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Flowers must come out to the road: Shawn Kirchner and choral music of social justice

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Flowers must come out to the road: Shawn Kirchner and choral music of social justice

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FLOWERS MUST COME OUT TO THE ROAD:
SHAWN KIRCHNER AND CHORAL MUSIC OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

By

Alexander Lloyd Blake
______________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
(CHORAL MUSIC)

AUGUST 2019

Copyright 2019 Alexander Lloyd Blake
ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I would like to thank Shawn Kirchner for his dedication to sharing stories and vital
messages of social justice within his beautiful choral music. Hearts are healed and doors are
opened for conversation and healing because of his artistry and his heart. I am also grateful for
his support during this process, both as a willing subject of study and as a caring motivator.
Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Tram Sparks, my advisor for the dissertation and a
support throughout the final process of this degree. Her patience and perspective were and
continue to be a blessing. I would like to thank all of the professors on my advisory committee,
including Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe, Dr. Nick Strimple, Dr. Veronika Krausas, Dr. Mark Weiser,
and Professor Larry Livingston. I would like to thank Dr. Guy Arcuri and the Arcuri family, for
without their constant support and advice I am sure I would not have made it to this point. Thank
you to Susan and Mads Bjerre and John Track for offering their homes as a retreat to finish the
final steps of this research. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family, especially my
mother, for their prayers, words, and offers of support. This dissertation is a result of the love
and support of my whole community. This dissertation, therefore, is dedicated to all who share a
vision of a more just and inclusive world.

iii

Abstract

Just as the current social and political nature of the United States influenced Shawn
Kirchner’s compositions, the same socio-political environment makes a dissertation on music of
social justice both timely and relevant for the choral field. In recent years, there has been an
increase in social justice-themed concerts and ensembles. Many musicians within the choral
realm have felt a personal need to find ways to use the choral art to bring about change in policy,
as well as social consciousness.
This purpose of this investigation is to introduce both conductors and listeners to Shawn
Kirchner’s choral music output. Specifically, this study aims to show how the social issues of
peace and conflict, marginalization and empowerment, and truth and justice are portrayed in
Kirchner’s compositions. Based on recorded, live interviews with Shawn Kirchner, this study
will document, synthesize and analyze the data presented.
This study aims to reveal how Kirchner’s life and musical training (Chapter One) were
catalysts for the development of his specific voice (Chapter Two) in his relevant musical projects
(Chapter Three). The third chapter will provide a comprehensive source of Kirchner’s original
compositions and arrangements contextualizing messages of social justice themes. The appendix
will present all interview transcripts as well as a complete list of Kirchner’s choral repertoire.

iv

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... ii
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ iii
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... iv
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vi
List of Musical Examples ............................................................................................................ vii
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Part One: Shawn Kirchner’s Musical Background and Development ....................................... 6
The Early Years ...................................................................................................................... 6
High School: Musical and Vocal Mastery .............................................................................. 7
College Years: Music and Cultural Awareness ...................................................................... 9
Shift in Focus: Following Fate and Passion ......................................................................... 10
Professional Choral Arranger: A Series of Fortunate Events ............................................... 12
Songwriter: A Musical Response ......................................................................................... 13
Professional Notoriety: From Arranger to Commissioned Composer ................................. 14
Social Justice: On Becoming Political .................................................................................. 15
Part Two: Transformational Events and the Road to Social Justice ........................................ 15
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 15
A Faith of Peace: Church of the Brethren ............................................................................ 16
Training up a Child: Education ............................................................................................ 17
Walk the Walk: College Career ............................................................................................ 19
Life for Life: Family Tragedy .............................................................................................. 21
Passion through Music: Brokeback Mountain and LGBTQ Experience .............................. 23
Chapter 2: Distinguishable Compositional Techniques ............................................................... 25
Folk music influences ........................................................................................................... 25
A Focus on the Message ....................................................................................................... 26
Compositional Patterns ......................................................................................................... 26
Intricacies of Texture ............................................................................................................ 28
Gospel Arrangements ........................................................................................................... 36

v

Chapter 3: A Descriptive Analysis of Selected Works on Themes of Social Justice .................. 41
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 41
Marginalization and Empowerment ......................................................................................... 42
“Cornerstone” ....................................................................................................................... 42
Rose/Riddle/Rainbow ............................................................................................................ 53
Peace and Conflict .................................................................................................................... 85
“Eye for Eye” ........................................................................................................................ 85
“Rain Come Down” ............................................................................................................ 100
Songs of Ascent ................................................................................................................... 109
Truth and Justice .................................................................................................................... 124
“America the Beautiful” ..................................................................................................... 125
“A Sign Opposed” .............................................................................................................. 139
“Man of Truth” ................................................................................................................... 148
Chapter 4: Summary and Conclusions ....................................................................................... 161
Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 164
Appendices ................................................................................................................................. 172
APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN KIRCHNER ............................................... 172
APPENDIX B: PHONE INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN KIRCHNER ................................. 178
APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW WITH GRANT GERSHON .................................................. 183
APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW WITH BETH WILLER ......................................................... 188
APPENDIX E: INTERVIEW WITH TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU .............................. 191
APPENDIX F: INTERVIEW WITH DAVID HODGKINS ................................................. 195
APPENDIX G: INTERVIEW WITH SUZI DIGBY ............................................................. 198
APPENDIX H: INTERVIEW WITH KATY GRAY BROWN ............................................ 199
APPENDIX I: CATALOGUE OF SHAWN KIRCHNER CHORAL WORKS ................... 202

vi

List of Tables
Table 3.1 Form Analysis of "Cornerstone" .................................................................................. 49
Table 3.2 Form Analysis of "Rose" ............................................................................................. 63
Table 3.3 Form Analysis of "Riddle" .......................................................................................... 69
Table 3.4 Form Analysis of "Riddle" continued .......................................................................... 69
Table 3.5 Form Analysis of "Rainbow" ....................................................................................... 75
Table 3.6 Form Analysis of "Rainbow" continued ...................................................................... 75
Table 3.7 Form Analysis of Eye for Eye ..................................................................................... 91
Table 3.8 Form Analysis of "Rain Come Down" ...................................................................... 105
Table 3.9 Form Analysis of Songs of Ascent ............................................................................. 116
Table 3.10 Form Analysis of Songs of Ascent continued .......................................................... 116
Table 3.11 Form Analysis of "America the Beautiful" .............................................................. 132
Table 3.12 Form Analysis of "America the Beautiful" continued ............................................. 133
Table 3.13 Form Analysis of "A Sign Opposed" ....................................................................... 144
Table 3.14 Form Analysis of "A Sign Opposed" continued ...................................................... 144
Table 3.15 Form Analysis of "Man of Truth" ............................................................................ 153
Table 3.16 Form Analysis of "Man of Truth" continued ........................................................... 154

