Of the Faith

 

Of the Faith is a huge, difficult work, composed as a memorial to Paine College’s organist, William Christmas, in 1990. It was scored for Paine College’s marvelous 45-rank Austin organ, four small antiphonal brass ensembles (a quintet by the altar by the organ pipes, one each brass quartets in the arms of the Narthex, and one brass quintet in the rear balcony) and a percussionist who plays timpani in the first and third sections and snare drum in the middle.

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It includes mixed meters, several aleatoric sections, and a number of themes significant to Paine College as a HBCU, William Christmas, and to me (the tuba solo on “Es Ist Genug” is my goodbye to my friend).