In the beginning - Winikoff, Michael

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"When selecting text to set I'm always drawn to text that has vivid imagery. To me the start of Genesis is one such text: I find the image of "the spirit … hovering over the surface of the waters" quite vivid. The piece is not religious, so much as spiritual. The first movement is intended to convey mystery and awe. The second energetically depicts the emergence of the wondrous cacophony of life, in all of its forms, and the emergence of a complex ecosystem from a barren rock. The third movement is a gentle contrast, and presents humanity's "mandate" to govern the earth. Gentleness in this movement grows to swelling love and passion. This is followed by an increasingly urgent warning about neglecting our assigned stewardship of the earth. The warnings of rains not coming (droughts), the earth drying up and lying polluted are apt, given the climate change consequences that are being observed today. This piece was begun in 2010, with the first three movements taking form fairly quickly. However, an initial version of the final movement proved unsatisfying, and was thrown out, and a completely different middle section and ending were written, with the piece finally being completed (prompted by a deadline for a competition) in early 2016."

◈ Genre → Other

♯ Key C major

⁄ Time Signature 3/4

♬ Voicing → SATB

◆ Difficulty

Elementary

↕ Range F2 – G6

¶ Language → English

Measures 144

Texture Homophonic

Parts 10

Instruments A cappella

Pages 17

CPDL # 41434

Editor Michael Winikoff

Posted 2016-10-15

License CPDL License

♫Pitch Ranges

MusicXML Part

G#2 – D#4

Soprano

E-4 – F6

Alto

G3 – C6

Tenor

D3 – A5

Bass

F2 – B4

¶Lyrics / Text

I. Let there be light. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth, for the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. II. Let the land sprout with vegetation every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit let the waters swarm with fish and other life let the sky be filled with birds of every kind let the earth produce every sort of animal and God saw that it was good. III. Be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and govern it reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals IV. The Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden to tend and watch over it but the Lord God warned him: If you break my covenant, I will punish you. That’s why the spring rains have failed. The earth mourns and dries up, the crops waste away and wither. If you follow my decrees and obey my commands, you will eat your fill and live securely in your own land and God saw that it was good.