Over the next three days we present the entire Chichester Psalms in its three parts, from our live performance in 2018. Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms was commissioned by the Very Reverend Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral, Sussex, UK, for the Three Choirs Festival of 1965 (involving the choirs of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury Cathedrals). Even though Leonard Bernstein was in the audience at Chichester for the July 31, 1965 performance, he, in fact, had just conducted the world premiere in New York with the Camerata Singers and the New York Philharmonic at Philharmonic Hall on July 15, 1965. The original scoring for the piece was for full orchestra. The composer himself also prepared a reduced accompaniment of organ, harp and percussion, which we used in our concert. The work comprises three movements, each of which utilize texts from the Psalms in Hebrew. The opening chorale of the first movement (Psalm 108 – “Awake, psaltery and harp!”) uses bold, angular musical material, which leads directly into a joyful dance-like setting of Psalm 100 in a 7/4 meter (“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.”)

– Dennis Keene, Artistic Director

LEONARD BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms (First Movement)

Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director
Victoria Drake, Harp
Barry Centanni, Percussion
Andrew Henderson, Organ

Recorded live in performance on May 17, 2018, The Church of the Ascension
The singers in this performance are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.