In the Shadow of Your Wings
Information about In the Shadow of Your Wings, a unique event combining liver musical performances with ecumenical discussion about Scripture,.
IN THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS
A Musical Exploration of the Psalms
This ecumenical project celebrates the unique power of the arts to bring together Christians in fellowship and mutual conversation around our shared love for Scripture.
For this project, 3 groups of three composers were assigned a psalm to set to music for female voice and piano: Listening to each trio of compositions provides a unique and fascinating way to explore the ways each psalm can be interpreted differently.
Originally presented in Boston in 2022, IN THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS was the version of Deus Ex Musica’s series of events that use new music to explore the psalms. These include I WILL LIFT MY EYES UNTO THE MOUNTAINS and THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD OF HOLINESS, each of which feature new compositions for voice and piano, as well as SEARCH ME, O GOD: a new album (and live event) featuring new works for solo violin written by Jewish and Christian composers.
Scroll down to watch the videos, read about each piece, and learn about the composers.
VIDEOS FROM THE DEBUT EVENT
Settings of Psalm 13 by Shawn Okpebholo, Josh Rodriguez, and Mary Montgomery Koppel, performed by mezzo-soprano Carrie Cheron and pianist Julia Scott Carey.
Settings of Psalm 57 by Xavier Beteta, Delvyn Case, and Sungji Hong, performed by mezzo-soprano Carrie Cheron and pianist Julia Scott Carey.
Settings of Psalm 148 by Richard J. Clark, Haosi Howard Chen, and Tatev Amiryan, performed by mezzo-soprano Ann Fogler and pianist Delvyn Case.
THE MUSICAL SETTINGS and the COMPOSERS
Psalm 13
How Long?
Shawn E. Okpebholo
This psalm is about the journey from hopelessness to hopefulness. As such, I wanted to create a piece that musically embodied that dichotomy. The work features a child-like sonority, yet it is filled with complex rhythmic elements and wide melodic leaps that evoke the notion of conflict or struggle.
Text: Psalm 13 (New Living Translation and World English Bible, adapted)
How long? How long, O Lord? How long will you forget me? Forever?
How long? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Turn and answer me, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will die.
Don’t let my enemies say, “We have defeated her.” Don’t let them rejoice when I fall…
But I trust in your lovingkindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.
How Long, Yahweh?
Joshua Rodriguez
The psalmist’s initial desperation reminds us that control of our circumstances is an illusion. My setting begins by alternating between lamentation and anger. But at the end - when the psalmist has chosen to believe in an invisible yet very real salvation - the melancholic questioning music is transformed into a wave of confidence toward a reality – one that is “already, but not yet.”
Text: Psalm 13, World English Bible (adapted)
How long? How long? How long, Yahweh?
Yahweh! Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day?
How long shall my enemies triumph over me?
Behold and answer me, Yahweh, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death.
Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against her!” Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.
But I trust, I trust in your lovingkindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to Yahweh. He has been good. He has been good to me.
Psalm 13
Mary Montgomery Koppel
This setting aims to convey the desperation of the speaker as they cry out to God, fearing they have been abandoned in their trials. Ultimately, though, the speaker regains faith and rejoices, trusting that God is with them in their darkest hour.
Performance by Mary Montgomery Koppel
Text: Psalm 13 (World English Bible, adapted)
How long, how long, O Lord? How long, O Lord? O Lord?
How long, how long? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul?
Shall I struggle in my soul, shall I grapple,
shall I agonize and wrestle with my thoughts and with my soul?
How long having sorrow in my heart, grief in my heart, day after day?
How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
Behold, and answer me, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against her;” Lest my foes rejoice when I fall.
O God, O God, answer me, How long?
But I trust, I trust in your lovingkindness, your steadfast love, your unfailing love, in your mercy.
My heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing, I will sing to God, my God, for God has been good to me.
Psalm 13
Bil Mooney-McCoy
Psalm 13 use dissonant jazz harmonies, multiple tonal centers, and shifting tempos to communicate the writer’s different thoughts and emotions: anguish, frustration, and finally, a praise offering.
Text: Psalm 13 (adapted from the New International Version and New Living Translation)
How long? How long? How long, O Lord?
How long will You forget me? Forever?
How long? How long will You look the other way?
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
With sorrow in my heart ev’ry day?
With sorrow in my heart ev’ry day?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, Lord, my God!
Look on me and answer, Lord, my God!
Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death, sleep in death,
Sleep the sleep of death…
And my enemy will say, “I have overcome her.”
And my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I will trust in your unfailing love.
Yes, will trust in your unfailing love.
My heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise for He’s been good to me.
How long?
Psalm 57
I Will Praise Thee
Xavier Beteta
As in the psalm, the first half of my piece is dark and imploring. The music is slow and mysterious, attempting to convey a desperate and intimate prayer to God. The second part is exuberant and full of light. Here the singer uses a tambourine to resemble the early Jewish worship, but also, in my case, as an allusion to my Pentecostal upbringing in Guatemala.
Text: Psalm 57 (King James Version, adapted)
Be merciful, be merciful unto me O God.
Be merciful unto me for my soul trusteth in thee.
In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpast.
I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for me.
I will praise, I will praise thee O Lord, I will praise thee among the people
I will praise, I will praise thee O Lord, I will praise thee among the people
I will sing unto thee among the nations, I will sing unto thee among the nations
I will praise, I will praise thee O Lord, I will praise thee among the people
I will praise, I will praise thee O Lord, I will praise thee among the people
I will sing unto thee among the nations, I will sing unto thee among the nations
For the mercy is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds.
Be thou exalted O God above the heavens.
Let thy glory be above all the earth, the earth, the earth, the earth, above all the earth, the earth
Psalm 57
Delvyn Case
My musical setting imagines the psalm as it might sound if David were uttering it : hiding in a cave from a murderous gang under King Saul’s command. But as a man of great faith, David faces his enemies with an abiding sense of peace and hope. Thus, most of the descriptions of danger and persecution in the psalm are set to music that is calm and lyrical. Conversely, I reserve the most intense and dissonant music for David’s words of praise for the Creator. Its dissonance signals the sense of awe and wonder that we experience when we are confronted with something whose glory we cannot begin to fathom.
Text: Psalm 57 (King James Version, adapted)
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee:
Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge.
I will cry unto God most high; He shall send from heaven,
And save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
God shall send his mercy and his truth.
Be merciful unto me, O God. My soul is among the lions: I lie among them that are set on fire,
Whose teeth are like arrows, and their tongue a sword.
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
Be merciful unto me, O God.
They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down:
They have dug a pit before me, but they have fallen into it themselves.
My heart is steadfast, O God: I will sing and give you praise.
Awake my glory, awake; Awake, psaltery and harp.
I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.
For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
Awake Up, My Glory
Sungji Hong
I chose to set the second half of this psalm: a call for all of creation to joyfully praise the Lord our God. The ecstasy of the music attempts to capture the feeling of joy we experience when meditating on God’s unmerited goodness and grace.
Text: Psalm 57, vv. 1-9. (King James Version)
Awake up, my glory,
Awake, lute and harp
I myself will awake early
I will praise Thee, O Lord among the people:
I will sing unto Thee among the nations.
For Thy mercy is great unto the havens,
And They truth unto the clouds.
O God, above the heavens:
Let Thy glory be above all the earth!
Psalm 148
Psalm 148: Praise Ye the Lord
Richard J. Clark
Beginning with a sense of contemplation, the the initial words of praise are uncharacteristically gentle and turned inward. As the list of God’s glorious creation expands the music becomes more animated, the music blossoms in joy before returning to contemplation of praise in an elevated key—a heightened consciousness.
Performance by Jamie Korkos and Richard Clark.
Text: Psalm 148 (King James Version, adapted)
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, ye stars of light.
Praise ye him, stars of light. Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Fire and hail snow; vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
Praise ye, praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights.
He exalted the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints;
Even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.
Tehillah
Haosi Howard Chen
The Hebrew word tĕhillah means “praise” (noun). It is the word found in the last verse of Psalm 148: “He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.” (KJV). The psalm proclaims with uncompromising clarity the glory and lordship of our beloved Savior – the focus of our praise, our very praise. Hallelujah!
Text: Psalm 148 (King James Version)
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a
people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.
Praise the Lord
Tatev Amiryan
With its ascetic and restrained character and strictly metrical setting, the vocal part of this setting resembles Armenian monophonic chants (sharakans) used in the divine liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic church. The syllabic and somewhat recitational text setting is designed to emphasise the text and to highlight its meaning. The musical language of the piece is mainly tonal and is based on Armenian church modes.
Text: Psalm 148 (King James Version)
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
{Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:}
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
He exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints
Even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.