SATB + organ

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

Some nudges in life are supernatural.  They just are. My parents were always quite supportive of my music studies. And, by the time my career had taken off, I had written a myriad of commissions for various individuals and organizations.  Yet, I had never dedicated a work to them.  I remember feeling a heavy emotional weight, if you will, that was pushing me to write a work for them.  I disregarded this for a long time, thinking I was too busy.

My father had been a prisoner of war in World War II for about 4 years, but survived, and came home to farm and ranch.  And, my mother was a nurse and was “everyone’s favorite” at the hospital it seemed.  Our family was of a strong Christian faith. Of course, I went to college and left that family unit – at least geographically – behind.

But this weight on my emotions to write a work for them never went away, and finally –  I wrote a work for them, titled LET US GO INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. I gave it to them as a present in the month of March (spring break).  Little did I know the future.  Three months later (June), they both passed away – two days apart, from different maladies.  I did not know that the timing of this work – AND the message – would be a parting gift to them.  “Let Us Go into the House of the Lord.”