Two Visions of the Holy City

About

Originally sketched in 1988, these pieces were finally completed in December 1990. They were written out of a desire to compose something fairly traditional for SSAA voices, having written Darkness in 1987 which exploited a wide range of 'extended' vocal techniques. The two main pieces are surrounded by a plainsong-like chant using words from chapter 21 of the book of Revelation where John is shown a vision of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven. The first piece sets words from chapter 60 of Isaiah, while the second sets verse from Revelation 21. Both texts express the idea that the holy city will need neither sun nor moon, but will be lit by the glory of God. The music is essentially tonal and rhythmically straight-forward although somewhat flexible in nature. Some minor corrections and modifications were made in 2007 when the pieces were typeset, following interest from a conductor in performing them.