Out of the South
Cometh the Whirlwind
Instrumentation: SATB chorus (treble solo) and organ Completed: January, 2011 Duration: 7 minutes Text: from the book of Job: 37:9-11, 14; 38:25-31, 34-35; 36:5, 26, 29-30 (King James Version) Premiered: 17 May 2011 by the Royal College of Music Junior Department Chamber Choir, directed by Joy Hill, in the Temple Church, London Published: Novello New Choral Series #NOV200849 Available for purchase: here
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Winner of a First Prize in the King James Bible Composition Awards, adjudicated by James MacMillan, Bill Ives, James O'Donnell, Roxanna Panufnik, and William Mival.Audio
Zachary Wadsworth - Out Of The South Cometh The Whirlwind by musicroom
Program Note
The King James Bible offers passages both of unmatched poetry and of real drama; rarely are the two so well balanced as they are in the book of Job. Here, religious doubt is challenged by the glory and grandeur of the natural world. In Out of the South Cometh the Whirlwind, lines from the book of Job chart a trajectory from doubt toward belief.
At the opening, chant-like melodies grow from a single pitch in the organ into forte proclamations of the majesty of the "wondrous works of God." But doubt soon invades, painted with nervously quivering lines from the Altos and Basses, as the choir ponders the provenance of water in its many forms. The organ's tense opening drones then return but are quickly diffused by a voice from beyond, a treble solo, which asks who other than God could bring forth rain. In the end the choir joyfully celebrates both the power and the mystery of God, and the anthem ends in quiet contemplation.
Text
Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:
Hearken unto this, ... stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: ...
Behold, God is great, and we know him not, ...
...Can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?
Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Performances (3)
| May 17, 2011, 6:00 pm (premiere) | Royal College of Music Junior Department Chamber Choir; Joy Hill, conductor; Daniel Moult, organ Temple Church, London |
| October 23, 2011, 4:00 pm | Choir of Trinity Cathedral; Jared Johnson, conductor; Christopher Jacobson, organ Trinity Cathedral, Charleston, South Carolina |
| November 16, 2011, 12:00 pm | Choir of Westminster Abbey; James O'Donnell, conductor; Robert Quinney, organ Westminster Abbey, London, England |