Opus 861

A Difficult Miracle (2010)

for SATB Chorus, Soprano and Baritone Soloists, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Piano

Text by Elizabeth Kirschner

  • The Solitary Twilight
  • The Way
  • Four-fold Radiance
  • Mountain Moonlight
  • At Last

Sanctuary Choir of First Unitarian Society in Newton; Anne Watson Born, conductor

Duration: 14 min.

Dedication: for Anne Watson Born and the Sanctuary Choir of the First Unitarian Society in Newton, Massachusetts

Commission: Commissioned by the First Unitarian Society in Newton, Massachusetts

Publisher: Musik Fabrik

Performance materials available from the publisher.

A Difficult Miracle (2010), Mountain Songs of the Spirit, for soprano, baritone, chorus, and instruments, was commissioned by the First Unitarian Society in Newton, Massachusetts and is dedicated to director of music Anne Watson Born and the FUSN choir.

The poems, written by American poet Elizabeth Kirschner, are filled with mountain imagery, and the woodwind instrumental scoring for the work was chosen for its evocation of traditional folk music.

The music is essentially contemplative and personal in its exploration of the surrender of the spirit to the mountain landscape.