CFAMC LISTENING PAGE #39: Walter Saul

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

JANUARY 20, 2008

Walter Saul: "Emmaus" performed by Jane Shelly, flute; Dennis Plies, marimba

NOTES

Perhaps the most exhilarating journey from darkness to light takes place on the road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke 23:13-35. Scored for flute and marimba, Emmaus is a dramatic recreation of the two disciples’ discovery of their resurrected Lord on their seven mile walk to that village. It begins with anguished cries of despair, anger, and hopelessness of the disciples mourning over Jesus’ crucifixion and the end of their dreams. The work then melts into the walk to Emmaus itself as the flute and marimba proceed slowly in imitation. The marimba adds a third part as Jesus draws near to His two discouraged disciples. As they discover who the Stranger is while eating with Him, the instruments form an ecstatic, noisy, and joyful unison. The flute suddenly abandons the marimba to portray Jesus’ mysterious disappearance. The marimba soliloquy then leads into a rambunctious fugue as the disciples, filled with joy over their resurrected Lord, run seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell others the good news! Emmaus is written in the serial technique, based on a single twelve-tone row. The fugue has twelve statements of its subject, the beginning note of each determined by the inversion of the row.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

On October 1, 1973, at midnight, I was reborn into the Kingdom of Heaven through Jesus Christ, and signed a commitment to Him in the back of my Gideon New Testament. Since then, I study and use God's Word in both the Old Testament and New Testament to guide my life by His direction.

I treasure the different reflections of God's light to the world in many Christian denominations, and, in a few cases, permit myself to be challenged even by non-Christian traditions. Hanukkah has assumed a new importance to me as I read how Jesus Christ, in John 10:22-39, used this Festival of Lights to reiterate His claim as the Light of the world. Islam's very name challenges me to examine myself closely to see if I am truly submitted to God's will for my life, which, often, I am not. While I know the stark reality of Romans 3:23, how far short I fall of God's glory, I rejoice because I serve a God Who chooses to be merciful to me. And I rejoice in being a part of His family, whom He uses over and over again to bring me back to Himself. This God is certainly worthy of all the music I can write and perform and teach to His glory alone.

BIO

Walter Saul is Professor of Music at Fresno Pacific University, where he teaches piano, theory, and composition. He has been named “Composer of the Year” in North Carolina in 1986 and in Oregon in 1990, and has earned many other honors for his compositions, which have been performed in 16 states and three nations. He has won ASCAP Special Awards each year since 1990 for his works, and has been invited to the Ernest Bloch Composers Symposium in Newport, Oregon, as a participant composer in 1996 and 1999. In June 2004 two preludes and fugues from his major piano work From Alpha to Omega were performed at Carnegie Hall by Walter Cosand.

As a pianist he has performed and presented clinics extensively on the East and West Coasts. He has released three CD’s of his works: "Out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light" (1998), "From Alpha to Omega" (2002), and "Songs of Requited Love" (2007).

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

For comments, e-mail Walter directly at: waltersaul@sbcglobal.net. Visit Walter's website at: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=36657648

If you are a member composer interested in submitting a composition for an upcoming monthly CFAMC listening page, please contact Bill Vollinger at: williamvollinger@aol.com

For recent CFAMC Listening Pages, go to the following links:

December 2007: Frank Felice:
"Charismata"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1775

November 2007: Greg Pascuzzi
"Aria and Allegro"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1744

October 2007: Jacob Nevill
"Mary's Gift"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1720

September 2007: Jesse Ayers
"Jericho"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1708