vii

List of Musical Examples
Example 2.1 Melodic motive within "Eye for Eye" .................................................................... 28
Example 2.2 Melodic motive in “Man of Truth” ......................................................................... 28
Example 2.3 Imitation within "Man of Truth", mm. 15-18 ......................................................... 30
Example 2.4 Imitation in "Unclouded Day" mm. 35-37 ............................................................. 31
Example 2.5 Sequence in "One Sweet Little Baby" mm 56-59 .................................................. 32
Example 2.6 Sequence within Songs of Ascent, Mvmt. II: mm. 56-59 ....................................... 33
Example 2.7 Simplified sequence within Songs of Ascent .......................................................... 33
Example 2.8 Clawhammer Style in "Brightest and Best" mm. 25-30 ......................................... 35
Example 2.9 Clawhammer passage within "I'll Be On My Way" ............................................... 36
Example 2.10 Praetorius' harmonization of "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming" mm. 1-5 ............. 37
Example 2.11 Kirchner's setting of "Lo, How a Rose" mm. 105-110 ......................................... 38
Example 2.12 Gospel writing in "One Sweet Little Baby" mm. 29-35 ....................................... 39
Example 3.1 Bass stepwise descent in "Cornerstone" mm. 38-40 .............................................. 50
Example 3.2 Growing textural interest in third refrain of "Cornerstone" mm. 57-59 ................. 51
Example 3.3 Text painting within "Cornerstone" mm. 71-73 ..................................................... 52
Example 3.4 "Steal Away" theme and its augmented variation, mm. 1-6 ................................... 64
Example 3.5 Second "Steal Away" theme and its transposed and augmented variations,
mm. 1-7 ................................................................................................................................. 64
Example 3.6 Return to Bb Major in "Little Rose" mm. 62-65 .................................................... 67
Example 3.7 Melodic quote of "There is a Balm in Gilead" in "Rose," mm. 76-78 ................... 68
Example 3.8 Theme A within "Riddle" mm. 1-3 ......................................................................... 70
Example 3.9 Overlapping themes within “Riddle” mm. 5-6 ....................................................... 71
Example 3.10 Response style with "Rainbow" mm. 20-22 ......................................................... 76
Example 3.11 New melodic material in "Rainbow" mm. 37-39 ................................................. 78
Example 3.12 "Rainbow" Bridge section mm. 52-55 .................................................................. 80
Example 3.13 Ascending scale within Bridge of "Rainbow" mm. 69-73 ................................... 81
Example 3.14 Stretto passage in "Rainbow" mm. 78-79 ............................................................. 83
Example 3.15 Collapsed Tonal Clusters within "Rainbow", mm. 87-88, 90-91, 93-94 .............. 84
Example 3.16 Melodic material of first phrase of "Eye for Eye" mm. 1-4 ................................. 92
Example 3.17 Third iteration of first phrase in "Eye for Eye" mm. 9-12 .................................... 93
Example 3.18 Melodic material of second phrase of “Eye for Eye” mm. 13-16 ........................ 94
viii

Example 3.19 Contrasting "B" material in “Eye for Eye” mm. 33-35 ........................................ 97
Example 3.20 Independence of Tenor line in "Eye for Eye" mm. 36-38 .................................... 98
Example 3.21 Section C: Kirchner's depiction of purity in "light" mm. 55-63 ........................... 99
Example 3.22 Period Structure throughout "Rain Come Down" mm. 1-8 ................................ 106
Example 3.23 Sigh motif in "Rain Come Down" m. 38 ............................................................ 107
Example 3.24 Motive A in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt I mm. 1-4 .................................................. 118
Example 3.25 Motive B in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt. II mm. 7-12 .............................................. 119
Example 3.26 Inversion of Motive B in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt. II mm 18-20 ........................ 119
Example 3.27 Motive A in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt. IV mm. 1-4 .............................................. 120
Example 3.28 Motive A in Songs of Ascent: Mvt. V mm. 40-44 .............................................. 120
Example 3.29 Motive B in Songs of Ascent: Mvt. VI mm. 46-47 ............................................. 121
Example 3.30 Motive A in Contrary Motion in Songs of Ascent: Mvt. X mm. 26-29 .............. 123
Example 3.31 Piano accompaniment depicting mountains in "America the Beautiful,"
mm. 1-4 ............................................................................................................................... 133
Example 3.32 Landini cadence within "America the Beautiful" m.11 ...................................... 134
Example 3.33 Common tone modulations in "America the Beautiful" mm. 41-51 .................. 136
Example 3.34 Third verse regarding hope in "America the Beautiful" mm. 58-60 .................. 137
Example 3.35 Dissonance in refrain of "America the Beautiful" mm. 69-73 ........................... 138
Example 3.36 Opposing themes in "A Sign Opposed" mm. 1-6 ............................................... 145
Example 3.37 Harmonic Depiction of Opposition within "A Sign Opposed" mm. 70-72 ........ 147
Example 3.38 Descending "thought" motive in "A Sign Opposed" mm. 82-89 ....................... 148
Example 3.39 Parallel tenths and angular rhythms in "Man of Truth" mm. 1-2 ....................... 155
Example 3.40 Fourth motive in "Man of Truth" mm. 28-30 ..................................................... 158
Example 3.41 Imitation of motive in "Man of Truth" mm. 45-48 ............................................. 159
Example 3.42 Piano accompaniment depicting "stumble" in "Man of Truth" m. 56 ................ 160

1

Introduction
An interview with Shawn Kirchner

Next to Kirchner’s computer sits a paper with a quote and explanation under it. This
quote, from which the title emerged, became the guiding principle for the content that follows.
The statement reads:
“If there be flowers flowers
must come out to the road.”
1

Kirchner mentioned this phrase came from the poem Young Afrikaans by the African-
American poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000). Kirchner related the flower to beauty,
specifically beauty through expression and creation of art. He said, “Traditionally, artistic
expression has been relatively synonymous with putting beauty into the world. You build a
house and you want to decorate it, so you put colors and art on the walls. Art traditionally has
decorated life. Song has decorated silence in the way visual art has decorated physical space.”
2

The road, in Kirchner’s interpretation, is the symbol of the harsh reality in our lives. In contrast
to the flower, the road, with its imperfections and harshness of rocks or concrete, symbolizes the
struggle that we encounter in our journey as well as in relationships with others. The struggles
Kirchner refers to specifically are the systemic injustices that often deal the strongest blow to the
marginalized and most vulnerable in our society.

