Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time is a five movement work of approximately fifteen minutes in length for a mixed chamber ensemble: vocal quartet, saxophone quartet, organ, and bass drum. As this work is a culmination of my education in music thus far, I wanted a diverse, moderately sized ensemble which would meet Master's Thesis requirements, be relatively easy to assemble, and would not only be capable of conveying a breadth of meaning and offer interesting opportunities texturally and dramatically, but would also pay homage to instruments I have studied and to my love of writing vocal music. The text that is set in the work comes from, as the title denotes, the Roman Catholic mass celebrated on the fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the setting of the text the work makes much use of symbolic ideas, exploring not only a wide variety of sounds and textures, but also of ideas and meaning. The first movement is a lament, establishing the darkness, the struggle, the suffering of existence, only hinting at times of the light which shines forth later on in the work. The first movement also establishes many if not all of the musical ideas developed throughout the entirety of the work. The second movement is an ephemeral whisper of light and breath of relief. The third movement is suffocating, expressing the weight of moral obligation, but through this path leads to Christ and to the boisterous elations of alleluia in the fourth movement. The final movement is the answer to the previous movements, and through its story and setting it shines light brightly through the darkness.