“Isaiah Song” Wednesday, 10/20/2021
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Circa 1988, “Isaiah Song” was one of a number of songs in which I experimented with either alternate scale structures or chromatically descending line in order to generate, hopefully, unique and interesting harmonic progressions. The idea is to break away from predictable diatonic progressions, but present something that sounds logical to the ear.
“Isaiah Song” was originally intended as the second movement of a series or of a collection of songs based on the text from Isaiah 55. Conceptually, these would be sung in sequence like a contemporary version of a cantata. This song, as well as “You Are my Lord,” were requested fairly often at the prayer meetings we held in the amphitheater built from the basement of Old Main at SHSU. At that time, the music of “Isaiah Song” included only the verse, no introduction or transitional center section, though I had always intended to add something more.
When I decided to finish “Isaiah Song” for project one it became a short set of variations on a theme. Though the Isaiah 55 song cycle is not complete, two of my best friends encouraged me to record this piece, so it shows up here on project one.
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Thank you, David and Jerome for your constant encouragement! Also, thank you, Tara for your fantastic vocals on this one.