John Burge

Commissioner: Reverend Elizabeth Richards for the Gaetz Memorial United Church Music Ministry in Red Deer, Alberta.

Premiere: Gaetz Memorial United Church Choir and Handbell Choir, Dale Dickau, Music Director, at Gaetz Memorial United Church, Red Deer, Alberta, on June 7, 2015.

Duration: Approximately 5 minutes

Choral Score Purchase: This work can be purchased directly from this website by making a payment for a bulk order based on the number of members in the choir.  After payment is made using the checkout icon and Paypal, a link is instantly sent to the purchaser to enable the immedatiate downloading of the score's pdf.  The receipt indicates that the choir has permission to make the number of copies paid for but if desired, the choir will be provided with a personalized cover page that states the choir has a photocopy site license to reproduce the number of copies purchased.  Alternatively, choirs are encouraged to contact John Burge directly should they wish to receive an Invoice and/or make payment using cheque or e-transfer.

Program Note: The Beatitudes, for choir, handbells and organ, is a setting of the seven very familiar lines from the Gospel of Mark that begin, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the Kingdom of Heaven.”  The work was commissioned by Reverend Elizabeth Richards for the Gaetz Memorial United Church Music Ministry in Red Deer, Alberta upon her retirement from the church in 2015.  John Burge has known “Liz” for many years and was glad to have this opportunity to find a musical interpretation of these lines.  The importance of the words required a text setting that is audibly straight forward, often being heard in a dialogue arrangement between the female and male sections of the choir.  The composition uses the bells to create an angelic-like aura around the words and with the addition of organ, builds to a triumphant climax at the end.  It is also possible to perform this work by having the handbell parts played on the piano.

Please note: The mp3 provided is a MIDI recording that I usually wouldn't post since the choir parts are quite unbearable to listen to and the organ, one-dimensional.  However, the sound of the handbells is passable and might prove useful. A video was made of the premiere performance using the camera's built-in microphone.  The link below includes a spoken introduction to the piece: 

The Beatitudes Premiere Performance Video