Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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You will not fear - (2020)
for organ
for Msgr. Charles Pope
Beginning with the thought from Psalm 91, "You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday," a chromatic and closed harmonic gesture begins darkly. With a rise in pitch, the overall introduction lifts out of darker colors to a lighter mood, until at measure 18 the first statement of a set of melodic variations is heard.
The Psalm quote was highlighted in a blog post by Pope, pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Roman Catholic Church in Washington DC.
Msgr. Charles Pope at the console
Of Pope, his own words speak wonderfully: "He continued, 'I think the question is to find balance. I think that there are legitimate times that we can and should wear masks for now and socially distance and we should follow protocols for Communion. And – I continue to ask this question, 'what's the endgame? When will this [gripping] fear let up?' Because we'll never have a completely risk-free world. So the question is: how do we balance fears on both sides and move forward to the life we once knew in this country?' " In "Washington Post’s hit piece on COVID-stricken priest left out these important facts," by Claire Chretien, LifeSite, 3 August 2020.
3 pages, circa 5' 30" an MP3 demo is here:
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ score.
