Laudate Dominum (2003)

For 3 solo women's voices, SATB chorus and organ. Premiered on the 2nd annual Boston ChoralFest concert of Composers in Red Sneakers, Sunday, May 16, 2004, 3:00 P.M. at King's Chapel, Boston; The Seraphim Singers, Jennifer Lester, conductor; Heinrich Christensen, organ. Program included works by David Little, Michael Veloso, Margaret McAllister, Camargo Guarnieri, Eric Sawyer, Meredith Monk, John Morrison, Francine Trester, and Howard Frazin. Commissioned by the Seraphim Singers.

Program notes from premiere:

With its ecstatic poetry and musical imagery, Psalm 150 has probably been set more than any other Biblical passage. Graham Ramsay's setting celebrates its various colors of joy: triumphant, sparkling, sweeping, lyrical, playful. In this 4-minute work, written for the unique talents of the Seraphim Singers, the soloists, chorus, and organ accompaniment seem to play leap-frog with each other, dancing and interweaving on waves of song. The performers alternate intricate, dizzying hocket-like figures with extended chordal melismas which crest and fall according to the descriptions of divine attributes and human music making. At once fanfare and romp, the short, energetic work ends in a final blaze of joyous praise.

--Jeffrey Goldberg