:036 Opus: Invocation

INVOCATION was written to be just that. The Houses of Worship where I have had the privilege to worship all have had a few minutes set aside to pray for others. Some of them allow for congregants to speak aloud prayer requests. Either way I have written INVOCATION to be an introduction to this aspect of the service. The text is from Psalm 88; the opening lines making it available to most Houses no matter the denomination. The first iteration is for soprano solo (though the opening could be performed by a tenor). It should be rather free flowing, some liberty with the rhythms are acceptable, hence the rubato marking. Dynamics in this solo section are also at the liberty of the performer. The second iteration is a modified repetition for SATB choir. And finally, athird iteration where the solo soprano and choir perform their respective (more or less) parts together (note, in the final verse the soloist is indeed a soprano, no tenor substitutions here). For all intent, this is a diatonic work and should not pose difficulty to a choir that regularly performs four part music. If the choir has enough voices there are some optional notes at the end for splits which thicken the final cadence. But that is truly optional as the four parts, without the extra notes, probably work just as well and maybe better. I believe that the piece would also work very nicely as a concert opener.

Revised December 2017

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