Motet: Lux aeterna - Clear September Morning

SATB a cappell choir
(2003)

Most of Motet: Lux aeterna - Clear September Morning can be heard at this link:
Motet: Lux aeterna - Clear September Morning (excerpt)

This motet is based on a poem that I wrote not long after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. The poem was originally angry, despairing and questioning, but when I reviewed it as potential musical material more than a year later, I felt that it needed a more positive and hopeful resolution. I therefore rewrote it with this intention. Though much of the original tone still remains, it is now tempered somewhat by the image of that morning's beautiful sunlight. That light then seemed to tie in so naturally with the various religious images of light, especially that of "Lux aeterna", that I couldn't help but include the chant in my music. For this reason, the piece evolved into a motet that borrows, to some extent, certain medieval and renaissance concepts of motet writing. By approaching this subject matter in such a way, I hope that I can bring more to it than just my own reactions and make it a more worthy memorial to those who were lost. Also, I hope to show that the simple image of peaceful light can ultimately be much more meaningful than all of the interpretive arguments, prejudices, hatreds and opinions people are capable of manufacturing.

(performance duration ca. 4 minutes)