WARUM?​

​​

 

"Warum?” is a work about war – to be simple.  Responding to the, what seems to be, never ceasing violence across the world between nations and corrupt leaders more and more of us are left asking, “why?”  Why the constant need to battle with each other? Why need to violently prove our point? Why?  The weight of it all sits heavily on many of our hearts.  More importantly, those caught at the center of it all are innocent people – mothers, children, grandparents, friends, neighbors – are helpless through it all.

 

The dichotomy of texts seeks to capture both elements of these thoughts – the relentlessness of war and the helpless caught in the crossfire.

 

Text and Translation:
Warum toben die Heiden, und die Leute reden so vergeblich?
Why do the heathen so furiously rage together, and why do the people imagine a vain thing?

​

Der Herr behüte dich vor allem Übel, er behüte deine Seele;
The Lord will keep you safe from all evil; he will take care of your sou

 

 

 

Conductor and Performer Note:

This work is a lot of fun to perform, and the intricacies/difficulties of it can be deceiving.  While we might stop and think that chord structures (like m.4) are complicated, what we need to be most mindful of for this work is the repetitive notes.  Starting at m.5, the basses and everyone else need to ensure that sonority and brilliance take precedence over weight and character.  Set the first layer in motion before adding the second – if intonation settles early on in performance, or the learning/rehearsal process, it will be difficult/impossible to recapture it.  Sing through pitched consonants and stir each line to create the most effective performance possible.

 

The accent markings are meant to help provide landing points for the tempo (starting at m.5) to prevent any sort of ‘derailment’.  Pay mind to moments of homophony and how the compound rhythms in polyphony can provide stability in the ‘quick’ sections.

 

​​​​​​​​

 

​

​

​

​

​

 

Voicing: SATB, divisi, a cappella

 

Status: Premiered June 2024, New American Voices, Z. Randall Stroope, conductor