1
Gwendolyn Brooks, Blacks / Gwendolyn Brooks (Chicago: Third World Press, 1987), 10.
2
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
2

Social justice became a recurring theme. The term social justice appears in everyday
language, but its definition possesses subtle differences in connotation when used by different
individuals or groups of people. As the use of the term has increased, so has its ambiguity.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, social justice is “Justice in terms of the distribution
of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.”
3
Kirchner’s definition places social
justice as an ideal, with a high priority on relationship and validity of existence. He places more
emphasis on how people relate to each other in order to make a community whole. This
community, which involves all living things, is whole when each individual is respected,
cherished and can find worthwhile opportunities within their lives. Reverence for each living
being is an ideal instilled in Kirchner from a young age, and social justice is simply striving for
that ideal in various and natural ways, including in his current professional and vocational
expressions. Social justice for Kirchner is more than just an idea; it is a goal for which we are all
responsible to reach together, both on a global and individual level. Given Kirchner’s definition
of social justice, one would expect to see many themes as subjects within his music. Themes of
relationship between genders, LGBTQ rights, nonviolence, marginalization within communities,
and protest or critique of political systems of injustice are just some examples of themes that are
highlighted within his works.
Discussing Brooks’ quote further, the emphasis was not just in the contrast of the flower
and the road, but where the two different symbols are placed in relation to the other. Kirchner
says, “In the poem, [the flower, and therefore, beauty] is not separated from life but reflects life
and is right next to life. For me, [Brooks] is giving two possible locations, an escape which

3
John Simpson and Edmund Weiner, ed., “Social Justice,” Oxford English Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary Press,
2018), Accessed July 9, 2018, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/social_justice.

3

would be to revel in beauty out in a meadow. She is not putting flowers away in a meadow, but
lets these things meet each other right by the roadside.”
4

Commenting further, Kirchner writes, “A while back I counted the number of my pieces
that had the word ‘joy’ in them and came up with a pretty large percentage - partly because that
included Christmas pieces - but still - it’s very fair to say that bright, uplifting pieces can be quite
popular in choral circles.”
5
These holidays works, and a few of his arrangements that mentioned
heaven - such as “Unclouded Day” and “Brightest and Best” - have become some of Kirchner’s
most popular choral works.
6
He explains that too often, the genre of choral music has been more
like the flower near the meadow. It is time to place the flower by the roadside.
Speaking generally on choral concerts, Kirchner comments in his writing that these
events have become more escapist in nature, as if they are ethereal sounds that lift us above the
harshness of life’s difficult moments. He writes: “When people go to the theater, they expect
drama, they expect conflict and resolution, they expect an arch-villain. Catharsis. But what about
choral concerts? There are many more pieces about timeless themes like love and nature than
there are about the specific struggles of specific people.”
7
Kirchner returned directly or indirectly
to the flower/road juxtaposition, but he also makes another point clear: whether his music
reflects beauty or his life reflects his crusade for social justice, the music is not limited by genre
or social context.
Kirchner believes that like the flowers next to the road, the art of music and the genre of
choral music must reflect our time and the lives of our community. He also has a strong sense
that the real power of beauty is not just in its existence, but lays in its juxtaposition to objects that

4
Shawn Kirchner, Notes Transcript. See Appendix.
5
Ibid.
6
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
7
Shawn Kirchner, Notes Transcript. See Appendix.

4

are described by their lack of beauty.
8
Interpreting this metaphor, choral music, while having an
emotional connection to lifting audiences above the troubles of the day, can find its true beauty
when it is used to confront issues that are not so easy to talk about.
There is certainly a precedent for choral music being used to reflect and even combat
oppressive systems. William Byrd, a Tudor composer in the seventeenth century, used music
including Ave Verum Corpus to resist increasing intolerance and violence toward Catholics under
the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
9
Another example of music of resistance is the song As’ Kwaz’
Ukuhamba, used in South Africa to rally the community to fight against racial injustice of
apartheid.
10
There is a power behind people singing together for justice and unity, and Kirchner’s
music adds to the growing lineage of artists who are using their music as a defying voice to make
the world more just, equitable, and inclusive. As Kirchner states in his writing, “Choral music
has words. We can name, and signify, and mean.”
11

While some of Kirchner’s music that infuses messaging of social justice was composed
many years before this study, many of the compositions that were researched and chosen to be
analyzed in this dissertation are fairly recent, specifically written after the presidential election of
2016. Kirchner spoke to his reasons for the shift to primarily writing about social justice issues.
“So the flowers of my creativity must reflect my time and my life and my country and my
world.”
12
Hence, the study aims to highlight Kirchner‘s compositional output as it relates to
messages of justice and present this body of work as a specific and substantial subset of his
musical practice.

8
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
9
Ariel Bacon, "William Byrd: Political and Recusant Composer," Musical Offerings 3, no. 1 (Spring 2012), 13-25.
doi:10.15385/jmo.2012.3.1.2.
10
Michela E. Vershbow, “The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid
Movement,” Inquiries Journal/Student Pulse 2, no. 06 (2010), 1-2.
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/265/the-sounds-of-resistance-the-role-of-music-in-south-africas-anti-
apartheid-movement
11
Shawn Kirchner, Notes Transcript. See Appendix.
12
Ibid.
5

To summarize, then, this is an unearthing of Kirchner’s commitment to bring his flowers
to the roads of our time.

6

Chapter 1
Part One: Shawn Kirchner’s Musical Background and Development

The Early Years
Born in 1970, Shawn Kirchner’s earliest musical experiences started in 1975 with a gift
from his parents in Cedar Falls, IA. The gift was a melodeon, a plastic keyboard with a
mouthpiece into which one blows into to make a sound. At the age of five, Kirchner immediately
started to play songs on it. According to Kirchner, his first song that he ever learned to play was
the Marine Corps Hymn, an ironic beginning in light of his future pacifist ideals. He would not
start any formal musical training for three years.
At the age of eight, Kirchner embarked on his musical education. Three years after
receiving his first instrument, Kirchner’s parents recognized the musical talent in Shawn and his
triplet siblings. With Shawn specifically, they realized there was a special potential when they
heard him playing music from the commercials on the TV. They decided that they needed to
nurture their children’s natural talents and inclinations toward music though formal lessons.
Shawn’s mother found a broken piano behind a restaurant owned by his grandmother. With help
from friends, Shawn’s mother brought the piano home and restored the instrument for Shawn.
Soon afterward, Kirchner began piano lessons. However, due to his advanced facility of the
piano, he found his first lessons with the piano teacher less motivational than he was expecting
and located another teacher within the same year. His success with the lessons, like learning how
to play by ear, came naturally, and he advanced quickly. After one year of playing piano,
Kirchner was already accompanying schoolwide choir festivals. Along with the lessons, he
learned how to sight-read by playing hymns in the church hymnal.
7

