Jeremy Walker and Seven Psalms

Synopsis

Over the centuries, many composers have set verses from the Bible’s Book of Psalms to music, often in response to times of turmoil and trouble.

One unusual Psalm setting had its premiere performance on today’s date in 2013 at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Seven Psalms was scored for a jazz quartet of bass, drums, saxophone and piano accompanying a solo vocalist and 15-member choir, and was created by Minneapolis composer Jeremy Walker, who confesses the music was motivated by his own personal struggle.

Walker’s burgeoning career as a jazz saxophonist was sidetracked by an illness which stymied doctors for 12 years until finally diagnosed as Lyme Disease. Unable to continue as a saxophonist, he turned to the piano and composition, and found himself drawn to the Book of Psalms, where he heard echoes of African-American spirituals and the blues.

“The book is just dripping with human hope and suffering all intertwined so it seemed like blues material to me,” he said. “It occurred to me to blend the jazz vernacular harmonic universe with the psalms. And right away the call and response between solo voice, or between the band and the choir, were sounds I could hear,” he said.

Music Played in Today's Program

Jeremey Walker (b. 1972): “Psalm 130” from Seven Psalms; Jason Harms, vocalist; 7 Psalms Chamber Choir; Jeremy Walker Quartet; CD Baby/iTunes/Amazon release

On This Day

Births

• 1810 - French composer Felicien David, in Cadenet, Vaucluse

• 1816 - English composer Sir William Sterndale Bennett, in Sheffield

• 1938 - American composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski, in Westfield, Massachusetts

Deaths

• 1756 - Burial date of the German composer and keyboard virtuoso Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, 29, in Dresden

• 1826 - German composer Franz Danzi, 62, in Schwetzingen

• 1944 - French composer and pianist Cécile Chaminade, 86, in Monte Carlo

Premieres

• 1742 - Handel: oratorio, Messiah, in Dublin (Gregorian date: April 24)

• 1789 - Mozart: Divertimento for string trio, in Dresden, by Anton Teiber (violin), Anton Kraft (cello), and the composer (viola)

• 1943 - Randall Thompson: A Testament of Freedom for men’s voices and piano, at the University of Virginia. The orchestral version of this work premiered in Boston on April 6, 1945.

• 1952 - Morton Gould: Symphony No. 4 (West Point Symphony) for band, during the West Point Military Academy Sesquicentennial Celebration in West Point, New York, by the Academy Band, with the composer conducting

• 1961 - Luigi Nono: opera Intolerance 1960, in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice

• 1992 - Schnittke: opera Life with an Idiot, in Amsterdam at the Dutch Opera

• 1997 - Morten Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna for chorus and chamber orchestra, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Salamunovich conducting

• 2000 - Danielpour: Piano Trio (A Child’s Reliquary), at Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa, by the Kalichstein-Robinson-Laredo Trio

Others

• 1823 - Franz Liszt, 11, performs at the Imperial Redoutensaal in Vienna. Legend has it that Beethoven attended this performance and planted a kiss on the young performer’s forehead, but in fact Beethoven did not attend the concert. According to Liszt, the incident occurred a few days before at Beethoven’s home, after Liszt had performed one of Beethoven's works; See Dec. 1, 1822, for Liszt's Vienna debut.

• 1896 - The American Guild of Organists is founded in New York City

• 1958 - American pianist Van Cliburn wins the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the first American to do so