Bell of Silence (2013)
Instrumentation: SATB choir and handbells
Electronics: No
Duration: 8'
Text: by Jennifer Michael
Commissioned by the Sanctuary Choir of The Park Avenue Christian Church
Premiere: Premiered December 21, 2013
Notes: Bells are a powerful symbol - in their many forms, they call us to prayer, to work, to celebrate, to mourn, to answer our phone. And in the poem "Bell of Silence" by Jennifer Michael, the bell is a sanctuary. In setting the text for SATB choir and handbells, I wished to portray the rush of sound created and the stillness thereby revealed: certain passages are meditations in which each singer chants independently, choosing their entrances, while other sections align the choir, ringing in full voice. The handbells also use the "singing bell technique", in which bells are sounded with no attack, only by the friction of a stick along their edges. Bell of Silence was commissioned by Paul Vasile and is dedicated to the Sanctuary Choir of The Park Avenue Christian Church for the 2013 Christmas Gala.