During these childhood years, Kirchner would augment his piano lessons with lessons on
the viola. Furthermore, the church camp Kirchner attended cemented his love for vocal music.
His teacher at the camp, Velva Butler, taught the group a nine-part round, and at that moment
Kirchner’s passion for group singing began to flourish. Hence, singing at school and church,
along with his formal instrumental lessons continually increased and shaped his passion for
choral music.
At the age of eleven, Kirchner began studying with a different piano teacher, Joan
Smalley. According to Kirchner, she was the best teacher in town. Smalley taught at the local
university, and her husband was a professional opera singer. Studying with Smalley came at a
small price; she told Kirchner that while he was a good player, he had stunted his progression of
technique due to his reliance on his aural skills and natural talent. She gave him the option of
continuing to play at his current level of difficulty and with a relatively sloppy technique, or he
could return to compositions that were a little easier in order to learn how to play more precisely
and with better technique. Kirchner chose the latter and considers this choice and this particular
teacher to be the main influence in his young career. Working with Smalley gave Kirchner the
piano technique that would become the foundation of his career.

High School: Musical and Vocal Mastery
Kirchner’s high school career involved orchestral, choral, and keyboard activities.
Kirchner was dismissed from his orchestra program for being too distractive, and during the time
between finishing the academic year in orchestra and switching to the choral program he was
given an assignment to compose for instruments, as a replacement for the orchestra involvement.
His first project was for string quartet, and his second project was a choral piece titled “Sing to
the Lord a New Song” based on Psalm 98.
8

In addition to his own high school activities, Kirchner started to travel to enhance his
piano skills. Some of these travels included piano camps at Drake University and Oberlin
University, where he studied with George Katz and Joseph Schwartz respectively. Kirchner
would also start to compete in young artists programs as well as piano competitions during his
high school years, and the advanced experiences in both piano and choral music would come to
serve him well on his compositional journey.
Kirchner’s instrumental mastery expanded to include the organ, when at the age of fifteen
he was hired to play at his church. His church paid for Shawn’s lessons at the local university to
prepare him for this occupation. This generous act served as the catalyst for Shawn to move his
life’s advance further in his musical career. Through his lessons with Joan Smalley, Shawn
participated in one of the most memorable experiences of his life. Kirchner’s teacher was hired
to play the organ for the local performance of St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Smalley offered him to sit at the organ for the rehearsals and in the performance, allowing him to
help change stops and even play some of the chorales in the actual performance. Kirchner views
this experience as one that shaped his love for the choral art and music, in general.
13

At the same time, Kirchner had an encounter that became a catalyst for Kirchner in his
interaction with new styles in which he was not immersed. After hearing a recording of Joan
Baez that featured a gospel song, he became fascinated with the sound of gospel music. He
vowed to learn how to play in the style of the African-American gospel tradition. Kirchner
bought the Baez recording, and listened over and over to gain more understanding of the style.
This spark of learning and understanding other styles of music would continue to grow from this
moment in his life.

13
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
9

College Years: Music and Cultural Awareness
In 1988, Shawn moved to North Manchester, Indiana to begin his collegiate studies at
Manchester University, a university rooted in the Church of the Brethren denomination.
Although Kirchner was immersed in advanced music studies prior to college, he would not take
any academic music classes save one semester of organ lessons. Kirchner was a Peace Studies
major with a focus on foreign languages, working toward the goal of developing a career in
diplomacy. However, he did sing in the college choir and also accompanied the vocal lessons for
students in the music department. Both of these opportunities assisted to expand Kirchner’s
knowledge great choral and vocal repertoire. While music was not the academic focus, music
would continue to play an important role in his life, especially after meeting his mentor.
This important mentor was Steve Kinzie, a folk singer, songwriter, and banjo player, who
Kirchner met at a Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) meeting as a part of his Peace Studies
program. At this meeting, Kinzie performed some of his folksongs and Kirchner was
immediately impressed. Kirchner discovered later that Kinzie’s wife was a pastor at a nearby
church, and the next event solidified the two men’s relationship. According to Kirchner, he
visited the church where Kinzie’s wife was preaching and immediately after the service,
Kirchner approached Kinzie.
14
Sitting down to the piano before them, Kirchner asked Kinzie if
he recognized what he was playing, and immediately started to play Kinzie’s song from the FOR
meeting. From that moment, a lifetime mentorship started. Kinzie became Kirchner’s musical
and spiritual mentor and they continue to nurture their strong relationship.
Kirchner’s experiences during these years expanded his knowledge of musical styles
aside from the classical and folk genres with which he grew up. His passion for gospel music
surfaced once again when he started to work with the Black Student Union at Manchester

14
Ibid.
10

University. After becoming more and more active with the campus organizations, Kirchner
involved himself as the accompanist in their concerts. In this position, Kirchner learned
repertoire stemming from the Black church tradition and also became fluent in the stylistic
improvisations that are typical in gospel piano playing. While not immersed in gospel singing,
his earlier influence with the Joan Baez recording gave him some insight into this “new” musical
language. Kirchner also connected with international music styles when he studied abroad in
China. Along with learning Mandarin as a part of his undergraduate studies, Kirchner learned
how to play the erhu, a two-stringed bowed instrument that is also referred to as the “Chinese
violin”. These experiences deepened Kirchner’s understanding of music’s connection to different
cultures and sustained in him a deep respect for understanding the nuances within each genre.
With this understanding he accepted the responsibility of respecting the different genres he used
within his own compositions.

