Cantata – Divine Word
Dedman, Malcolm
About the work
The words address all religions and refer to their messenger (Manifestation of God): e.g. Moses, Khrishna, Jesus etc. is implied. The spiritual qualities of these leaders are expressed in Movement 1, both earthly and spiritual in movement 2, Baha’u’liah’s words in the next two movements unite all previous faiths and messengers and provide words of wisdom for our own age.
1st movement written in 1981, others in 1998, and some revisions were made in 2009.
Technical notes
Intonation – based on a mode. Some complex rhythms in movement 2. Movement 3 uses complex time signatures, but is not fast. Optional baritone solo in Movement 3. Harmonics in strings. Some fast passages in upper strings in movements 2 and 4. Uses a mode throughout, implying eastern/western fusion. Some use of minimal techniques.