Psalm 90

Composed at the request of Lincoln Center to serve as a unifying element of the twelve concerts of the White Lights Festival’s “Psalms Experience,” featuring the Tallis Scholars, The Norwegian Soloist Choir, The Netherlands Chamber Choir, and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street. I intentionally wrote a hymn that felt reminiscent of the grand hymns of Edwardian England, choosing a melodic contour and harmonic language that pulls at the heart strings. Having discovered this wonderful alternate versified version of Psalm 90 (the usual being “O God, our help in ages past) by Robert Burns, it made an obvious choice to accompany the entire Psalter, as it depicts the minusculenature of humanity’s cycles of life in comparison to that of God. This arrangement would work well for almost any function that comments on our fleeting life-span, whether a funeral, wedding, baccalaureate, or commencement service. —Julian Wachner Duration: 3:12