Diptych on "Veni Creator Spiritus"

This vibrant two-movement piece was commissioned for the 2024 San Francisco National Convention of the American Guild of Organists where it was premiered by Dong-ill Shin at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. Based on the familiar Pentecost plainchant, the work was intended to be useful either as a concert piece or as the prelude and postlude for a service. The meditative first movement embraces two prominent ways to elaborate notes in Korean traditional music: grace notes and tremolos. It begins boldly and dramatically but works its way to a reposed conclusion. The second movement is an active toccata with figuration that seems to depict the Holy Spirit as the rushing wind, eventually reaching an ending filled with brilliant light. The dance-like second movement incorporates multiple 6/8 rhythmic patterns that appear often in Korean folk music. The combination of medieval chant and Korean folk music could be an allegory of the apostles speaking in diverse languages on the first Pentecost.