A Musical Exploration of the Psalms

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH PRESENTS 

Presents 

A Musical Exploration of the Psalms 

FRIDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2022 19:00-21:00 BST 

St. Andrew’s Church, Wickford 11 London Road SS12 0AN, United Kingdom 

Emma-Marie Kabanova, violin 

Delvyn Case, moderator 

Produced in association with Deus Ex Musica. 

PROGRAMME 

• Introduction Delvyn Case 
• My heart within me is desolate (Psalm 143:4) Judith Lang Zaimont 
• Discussion 
• A Song of Ascents (Psalm 121) Tatev Amiryan 
• Discussion 
• Psalm 133 Delvyn Case 
• Discussion Ura (Psalm 57) Michel Klein 
• Discussion 

Listen to these pieces for free at www.deus-ex-musica.com/search-me-o-god. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

• How would you describe the overall mood or “emotional landscape“ of the musical composition? 
• How does this piece affect your experience, understanding, or interpretation of the psalm? Does it amplify or enrich it? Does it expand on it or challenge it? 
• Are there any words, phrases, or verses in the psalm which the musical composition seems to reflect most powerfully? 

THE PSALMS 

PSALM 143 

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. 3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. 4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. 6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. 7 Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. 10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 11 Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. 12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. 

PSALM 121 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. 

PSALM 133 

1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. 

PSALM 57 

1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. 2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. 4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. 6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. 7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS 

Danish/British violinist Emma-Marie Kabanova completed a Master’s degree at Goldsmith’s College, University of London where she specialized in performance of music by late Soviet composers. She completed further studies in violin performance at the Novosibirsk Conservatory and studied privately with a principal violinist of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra in Moscow, Russia. Formerly based in Moscow, Emma-Marie was a guest Principal with the Moscow Baroque Soloists, performed with Opera Omnia early opera company and was the artistic director of Globus Music baroque ensemble where she created collaborative projects with singers and dancers from the Bolshoi Theatre, the Helikon Opera and the Stanislavsky Theatre. Recent concerts include appearances with the Oxford Alternative Orchestra UK, The National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova, and at festivals in the UK, Hungary and Turkey. Emma-Marie teaches violin and has worked as a classroom music teacher. Between 2007 and 2014 she set up musical education projects working with terminally ill children in Siberia and young offenders in an institution in Moscow. In 2017 was given a ‘Points of Light’ award by the UK Prime Minister for this work. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Emma-Marie found it impossible to stay in Russia and returned to the UK where she has been working as a freelance violinist. 

Judith Lang Zaimont is internationally recognized for her music’s distinctive style, characterized by expressive strength and dynamism. A grantee of both National Endowments, winner of the 2015 The American Prize in Chamber Music Composition and a 2003 Aaron Copland Award winner, she has enjoyed a distinguished career as composer of over 100 works with performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Camerata Bern, Berlin and Czech Radio symphonies, and the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra. Her music is widely performed throughout the U.S. and Europe and has been recorded for the MSR Classics, Naxos, Navona, Koch Classics, Arabesque, Milken Family Foundation, Albany, Jeanne, Leonarda, Northeastern, and 4Tay labels. Her principal publishers are Subito Music, Galaxy/ ECS, Jeanné and Vivace. She is a distinguished teacher and pianist, and creator and editor-in-chief of the critically acclaimed book series The Musical Woman: An International Perspective. 

Tatev Amiryan is an Armenian-American award-winning composer and pianist. Her music has been performed in the United States, Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, England, Poland, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Japan by such renowned ensembles and performers as, German Chamber Philharmonic of Bremen, Portland Youth Philharmonic, National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, CMEA Central Coast Honors Orchestra, Carpe Diem String Quartet, Ensemble Oktoplus, Metropolitan Choral of Kansas City, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Globus Music Ensemble, Playground Ensemble, pianists Jeffrey Jacob, Hayk Melikyan, and thereminist Thorwald Jorgensen. Her pieces have been featured at 4 such prestigious festivals and projects as MITO Settembre Musica International Festival, GogolFest, Królewskie Arkady Sztuki, Blurred Edges, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, London International Piano Symposium, and Crossing Borders Music. 

Delvyn Case, Deus Ex Musica founder, is an American musician, scholar, writer, speaker, and educator. He has spent 25 years developing projects for secular and religious audiences that explore music’s unique power to explore questions of spirituality in the contemporary world. His writings on music, faith, and theology have appeared in The Christian Century, Sojourners, Books and Culture, numerous online magazines. He has collaborated on projects with the Yale Institute for Sacred Music, Harvard Divinity School, Hebrew College, Boston College, and the parish of St Martin in the Fields (London), and many others across the United States and Canada. As a composer, his music has been performed by over 80 orchestras across the world, as well as by the Borromeo Quartet, the New York Virtuoso Singers, and Grammy-winning artists Richard Stoltzman and the Chestnut Brass Company. A graduate of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Case is Professor of Music at historic Wheaton College, a secular liberal arts college in Norton, Massachusetts. 

Michel Klein is an LA-based composer and Jewish music scholar. He recently received his Ph.D in composition and ethnomusicology where he studied with David Lefkowitz, Ian Krouse, and Richard Danielpour. Prior to UCLA, Michel attended Ithaca College where he received his B.M. in composition and studied with Dana Wilson and Sally Lamb. After graduating, Michel spent a year traveling and studying at a Jewish theological seminary in Israel. In his music, Michel seeks to tap into and express his Jewish roots through a unique musical voice by fusing various elements of contemporary music and traditional Jewish sacred musical material. His work has been read by ensembles such as Wild Up! and the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble and has been performed by the Syrinx Collective, the Bay Area-based Celloscape Collective, and at the Music from Salem Cello Seminar. His opera Akeidah received a concert workshop with Opera UCLA. 

ABOUT DEUS EX MUSICA 

DEUS EX MUSICA is an ecumenical organization that promotes sacred music as a resource for learning, discipleship, and spiritual growth. Since our founding in 2018, we have presented unique music-oriented faith formation events in collaboration with dozens of institutions in the US, Canada, Russia, and the UK, including the parish of St. Martin in the Fields (London), the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology (Cambridge, UK), the national conference of the United Church of Christ (USA), Wheaton College (Illinois), Eden Theological Seminary (USA), the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and the Arts, and churches in Moscow, California, and Massachusetts. 

OUR PROJECTS 

• Our Composers Project brings together performers and composers to create new works that engage with the Christian tradition in contemporary ways. Since 2019, we have premiered over 40 new vocal and instrumental works in contexts that promoted discussion about Scripture and faith. In October 2022, Deus Ex Musica will present a unique performance/discussion event in Boston featuring twelve newly-composed solo viola works inspired by the psalms. 
• Our record label, Deus Ex Musica Records, provides opportunities for composers to share their music in ways that support its use in the church outside of the worship service. In July 2022, DEM Records releases Search Me, O God, featuring world-premiere recordings of ten psalm-inspired violin works by contemporary Christian and Jewish composers. 

Visit our website to sign up for monthly email updates about events, new blog articles and podcast episodes, and other projects: www.deus-ex-musica.com.

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Judith Lang Zaimont - My Heart Is Desolate.