A Cardiphonia Pentecost

I’m proud to have two of my songs included in the new Cardiphonia project Pentecost Songs. This is the second of Bruce Benedict’s “flash mob” song collections, in which he gathers songwriters from around the country to write new songs on a particular theme.

The first of my tracks is named “Glossolalia,” and is not a song so much as a sound collage. It is inspired by one of my favorite memories from my Pentecostal upbringing: singing in the Spirit. Have you ever heard this? A congregation quietly sings in tongues or improvises on phrases like “Hallelujah, Lord Jesus.” It’s like the Holy Spirit is playing the congregation like a large harp.

The second is called “O Holy Spirit, Come!” The verse is based on “Veni Creator Spiritus,” a chant from the 10th century whose authorship has never been verified. I retained the chant melody and wrote a new translation of the 7 verse Latin text. I also added chords that would allow it to be led by a band; it was no easy task to squeeze the fluid chant melody into a form that made sense with a rhythm section. Finally, I added a refrain. In the end, the song spans some 11 centuries of of singing to the Holy Spirit.

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for “O Holy Spirit, Come” can be downloaded here.

But to tell you the truth, my two contributions are hardly the stand outs of the collection. You really need to listen and download the whole project: Cardiphonia’s Pentecost Songs.

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