compromise the piece artistically, but I'm also aware that artistic integrity is not central to the purpose of the evening.

Some people may leave the service feeling unsettled, but that could be a good thing.  I selected the text (all drawn from the gospels) with an eye to examining the choices made by each of the twelve disciples (all bad, to varying degrees) and Jesus (who chose obedience to God's will).  This ought to lead each person present to reflect on his or her own standing before God, and lead into the dramatic presentation planned for the service on the following evening,  Good Friday.

In short, I didn't write a lot of feel-good music.  Much of the score contains chanting sounds from the voices, sometimes with odd echoing or overlapping parts.  There is minimal organ accompaniment, and at dramatic moments percussion will provide some spooky sound effects.  I can see influence from Tavener very clearly, but for most people present the music will be like nothing they've ever heard in a church.

I won't have any excerpts in sound files ready until after the performance.  Expect to see them show up here in a few weeks.