Shift in Focus: Following Fate and Passion
Kirchner graduated in 1992 from Manchester University, but his journey with the
university continued when he was asked to stay on as an intern to lead the Peace Choir, an
ensemble that Kirchner founded. This choir stemmed out of the Peace Studies major that
Kirchner had completed, including both Peace Studies majors and graduates as well as
international students whom Kirchner had encountered during his college career. After this
internship year, Kirchner had planned to travel to the West Bank to teach English for two years
as his project for the Brethren Volunteer Service, a program specific to Church of the Brethren
and where recent alumni volunteer. Kirchner had also considered an alternate project to perform
with the Joya Quartet, but he decided to go with his passion of language over music. While
11

waiting to obtain a visa, he volunteered at the Gould Farm, a residence for people with severe
mental illnesses.
Gould Farm music served as one of the healing activities for the residents, and Kirchner
again began to engage with musical experiences. In addition to his volunteer activities, he and
several colleagues started to sing locally as members of the Berkshire Bach Society. While
participating in this choral ensemble, Kirchner would meet Deborah Morris, an alto in the
ensemble. Aside from Morris’ classical knowledge, she was also a talented folk musician and
guitarist. Kirchner and Morris quickly struck a bond, and Kirchner started arranging many of the
songs he learned from Morris. He had encountered a natural setting where his life’s fate and
passions crossed paths. Between his time with the Bach Society, the Gould Farm, and folk
arranging with Morris, Kirchner discovered that while languages were a strong passion in his
life, he could not imagine an existence where music was not at the center. It was at this time, in
1994, that Kirchner decided to move from a career in foreign language and diplomacy (Peace)
and towards a career in music.
With this new direction, Kirchner opted for his second choice for his Brethren Volunteer
Service and join with the Joya Quartet. Joya was the abbreviated name for Journey of Young
Adults, and with Joya, Kirchner travelled the country performing music. This quartet became
Kirchner’s “scratch pad” to practice creating and performing his choral arrangements by creating
songs based on the specific needs for the quartet. Many of the arrangements were taught by rote,
while others were written down. “Wana Baraka”, one Kirchner’s most successful arrangements
from a commercial standpoint, was arranged during his time with the Joya Quartet.
15
Altogether,
though, his time with the Joya Quartet simply cleared the path for Kirchner to hone his skills in
the familiar field of choral arranging and a new passion of choral conducting.

15
Ibid.
12

Professional Choral Arranger: A Series of Fortunate Events
After the national tour with the Joya Quartet and positive experiences with the Peace
Choir, Kirchner pursued graduate study in Choral Conducting. He attended University of Iowa in
1995, and after graduate school moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1997. While in Chicago, Kirchner
attended the American Choral Directors Association’s (ACDA) National Conference in Chicago
in 1999. Kirchner observed that much of the repertoire performed by the choirs selected for the
convention were arrangements of a compositional level with which Kirchner had considerable
experience at this point. While sitting at a performance, it occurred to Kirchner that there was no
reason why his arrangements could not be performed at these types of national events.
16
This
thought at the ACDA conference was the birth of Kirchner’s professional career in choral
arranging. During this period, Kirchner also became more involved with the Church of the
Brethren at a national level, leading the musical portion of the National Youth Conference in
1998.
In 1999, Kirchner moved to La Verne, California to begin working as the Director of
Choral Activities at the University of La Verne. During his tenure there, Kirchner continued to
work on his craft of choral arranging to find his unique voice, completing his “Cornerstone” and
“Bright Morning Stars”. For the university Christmas concerts, Kirchner arranged “Lo How A
Rose E’er Blooming”, “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” and “Go Tell It On the Mountain.” In 2001,
while becoming more involved in musical activities and direction in the Church, and after two
years of teaching, Kirchner focused more on his arranging career and left the university while
becoming the Minister of Music at the Church of the Brethren in La Verne. In the same year,
Kirchner joined the roster of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

16
Ibid.
13

In 2004, Kirchner was asked to be the music director for a CBS Christmas Eve Special.
The National Council of Churches invited the Church of the Brethren to perform the service, and
because Kirchner was a high-profile musician in the Church of the Brethren nationally, he was
asked to lead it. Because of this experience, some of Kirchner’s most popular Christmas
arrangements like “Who Am I, Oh Child of Wonder”, “One Sweet Little Baby”, “Brightest and
Best” and “Silent Night” were created. Through this experience, Kirchner became involved with
Juniata College, the resident choir for the Christmas Special. Once the college became aware of
Kirchner’s writing, they asked Kirchner in 2005 to arrange a whole album of Christmas carols,
giving Kirchner his first commission as an arranger.

Songwriter: A Musical Response
In late December of 2005, Kirchner saw the movie Brokeback Mountain.
17
Starring Heath
Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michelle Williams, this movie follows the life and secret love
affair of two cowboys and their ensuing relationship. After seeing the movie Brokeback
Mountain, Kirchner became very moved by the story and the representation of LGBTQ
characters in a positive light, something he had never witnessed in a film of this scale, both in
terms of its audience reach and its box office success. He began to work on a musical response to
the movie that turned into a full album of original songs. Ten new songs were composed in the
bluegrass and country styles, with each song describing the many inter-relational connections
between the characters in the film. Kirchner determinedly worked on this project without
interruption for six months, quitting his church job in his quest to pursue a new life as
songwriter. The project was completed in June of 2006, and the project was originally planned to

17
Brokeback Mountain, dir. Ang Lee, prod Diana Ossana and James Schamus, By Diana Ossana and Larry
McMurtry, perf. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal (United States: Universal Home Entertainment, 2006), film.
14

be released as a demo. Due to the talent of the musicians involved, Kirchner decided to spend
more time to polish the selections for the CD release and re-do some of the recorded vocal lines
and piano accompaniment. The album was released in the spring of 2007.

Professional Notoriety: From Arranger to Commissioned Composer
While Kirchner had been commissioned before, his compositional output consisted of
only a few original compositions with a larger amount of arrangements. However, the balance
would start to sway in the other direction in the fall of 2006 when Grant Gershon, the Kiki &
David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC), asked Kirchner to
commission a work in Spanish for the LAMC’s annual High School Choir Festival. The specific
request was for a composition written in Spanish, so Kirchner wrote “Tu Voz” based on the text
of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973).
The next year, the McAniff family, supporters of the Los Angeles Master Chorale,
contacted Gershon and asked him for recommendations for a composer who could write a work
to honor their father Ted McAniff, former board chair of the Chorale.
18
Kirchner met with the
family shortly after, and the match was made. In 2009 Kirchner finished the composition titled
“Memorare” which sets a Marian devotional prayer chosen by the McAniff family. Gershon
would continue to commission works by Kirchner, premiering Heavenly Home in 2010 and
Behold New Joy in 2011, the latter published by Oxford University Press.
In 2012, Kirchner became the second Composer-in-Residence of the Los Angeles Master
Chorale, succeeding notable composer Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943), who previously held the
position from 1995 to 2001.
19
As the Composer-in-Residence, Kirchner’s responsibilities

18
Grant Gershon. interview with author, Echo Park, CA, November 29, 2018.
19
Jaime Wetherbe, “Shawn Kirchner, L.A. Master Chorale’s New Composer-in-residence,” Los Angeles Times,
May 12, 2012, Accessed June 9, 2018, http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/21/entertainment/la-et-cm-master-
chorale-names-its-second-composerinresidence-20120518.
15

included creating a new large-scale composition for the Master Chorale each year. These works
are the Plath Songs, Inscapes, and Songs of Ascent.”
20
Kirchner completed his term as the
Composer-in-Residence in 2015.

