I Cry to Thee: Psalms of Lament and Hope

Compositions

LARGE WORKS

I CRY TO THEE

Psalms of Lament and Hope

The Psalms speak to us through centuries of despair and hope. Just as today’s believers use the psalms to express their faith, so did the believers of centuries past. The psalms, more than any other book or scripture, binds the Christian and Jewish faiths together in a common history and heritage. They reassure and comfort us. We use them in times of thanksgiving, times of sorrow, when we feel alone or united as a community of faith.

The Psalms are divided into different types: thanksgiving, praise, lament and concerning spirituality. “I Cry to Thee” is based on the Psalms of Lament which possess five structural elements: the address and introductory petition, lament, confession of trust, petition, and vow of praise. It is this structure that forms the movements of “I Cry to Thee”: the address-Psalm 51, lament-Psalm 42, confession of trust-Psalm 130, petition-Psalm 139 and vow of praise-Psalms 6 and 148. Each psalm contains within its stanzas a sense of hope; hope for a prayer answered or a petition heard; a hope for salvation

“I Cry to Thee”, commissioned by the Brazos Valley Chorale in the spring of 1998, was first performed with choir and piano in May of the same year. The orchestration would follow in the spring of 2004 with the first full performance on May 23, 2004 with the Festival Choir and Orchestra from Faith United Methodist Church of Richmond, Texas.

“Psalm 51: Create in Me a Clean Heart”, begins with a decidedly strident tone. The opening strings, winds, and harp express a cry or wail. The text blends the ancient latin and a modern English adaptation combined with a single phrase from Psalm 130, “de profundis clamavit ad te domine”, or “out of the deep I cry to thee, O God.” The opening phrase “miserere mei, miserere Deus”, “have mercy on me, have mercy, O God”, is the initial cry from the petitioner, strident and murkey; creeping along in the depths of despair. The melody for the English text “Create in me a clean heart, O God”, is adapted from a hymn, “Beams of Heaven as I Go”, by African-American hymn writer Charles Tindley. What called attention to this hymn was the text more than the melody (though the melody is hauntingly beautiful, being simultaneously somber and light). This text and the mood it emulates, a cry of struggle and hope, are fitting for the first movement of “I Cry to Thee”.

Beams of heaven as I go,

Through the wilderness below,

Guide my feet in peaceful ways,

Turn my midnights into days.

When in the darkness I would grope,

Faith always sees a star of hope,

And soon from all life's grief and danger

I shall be free someday.

Refrain:

I do not know how long 'twill be,

Nor what the future holds for me,

But this I know: if Jesus leads me,

I shall get home someday.

“Psalm 42: As the Deer”, was composed in honor of two former choir members, one a tenor and the other a baritone, who passed away after many years of battling illness. They lived difficult lives yet never lost their sense of hope. The constant hammering of the strings symbolizes the harshness life sometimes brings. Yet, out of this trouble comes the plea by the tenor and baritone soloists, “hope in God who again I will praise.”

“Psalm 130: Out of the Deep”, was the first movement written and focal point of the entire work. Composed through the grief from the suicide of a former choir member who battled mental illness, the music fluctuates between major and minor tonality. The text encompasses the entire gamut of human emotion, and reflects in one movement the whole of “I Cry to Thee: Psalms of Lament and Hope”.

“Psalm 139: You Know My Soul”, is the only movement without accompaniment. This movement, situated before the final movement, clears the ear from any sounds except the choir. The text and choir become the primary focus - to cleanse the pallet so to speak. “God, you have searched me and know my soul” is a powerful and humbling statement. It ends with a request but not an answer; “lead me in the way everlasting,” for no matter what we have done, God knows and understands our humanity.

“Psalm 148: Sing Praise to God!” As the people of God in the Old Testament understood a vengeful God, this movement captures praise and hope. Yet, for those who believe in the New Testament God of grace and love, our fear transforms itself into praise and thanksgiving. God’s grace is cause for celebration.

“The way out of the depths begins in the possibility of prayer and the awareness that only the One who hears that prayer can draw us out of the depths. So the self that is caught in its iniquities cries out because of the need for forgiveness and because with this God forgiveness is possible.” [Interpreting the Psalms by Patrick Miller]

Michael E. Ekbladh