Two longtime colleagues on the Bluffton University music faculty had talked many times about making music together. They have finally been able to accomplish it, on a nearly finished project that will be performed in the United Kingdom this spring.
Drs. Peter Terry and Mark Suderman have been working in tandem since last summer to create a lively “fanfare of voices” based on Psalm 100.
The piece, written by Terry, an associate professor of information technology and music, will be performed by Bluffton’s Camerata Singers first at churches in the U.S. in March and then in Great Britain during the group’s May cross-cultural experience.
“For many years, I’ve been wanting Peter to write a piece for Camerata,” says Suderman, a professor of music and the ensemble’s conductor. The pair spent spring 2014 perusing biblical texts for inspiration until Terry was moved by the jubilant message of Psalm 100, which compels readers to “shout for joy to the Lord.”
“Psalm 100 is about the expression of pure joy,” he says.
He is used to working with slower, more expressive texts, he notes, but saw Suderman’s request as a challenge to compose something more lively. “I like the mix of moods,” he says of his piece, which combines a triumphal beginning and ending with a lyrical, almost march-like middle section.
“What I like about it is that there are different textures,” says Suderman. “There’s even this chant-like texture in the piece. So you have these contrasting moods and styles that reflect the text very well.”
Perhaps more rewarding and challenging for the pair than writing the piece is teaching it to the Bluffton students who will be performing it. As Camerata Singers rehearse the piece, the faculty colleagues realize it must be tweaked to work well in this choral setting.
“You can start to really shape the nuances and colors of a piece,” Terry says. For example, he explains, slowing a section down to give the singers time to breathe will give it a more relaxed feel.
While he and Suderman continue to shape the piece, the students have the opportunity to give direct feedback. “The educational significance of this commission is really important,” Terry points out. Adds Suderman: “It’s not often that students have the opportunity to work with the composer.”
The song will be premiered at several churches in the Midwest during Camerata Singers’ spring-break tour March 1-8.