Social Justice: On Becoming Political
In the years since Kirchner’s post with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, especially in
light of the election in 2016 and resulting sociopolitical climate, Kirchner’s music has become
more focused on social justice themes. He uses music to respond to what he considers a
dangerous time in our society. With compositions like Rose/Riddle/Rainbow, “Eye for Eye”,
“Man of Truth”, “A Sign Opposed” and a revised text in an arrangement of “America the
Beautiful”, Kirchner uses his music as a response to a feeling that basic norms of decency and
respect for humanity are threatened.
21

Part Two: Transformational Events and the Road to Social Justice

Introduction
In The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry, Berry writes of roads and paths.
He writes, “A path is little more than a habit that comes with knowledge of a place. It is a sort of
ritual of familiarity. … A road, on the other hand, even the most primitive road, embodies a
resistance against the landscape.”
22
The innocence of one’s youth cannot completely contain the
“knowledge of a place” in such a way that it transforms consciously or intentionally. Kirchner’s
views of beauty, such as the flowers in the aforementioned Brooks quote, developed from the

20
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
21
Ibid.
22
Wendell Berry, The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry. (Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2019), 10.
16

natural chronology of events that took place during his youth. Kirchner was not quite ready to
bring the “flowers to the road” of injustice, hate and violence without personally experiencing
certain transformative events that took place along the way. These events helped him formulate
his passions and “resist” the landscape of cultural injustice.
Kirchner mentions in his interview a question posed to him while he was in the fifth
grade. This question helped to guide him in many of his interactions with others throughout his
life. This question came one day at recess from a classmate named Matt Nickel after he
witnessed Kirchner being rude to his siblings. Kirchner recalls Matt coming up to him out of the
blue and asking him, “Why are you being so mean to your brother?”
23
Kirchner remembers being
dumbstruck at this question and never forgot that moment. As the definition of “brother”
broadened throughout his life, this question became an overarching one for his life and plays an
important role in both his moral understanding and his vocation. So, at the age of ten, the road to
social justice led him to walk further.

A Faith of Peace: Church of the Brethren
Most of Kirchner’s early influences, including his religious and educational upbringing,
have roots in the Church of the Brethren. This denomination taught Kirchner broaden his
definition of “brother” to include his fellow beings, both human and environmental. Originally
called “Tunkers” or “Dunkards” for their adult baptism practices beginning in 1708, the Church
of the Brethren still interprets the New Testament writings with a focus on the teachings and life
of Jesus. Hence, they place high priority on a life of love and kindness toward all living beings.
The Church of the Brethren, along with the Quakers and the Mennonites, is one of three historic

23
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, September 27, 2018.

17

“peace churches” in the United States. The origins of this church stem from the sixteenth-century
Swiss Anabaptist within the Protestant Reformation.
24
The Anabaptists accepted most of the
Protestant beliefs but emphatically refused to participate in war, a decision that led to the
conviction of treason and subsequent deaths of the early leaders of the denomination. By the
eighteenth century, the pacifist German Brethren had begun to flee persecution after facing
prison sentences or taxation penalties for their beliefs. In 1719, the first group of these German
Brethren immigrants moved to America and settled in Pennsylvania.
In the United States, pacifism is still one of the landmarks of the denomination. During
both World Wars, Brethren pacifist were either drafted into the military as non-combatants, sent
to service camps, or even sent to prison for their refusal to serve in the military mid-twentieth
century as compulsory military drafts continued during the Cold War. As a result of the grand-
scale religious and political opposition to the draft, it ended in 1973. The church remains a
pacifist denomination to this day
25

Training up a Child: Education
On several occasions throughout his educational journey within the Church of the
Brethren, Kirchner formulated his ideas about civil disobedience, shaping and sharpening his
personal worldview.
During his middle and high school years, two classes stood out as the most memorable
for planting the seeds for his future passion. In the first class, World Cultures, Kirchner received
early lessons in appreciation for all beings - including a focus on plants and environmentalism.
The class prioritized the twentieth-century humanitarian Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) and his

24
Kenneth L. Brown, “Peace Studies at Manchester,” (speech. Sapporo, Japan, January 2010,) Manchester
University, http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15705coll26
25
Ibid.

18

philosophy of “Reverence for Life,” a philosophy which won him the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize.
26

Kirchner’s teacher, Mrs. Robinson, assigned a project to present on a foreign country to raise
awareness of international consciousness. Kirchner focused on China, specifically the Forbidden
City. Kirchner invested himself heavily in this project, drawing the entire city and labeling every
building within the perimeter. For his efforts he received a grade of 34/30 for this project, and,
according to Kirchner, himself, this possibly became the seed for future international pursuits. In
the second class, Mr. Lee Ver Mulm, Kirchner’s eleventh-grade English teacher, focused on the
writings and interviews of African-American civil rights leaders, connecting Kirchner from an
early age to a subset of American history and struggle that seemed personally stimulating even in
the midst of his predominantly Caucasian setting.
During high school, Kirchner met two mentors who showed him firsthand the meaning of
living out one’s beliefs. Phil and Louise (Louie) Rieman, co-pastors in the Church of the
Brethren and youth leaders, were very adamant pacifists and devout Church of the Brethren
followers. The Riemans intentionally withheld their taxes in their practice of protesting the war.
Instead, the couple redirected their money set aside for taxes to peace organizations. Their
refusal to participate in taxes resulted in the Internal Revenue Service repossessing many of the
Riemans’ belongings. As a high school student, Kirchner was enamored and inspired, watching
people take real actions of political resistance. These seemingly extreme practices were studied
in school, but the impact of the Riemans’ actions rose to a new level when he saw it first hand in
his community.
In Kirchner’s last year in high school, he participated in the Christian Citizenship
Seminar project, one of the programs sponsored by the Church of the Brethren. In this program,
students spend a year studying a specific topic centered around human rights. Students then

26
Albert Schweitzer, The Ethics of Reverence for Life (West Chester: Christendom, 1936) 225-39.
19

travel to the nation’s capital and the United Nations in New York City to speak with national
political leaders and lobby for the social rights initiatives they had studied during that year.
Kirchner chose to participate in the disarmament initiative, as the Cold War and the conflict with
the Soviet Union was a growing fear among many throughout the world. Kirchner was allowed
to practice his pacifist beliefs through lobbying against nation-states spending the bulk of their
revenue on nuclear weapons. In Washington D.C., Kirchner remembered the beauty of the
buildings and thought about the moral tenor of the country’s politics living up to the awe of the
physical beauty of the government buildings.

