Blessing - Instrumental Parts

Bruce Saylor is well-known for his exceptional sacred music and particularly his large-scale anthems. "Blessing" is a sensitive mixture of texts from the Scriptures and Jasper Keith, Jr. The anthem is scored for choir, trumpets, trombones, timpani and organ. It demands a great deal of sensitivity on the part of all the musicians and is especially gratifying for the exciting results that ensue. A quiet, rather sinuous line from the organ opens the work and is slowly transformed into more rhythmic and fiery figurations. A march-like section commences at the text, "Hast thou not known?" This subsides into more lyrical turns from the choir and organ and eventually a return to the opening music. The work concludes with an exuberant "Amen" from all forces. This is a real tour-de-force and should find its way into performances by large church and college choirs.