Prayer cycle

Abstract

This document consists of two parts: an original composition for medium-voice soloist, SATB quartet, adult choir with soloists, children’s choir, string quartet, piano, and electronics, and an analysis of that work with critical commentary on its formal design as well as harmonic and melodic structure. The original composition is a seven-movement prayer cycle comprised of varying combinations of the aforementioned forces, and it has a duration of approximately forty minutes. The electronic elements consist of Max/MSP patches which record, alter, and playback sections of the piece in real and delayed time, as well as fixed playback of an electronic track. Each prayer, and the cycle as a whole, becomes increasingly complex throughout the performance. The analysis portion uses Jan LaRue’s categorical guidelines for style analysis supplemented with theories found in Joseph Straus’s Introduction To Post-Tonal Theory, and Brian Hyre’s "Reimag(in)ing Riemann" from The Journal of Music Theory 39:1 (1995). The study details and supports the composer’s overall scheme of increasing complexity on a number of levels, while the work, itself, takes the listener on an emotional journey from enlightenment; through redemption, peace, helplessness, strength, and hope; to celebration.