A Pure Heart

SAB with piano accompaniment

Cover art This piece was commissioned by my friend and fellow composer, William Vollinger.

Bill became aware of a compositional technique/approach that I have developed and dubbed “Equitonalism”. The central idea of this approach is that, during the course of a piece, there is a section centered in each of the twelve key centers. Bill wanted a choral piece for his church that would be written employing this technique. This piece is the result.

Score download:

This work should be accessible (if a bit challenging) for most church choirs—although it might prove quite challenging for the accompanist!

This piece was premiered by Bill’s choir at Church of the Savior in Paramus, NJ, in March of 2004. It has since been performed by the Chancel Choir of the Centenary United Methodist Church in Granville, OH, and the Vintage Voices of Granville (OH).

The recording here is from the presentation at Centenary UMC in the spring of 2006.

Tip: To best experience the demo, first load the PDF in another browser tab. Then start the playback of the recording and follow along in the PDF.

“Qui cantat laudem non solum cantat, sed et amat eum quem cantat.”
(He who sings praise is not only singing, but also loving Him whom he is singing about/to/for.)

— St. Augustine of Hippo
Corpus Christianorum
Latinorum, vol. 39

The music of Charles O. Beck

A Pure Heart

SAB with piano accompaniment