Walk the Walk: College Career
Kirchner continued in this journey of moral consciousness at Manchester College (now
Manchester University), a school that the Riemans encouraged Kirchner to study given the
school’s connection to the Church of the Brethren. Kirchner studied as a Peace Studies major at
Manchester University, a program that was the first of its kind in the world. The Peace Studies
programs began in the mid-twentieth century when Dan West, a follower of the Church of the
Brethren and former non-combatant during the first World War, returned to his alma mater to
teach a course in 1947.
27
His influence in the Church of the Brethren was already cemented with
his role in initiating programs like the Brethren Volunteer Service and the Heifer Project after
witnessing starvation around the world as a result of war. West’s course on peace would be the
first of the peace curriculum.
28
Dr. Katy Gray Brown, Chair of the Peace Studies program at
Manchester University and an alumna of the program, recalls in an interview that West was
especially charismatic and that people paid attention to his courses.
29
One of these people who

27
Kenneth L. Brown, “Peace Studies at Manchester,” (speech. Sapporo, Japan, January 2010,) Manchester
University, http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15705coll26
28
Ibid.
29
Katy Gray Brown, interview with author, September 12, 2018.
20

were drawn to and inspired by West’s teaching was Brethren writer and historian Dr. Gladdys
Muir. Muir worked with West to create a proposal that would lead the universities tied to the
Church of the Brethren to spearhead the learning and engagement of students in peace that
encompassed not only pacifism but also poverty and racial confrontation. One year later, in
1948, Manchester University invited Dr. Muir to become the Chair of the world’s first Peace
Studies academic program. It would remain the world’s only Peace Studies program for fifteen
years until Manhattan College initiated its program in 1963. Kent State University began their
Peace Studies soon after in 1971. As of 2018, there are over 300 academic programs in Peace
Studies around the world that offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
30

Within his time in the Peace Studies major, Kirchner focused on studying voices of
people and cultures with which he did not have much interaction. This led to his increased
interest in foreign languages, and Kirchner planned on becoming a translator for the United
Nations. In 1990 Kirchner travelled to China to further push himself to interact with and immerse
himself in other cultures. While in China, he would become a leader among his group of
Manchester students in terms of building connections with the Chinese citizens. Aside from his
skill in playing the erhu, Kirchner had an ear for quickly learning Mandarin. Dr. Katy Gray
Brown, who also travelled to China in 1990 with Kirchner, recalls that Shawn had a unique talent
for reaching across cultural divides to connect with people, and that power of peacemaking was
really understood by Kirchner.
31

After graduation in the spring of 1992, Kirchner was chosen to spend the first semester
working as the first assistant with a group that became known as the Kenopocomoco Coalition.
This coalition, named for a river that ran nearby the Manchester University campus, was a
weekly discussion group that was held at the home of Dr. Ken Brown, the chair of the Peace

30
Ibid.
31
Ibid.
21

Studies program or one of the other professors of the program. These discussions allowed
students to meet in a casual setting to discuss current events related to peace and social justice
and also allowed students to find a connected and supportive environment. Kirchner’s role was
to mentor the undergraduate students and help foster their path as they developed their roles as
peacemakers. Kirchner and Dr. Brown would take students around the country for different
trainings and conferences. During this time as a graduate assistant to the Peace Studies program,
Kirchner formed a Peace Choir that brought students from all across the campus to find ways to
use music as an instrument to create and support peace efforts.
This passion for different cultures and understanding others, one that was sparked by a
project in the 7th grade, seemed to come full circle during Kirchner's collegiate career.
Throughout Kirchner’s educational experience and as a practicing Brethren, he consistently was
immersed in a message of peace and resisting violence. These messages came through his
academic studies and in the lives of his mentors. Kirchner would soon learn what it meant to live
out these beliefs on a personal level through a tragedy close to home.

Life for Life: Family Tragedy
On May 14, 1998, Kirchner would receive news of a horrific loss. Kirchner’s mother
Carol was walking near the Shangri-La resort that was managed by her and her husband and
Shawn’s father, David Kirchner. When she did not return home, David went looking for her and
eventually found her body on the side of the road. Kirchner’s father called Shawn and told him
the news, and Shawn was the first to arrive in Minnesota to be with his father. David Aaron Day,
the twenty-year-old, was arrested and later convicted for rape, murder, and burglary.
32

32
"Trial Begins for Man Accused of Murdering Resort Owner on Wa...," Brainerd Dispatch, June 02, 1999,
Accessed December 28, 2018, https://www.brainerddispatch.com/content/trial-begins-man-accused-murdering-
resort-owner-walk.
22

In speaking with Kirchner about this life-altering tragedy, he mentioned that this event
gave him the opportunity to empathize more intimately with families of victims of violent
crimes, especially gun shootings.
33
This event also presented the need for Kirchner to respond to
and deal with his grief in the way he expresses himself best, through writing music. Both
grieving and healing came through in his work, and much music was written at that time. One
year later, when the mass shooting occurred in Columbine High School, Kirchner felt compelled
to use his music to respond to that trauma as he understood now on a personal level. The music
assisted him through a sudden loss of a loved one through an incident of violence. The
composition “Rain Come Down” stemmed out of that event on his path of using music to help
communities heal and to respond to tragedy and injustice.
34

Also, this event helped Kirchner see his loss in the larger scheme of cultural healing and
confrontation. He mentioned in his interview that his mother’s death was just one of many
consequences due to the troubling beginnings of this country and the interactions as different
migrating groups of people sought to inhabit the same land.
35
Kirchner‘s empathy towards his
mother’s attacker was inspired by Suzanne Bosler, an advocate against the death penalty. This
subject became personal for Bosler when her father was murdured.
36
This experience, a real life
example, helped shape Kirchner’s views as a real example of living one’s beliefs amongst hard
times. This experience and Kirchner’s acknowledgement of this event and its connection to
intracultural struggles and cultural trauma has given him a stronger sense of mission to making
our community whole. The peace that Kirchner aims to help others find is not just against
violence, but against the problems that keep each person from connecting with others.

