An American Hymn Fantasy on "Wondrous Love"
Linda Tutas Haugen
About this work:
An American Hymn, a fantasy on “Wondrous Love” for trombone
and organ was commissioned by trombonist Larry Zimmerman and
premiered in 1997. It uses four lines from the text of the traditional
American hymn as the inspiration for the four main sections of the
work.
The piece begins quietly with muted trombone and musically
depicts the words “O my soul, what wondrous love is this, o my soul. “
The second section is louder and rhythmically more active as its
descending chromatic line reflects the words “When I was sinking down
beneath God’s righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown, o my soul.”
The work builds in intensity to the third section which grandly
portrays “To God and to the lamb, I will sing” with full organ and
declaratory and cadenza-like trombone material. This climactic
material leads directly into a dance-like, gigue section that is based on
the text “And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.” References to the
dance as it slows down and combines with earlier musical material and
muted trombone lead back to opening of the work.
“And through eternity, I’ll sing on, o my soul, I’ll sing on” are the
words of the text from which the final measures are drawn. The
trombone is unmuted, and its final, sustained tone fades to nothing.
The composer writes: “I have tried to capture the strong
emotional content of the hymn “Wondrous Love” in this setting. I used
the fantasy form because it allows a meditative, free-flowing and
improvisatory character. The music reflects a spiritual journey, and
moves from contemplation to despair, exclamations of joy and thanks
and ultimately, peace.”
Year composed: 1996
Duration: 00:07:00
Ensemble type: Unspecified Instrument(s):Solo
Instrumentation: 1 Trombone, 1 Organ