It might seem the height of hubris to take the text of one of the most iconic classical pieces ever written and use it to create an entirely new work, but who could refuse such a commission from the prestigious International Bach Academy, Stuttgart, and the Oregon Bach Festival? Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström (born 1942), a professor at Indiana University, Bloomington, is not known to general audiences, but he was one of the few (non-Eastern European) composers schooled in rigorous modernism who was devoting serious ...
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It might seem the height of hubris to take the text of one of the most iconic classical pieces ever written and use it to create an entirely new work, but who could refuse such a commission from the prestigious International Bach Academy, Stuttgart, and the Oregon Bach Festival? Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström (born 1942), a professor at Indiana University, Bloomington, is not known to general audiences, but he was one of the few (non-Eastern European) composers schooled in rigorous modernism who was devoting serious attention to religious music in the late 20th century. The piece certainly has to be considered on its own merits, apart from the masterpiece with which it happens to share a text. Perhaps in his zeal to avoid any reference to Handel, Sandström ignores, or rather, contradicts, than illuminates the meaning of the texts. Sandström sticks close to fairly traditional contemporary tonality in most movements. Minimalism is a powerful influence in some movements, such as "Every Valley" and...
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