A Spiritual Journey

A Spiritual Journey was commissioned by the Augsburg College Music Department for their spring 1997 choir concert, which also featured Mozart’s Requiem. (That pairing inspired the “lux aeterna luceat eis” quote from the Requiem in the midst of “There is a Balm in Gilead.”) Since then, the work has gone through three accompaniment rewrites, from the original version of chamber orchestra plus jazz ensemble, through orchestra, orchestra with added brass, to a pared-down tour version with piano, organ, oboe and percussion. Each of the four movements is an arrangement of a spiritual; these include There is a Balm in Gilead; There’s No Hidin’ Place Down There; Give Me That Old-Time Religion; and Swing Down, Chariot.
duration: c. 16:00