Duo Seraphim Clamabant

(Performed by Chris McCall, Rowland Hazard, Daniel Pitts, Jacob Bendixen, Everardo Trujillo, and Ken Masuhiro [tenors], and Will Schlopy [baritone solo], Jonathon Arnold, Roberto Ortiz, De’John Brown, Andre Kelly, and Joe Ward [basses], conducted by Jeremy Wiggins)

Scoring: Unaccompanied men’s chorus (TTBB)

Duration: ca. 4 minutes 30 seconds

Text: Adapted from Isaiah 6:3 (Latin Vulgate)

Year composed: 2005

Place composed: Fullerton, CA

Description/Program Notes: The text for this piece is taken from the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, from Isaiah’s vision of the temple of God in Isaiah 6:3: “Two seraphim cried, one to the other: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty! The whole earth is full of His glory.’” The piece utilizes a lot of word painting: in the beginning one can see the door to the temple opening as glimpses of the glory inside are caught; as the two seraphim call to each other there is an imitative duet between the tenors and basses; and the central “Sanctus” section (the threefold repetition of “Holy”) uses the symbolism of the number 3 in multiple ways, including threefold repetition of three chords built on thirds in 3/4 time.

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