Ev'ry Corner Sings

“Ev'ry Corner Sings” was commissioned in thanksgiving for the Music Ministry of Alex Benestelli, Director of Music at St. James by-the-Sea. The title, “Ev’ry Corner Sings,” is from the first line (chorus) of George Herbert’s Antiphon (I): Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing…. It is also well-known that Vaughan Williams set a glorious anthem, “Antiphon,” to this text. (Antiphon is, in short, a responsive part of music or music with responsive parts.) Learning that St. James by-the-Sea once stood where the neighboring La Jolla Historical Society building now stands, I was inspired to imagine the buildings making a call-and-response—literally, from one corner to another. The title also reflects my desire to incorporate many features of the organ at St. James, for which it was written, highlighting that organ’s magnificent yet warm sound, orchestrally diverse colors, unique stops, and their combinations, such as multiple chimes and bells, trumpets, flutes, and more!!