(Each week we look at one or two of the best choral works posted in the Composition Showcase here on ChoralNet. This is where we store a treasure trove of works that your choirs will love to sing and your audiences will love to hear.)
Prayer and Answer by Michael Sandvik for SATB divisi a cappella (Click here for PDF and here for AUDIO)
Level: Advanced Church Choir
Uses: General Anthem
Program Themes: Christmas, Holy Week
This Piece Would Program Well With: Be Born in Me by Jay Rouse from Contemporary A Cappella Christmas II available from http://www.singers.com/7025b/Jay Rouse/An A Cappella Christmas/
From a simple, gentle beginning, this piece blossoms into a heart rending song of faith. Michael Sandvik’s multi-colored pallet reveals deep emotions. The warmth of the text “I held you in my heart”, the raptured setting of “Cast away your chains, Take up your cross and follow me”, and the rhythmic augmentation of the final “I will hold you in my arms” show Sandvik to be a true aural artist. I often use the goosebump test to divine an audience’s response and I find myself visibly moved by Prayer and Answer. Bravo!
Prayer and Answer is available from the composer’s website: http://www.michaelsandvik.com/prayer-and-answer
Marilyn Brown says