CFAMC Listening Page #8

First issued June 12, 2005

A monthly musical offering by a composer member of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers.
Both your listening and comments are encouraged.

Jerry Casey

Seven (A Suite for Orchestra)

I. Prelude

II. March

III. Waltz

IV. Rondo

V. Waltz Retrograde

VI. March Retrograde

VII. Postlude (Prelude Retrograde)

Performed by:
The Slovak Radio Symphony
Robert Stankovsky, conductor

Program Notes

Seven (A Suite for Orchestra), originally written for solo piano, is a suite based on the arch form, A B C D C B A. The “Prelude” is one-part, the “March” binary or two-part, and the “Waltz” ternary or three-part. The “Rondo” is in classical rondo form: (A B A) C (A B A) which is like an enlarged three-part. The final three movements “Waltz Retrograde”, “March Retrograde”, and “Postlude (Prelude Retrograde)” are, as the titles indicate, the first three movements backwards. Harmonically, the work is mostly modal and quartal.

Composer's Statement of Faith

I was raised in a Christian home and joined the local Baptist church at an early age. Active in church activities all through elementary and high school I also was active in the Baptist Student Union when I went to college. Surrendering my life for full time Christian service, I became a summer missionary in San Francisco, California, in anticipation of attending Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary that fall. But an experience that summer made me realize that all my life I had been attempting to earn my salvation by “being good.” Only when I finally realized that I was a sinner and needed to trust in Christ’s atoning death for me did I fully give my heart to Him. This decision had to be made public. Thus the pastor baptized the summer missionary to acknowledge her true experience of salvation. I have tried to be a true Christ follower ever since.

Composer Biography

Jerry Casey has received the ASCAP Standard Award annually since 1996. Two of her works have been released on the MMC label, Seven (A Suite for Orchestra) and Gli intrighi d’amore for woodwind quintet and narrator. She has been commissioned to write works for groups such as the Columbus Women’s Orchestra, the Columbus Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, and the Ohio Federated Music Clubs. Her works have been performed in a number of states including California, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Florida. Mrs. Casey is a member of the Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), the Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI), the International Alliance of Women in Music (IAWM) and Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers (CFAMC). She holds degrees from Texas Woman’s University and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

- - -  SOLI DEO GLORIA!  - - -

If you are a member composer interested in submitting a composition for an upcoming monthly CFAMC listening page, please contact Bill Vollinger at 

For other CFAMC Listening Pages, visit The CFAMC Listening Page Archives.