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Elisha's Gift

from The Manual of Light by James Newton

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about

ELISHA’S GIFT (2014)
The Lyris String Quartet + Eric Shetzen, Bass
Conducted by Grant Gershon

After completing a four-year journey of composing my Saint Matthew Passion for vocal soloists, chorus, orchestra and rhythm section, I found it impossible to bring the compositional flow of ideas to an end, and I did not resist. “Elisha’s Gift” is the first of a group of short works that followed the Passion. The language of the Passion is firmly rooted in the history of the African American church, which is a crucial part of my life. I have often pondered Elisha’s gift, his state of being with God, and how he produced so many mysterious and profound miracles. I reflected intently on the scriptural account of Prophet Elisha’s gift of being able to be in direct, unencumbered communication with God. I sought an appropriate metaphor in nature. This search brought into clarity awe-inspired memories of observing the Northern Lights during various musical tours. For me, the miraculous movement of the lights invokes a sense of wonderment and connection with God’s creation. Thus, viewing the Northern Lights is metaphorically a conversation with God. These thoughts inspired new approaches to inform my musical language. In “Elisha’s Gift,” these new forms embrace programmatic, but not always chronological, elements in sections of the composition.

Many of the musical figures within “Elisha’s Gift” are full of gesticulation and, at times, echo the hyper-precision of musical phrases performed simultaneously, with immense life force, by Charles Christopher Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie (variations of material inspired by Thelonious Monk’s “Trinkle-Tinkle” can also be heard in the opening section of the composition). These gesticulations also manifest themselves as compositionally within a contrapuntal network of ideas that expound upon the musical material within the rhythmic unisons. This approach leads to a language that implies as much as it states.

In composing “Elisha’s Gift,” I remembered the first time I heard, at the age of nineteen, Toru Takemitsu’s stunning composition for symphony orchestra, “Green.” This masterpiece made me feel as though I had heard music in a new way and I marveled at the universe that Takemitsu created within less than six minutes. It is a lesson and inspiration that I continuously relive.

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from The Manual of Light, released November 30, 2018

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Orenda Records has been presenting visionary creative music by over 60 artists from Los Angeles and beyond across more than 100 releases since 2014.

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