The Heavens Declare the Glory of God
from Music of the Spheres
SSAATTBB a cappella
Duration: 2 Minutes
Text: Psalm 19: 1-4
Year: 2017
Commissioned by the Capitol Hill Chorale
Premiered by the Capitol Hill Chorale, Frederick Binkholder, director, June 3 & 4, 2017
E. C. Schirmer Music Company #8838
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Music of the Spheres is dedicated to Swiss astrophysicist and my relative Arnold Benz, whose book Astrophysics and Creation was released in an English language version in 2017. As a composer and stargazer, I have long wanted to write a composition addressing my emotional response to astronomy. A commission from the Capitol Hill Chorale for a concert devoted to the intersection of science and music presented the perfect opportunity. The premiere of Music of the Spheres featured glass armonica in the second and fourth movements, with Dean Shostak, one of the few masters of this instrument in the world today, performing. The published work is for unaccompanied chorus with an optional keyboard part (piano or organ) in the second and fourth movements to lightly reinforce the constellation motives.
The Heavens Declare the Glory of God is the prologue movement of Music of the Spheres, an exuberant ‘cosmic hymn’ set to the first four lines of Psalm 19.
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The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the firmament shows his handiwork.
Although they have no words or language,
Their sound has gone out to the ends of the world.