Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire

This piece weds James Montgomery's hymn text on prayer with an adapted version of the plainsong Divinum Mysterium. This meditation on prayer is wonderfully communicated through a Gregorian chant tune, which is itself a vehicle for sung prayer. The various ways of expressing a prayer (a sigh, a falling tear, upward glances) are reflected in the musical setting. For the climax of the piece, as the text tells of the soul entering Heaven while praying, the choir presents a "wordless" prayer. The piece works well for concert programs, general worship, or for memorial services.