{"id":7497,"date":"2021-03-21T09:40:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T15:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/?p=7497"},"modified":"2021-01-24T14:24:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T20:24:24","slug":"the-lords-prayer-song-orchestral-music-for-soloist-and-choir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/the-lords-prayer-song-orchestral-music-for-soloist-and-choir\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord&#8217;s Prayer Song &#8211; Orchestral Music for Soloist and Choir"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Mu7sbgqBjP8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>The Lord&#8217;s Prayer &#8211; Music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). \u00a9 1997. Orchestral music for soloist and choir.<\/p>\n<p>The lyrics for my rendition of the Lord&#8217;s Prayer are from Matthew 6:9-13 which cover through &#8220;but deliver us from all evil.&#8221; As Wikipedia would have you know: &#8220;Other ancient authorities add, in some form, For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lord%27s_Prayer\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lord%27s_Prayer<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This was recorded around 1997 and includes live drums, bass, orchestral mock-up with piano, male tenor solo, full choir and high soprano operatic soloist. The choir was from Immanuel Baptist church in the California High Desert where I worked in the studio at the time with Road Records. The operatic soprano and male tenor soloist were both working with me at the studio on their own recording projects. I was fortunate back then that I would be working on so many album projects at the same time that I was often able to trade studio time with artists to perform on other projects.<\/p>\n<p>I remember when composing this piece that I wanted the choir to echo the soloist vocal lines but with changing chords as the song unfolds. I still like that approach. Because the Lord&#8217;s Prayer is often performed with a more intimate feel, I wanted to go a different direction with a sense of grandeur and a little unexpected classical direction with the chords. I realize this approach is not to everyone&#8217;s taste.<\/p>\n<p>When I hear the text of the Lord&#8217;s Prayer, this is how I hear it in my head. It is not passive and always easy to me. It has a bit of pathos, responsibility and trepidation to it; as if the light about to be seen is too bright for our eyes. Even as a child when I would hear the Lord&#8217;s Prayer recited in church, it would feel a little unsatisfying. I pictured Jesus saying the Lord&#8217;s Prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane. A commitment that had a context of resignation to a darkness to be confronted in short order. The Lord&#8217;s Prayer is normally said in a quiet safe space, but it is not lost on me that part of the reason for saying the prayer is to gain fortitude and strength to face head-on things that are to come. At least that&#8217;s how I see it used in our personal lives.<\/p>\n<p>This video gives a little feeling of the flying overview I was seeing in my head when I originally wrote the piece. I kept the lyric animation very simple because of the content. Being too fancy with animations on this song would be &#8220;a little too clever by half&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Changes I would make if I recorded this piece today. The orchestra mock-up is too strident in the high end. Back in 1997 the sample libraries I had access to were not nearly what they are today. It is too strong in the high end and should be supported better in the mid-range. I do still like the concept of combining drums and bass with the orchestra, but I would glue that together a little more in the rhythm section, maybe with an electric guitar on power chords and single low distorted notes. And bass trombones, this song definitely needs a few bass trombones when the big chord substitutions come in. The flute cascading falls should be reinforced with multiple flutes and added clarinet for a more &#8220;Disney&#8221; sound like orchestrator Danny Troob uses in the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack.<\/p>\n<p>Originally this song was written for an alto vocal. When the tenor vocalist gave a shot at recording the vocal, I remember I enjoyed the unexpected sound of having the tenor sing so high on the lead vocal. But, it really should be an alto\/mezzo vocal or the key should be changed to a more suitable tenor key.<\/p>\n<p>One of my favorite vocal lines and chord structures in this piece happen on the lyrics &#8220;And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.&#8221; There is a building darkness in that section that then opens up to a more triumphant, optimistic and soaring lyric of &#8220;for thine is the kingdom, and the glory, forever and ever.&#8221; That section best represents my personal feeling of that section of text.<\/p>\n<p>Every time I hear the high soprano operatic vocalist, I am reminded of the opening theme song for the original &#8220;Star Trek&#8221;. Lieutenant Uhura&#8217;s legacy lives on&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>LYRICS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our Father<br \/>\nWho art in heaven<br \/>\nHallowed be<br \/>\nThy name<\/p>\n<p>Thy kingdom come<br \/>\nThy will be done<br \/>\nOn earth<br \/>\nAs it is<br \/>\nIn heaven<\/p>\n<p>Give us this day<br \/>\nOur daily bread<br \/>\nAnd forgive us our debts<br \/>\nAs we forgive our debtors<\/p>\n<p>And lead us not<br \/>\nInto temptation<br \/>\nBut deliver us<br \/>\nFrom all evil<\/p>\n<p>For thine<br \/>\nIs the kingdom<br \/>\nAnd the power<br \/>\nAnd the glory<br \/>\nForever<br \/>\nAnd ever<br \/>\nAmen<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Lord&#8217;s Prayer \u00a9 1997 Conrad Askland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Lord&#8217;s Prayer &#8211; Music by Conrad Askland (ASCAP). \u00a9 1997. Orchestral music for soloist and choir. The lyrics for my rendition of the Lord&#8217;s Prayer are from Matthew 6:9-13 which cover through &#8220;but deliver us from all evil.&#8221; As Wikipedia would have you know: &#8220;Other ancient authorities add, in some form, For the kingdom [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3C0LX-1WV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7497"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7500,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7497\/revisions\/7500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}