33
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, September 27, 2018.
34
Shawn Kirchner, “Rain Come Down,” ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed November 17, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-folk-americana/rain-come-down/
35
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, September 27, 2018.
36
Ibid.
23

Passion through Music: Brokeback Mountain and LGBTQ Experience
As one of the first movies to show a story from the LGBTQ community, Brokeback
Mountain had a special effect on Kirchner. It reminded him that life and its path was in the hands
of the person living it. In discussions with people during his time writing his musical response
titled “Meet Me at the Mountain,” Kirchner discovered the existential impact this movie had on
many people across the country. Kirchner personally connected with and understood the strong
effect of this movie.
While in college, Kirchner embarked on a personal journey of coming out as a member of
the LGBTQ community. He was a self-described “work in progress.” Similar to many life
scenarios, his process of defining sexuality and labeling himself was not an event that happens in
one moment but over a span of time.
37
This experience of coming out gave Kirchner a specific
privilege in perceiving and articulating the perspective of others in his music. He mentioned that
anyone who had to be different and has to carry a difference in identity gains an innate
sensitivity to those around them. As a person who had to contend with a part of identity that was
labeled as against the norm, Kirchner found an awareness that is not offered to many of those
who do not have to struggle with that same experience. There is courage in that process, as well
as introspection that occurs at a very early age. That sensitivity to the feelings of others,
stemming first out of fear, turned into a natural sense of deep empathy for other people who
might feel marginalized. This difficult struggle in identity, once embraced, morphed into an
advantage in learning how others see the world and how we see each other.
Similar to his response after his mother’s death Kirchner felt compelled to deal with his
emotions musically. As Kirchner wrote, his music became a lesson in art and the ability to instill

37
Ibid.
24

empathy through different media. From the bisexual husbands to the straight wives, Kirchner
wrote songs to respond to each of the characters of the movie. This was the first time that
Kirchner felt compelled to write music not only as a response, but as an immersion in the
practice of writing music from the perspective of others. This realization and artistic growth
shaped how Kirchner’s music would relate to others in his compositions in the future.
In each of these transformational events, Kirchner was continually reminded of a
message learned in his church, in his educational program, and one that would become a constant
inspiration and driving impetus behind his music; there is neither peace nor reconciliation
without empathy. These experiences and his musical background served to make Kirchner
uniquely adept at present messages of social justice within music that resonates with performers
and audience members alike.

Chapter 2
Distinguishable Compositional Techniques

Defining Kirchner’s musical style is a formidable task, as Kirchner relies on the text to
dictate the style of each work. As David Hodgkins, conductor of Coro Allegro writes,
When I listen to some composers, you know it is there (sic) work. Shawn is a
chameleon of styles, colors, genres. You listen to Songs of Ascent and you are
transported by the waves of beauty. Then you go sit in your car and listen to his
CD based on the story of Brokeback Mountain, and the bluegrass sounds just as
genuine and homegrown as the “classical.
1

Kirchner’s style does span various genres as he seeks to find the most natural setting for each of
his texts. While every work that Kirchner sets does not include a shared list of specific
characteristics, Kirchner does employ several characteristics throughout a majority of his works
that help to distinguish his language and compositional patterns used to bring the selected
messages to life.

Folk music influences
Folk music is a style that has been passed down as an oral tradition through generations
within a community. Defining a universal “folk” sound would be impossible; each culture’s folk
songs are as diverse in their characteristics as the different cultures, rendering an attempt to
clump all folk songs in one group futile. However, a general defining quality is that these works
would be accessible enough to pass down in an oral tradition or to be performed by amateur
musicians. Within each individual folk tradition, songs possess common characteristics. These
characteristics or qualities help the songs to function in the oral tradition specific to a specific

1
David Hodgkins, interview with author, November 29, 2018.
26

folk culture. Within his music, Kirchner specifically incorporates the characteristics unique to the
American folk tradition.

A Focus on the Message
Traditionally, the folk music of the United States has been used to spread messages of
justice and equality. Songs like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” or Woody Guthrie’s “This
Land is Your Land” are examples of folk songs during the 1960s that carry strong political
messages.
2
Kirchner’s music also presents strong messages of justice with accessible melodies, a
trait that has been considered a unique skill.

Compositional Patterns
Some of Kirchner’s compositional techniques are reminiscent of folk music due to their
accessible function. In order for the music to be memorable, the forms of the songs would need
to be simple in nature. Kirchner uses both song forms and strophic forms within his music. Song
form is defined in the Cambridge University Content Dictionary as “a form of music often used
for song that consists of two parts that repeat, such as the verse and the chorus.”
3
Strophic form,
also called verse-repeating or chorus form, is the term applied to songs in which all verses or
stanzas of the text are sung to the same music.
4
These forms are easily remembered due to their
repetitive sections. An example of music that uses strophic form is a hymn, as the melody stays
the same and the words change. Amazing Grace, for instance, has the same melodic pattern
throughout, allowing the singer to memorize the melody and simply place the text over the

2
Melinda Newman, “The Times They Are A-Changin': Is Folk Music Still Relevant for the Resistance?”, Billboard,
February 22, 2017, Accessed December 23, 2018, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7694438/folk-music-
protest-politics-resistance.
3
"Song Form," Cambridge Dictionary, (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019), Accessed January 16, 2019.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/song-form
4
Michael Tilmouth, “Strophic,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London: Macmillan: 2001),
pp. 292-293.
27

melodic pattern. Kirchner, in his hymn-like setting of “Eye for Eye,” creates a melody and then
repeats that melody as new words are incorporated within the new strophes of the work.
Even more consistent within Kirchner’s choral works are song forms. As Kirchner started
his compositional career as a songwriter and before becoming a full-fledged composer, many of
his compositions retained elements of songs by incorporating verses and refrains. “Cornerstone”
is an example of Kirchner’s strict use of songs form, with the verse and refrains repeating with
very little variation. Rose/Riddle/Rainbow and “America the Beautiful” are compositions that are
structured in song form. In variation of these forms, Kirchner develops the material in the
refrains and the verses in these two works. In the case of “America the Beautiful,” Kirchner
rewrites the melody and turns the original strophic material into a song form as melodies for each
successive verse and refrain are varied based on the text used. In this work however, the verse
and refrains are connection through similar melodic material.
These forms are an essential part of Kirchner’s depiction of the texts. The refrain
gives the overarching story or message of the work, and each verse gives an example or
another perspective. In these accessible forms, the listener can focus more on the text as
the familiar pattern of the music fosters a greater focus on the text.
Another accessible feature about Kirchner’s choral compositions are the melodic lines. In
many of Kirchner’s works, the melodic lines are easy to learn, as they do not involve big leaps
and are mostly stepwise in motion. “Eye for Eye” only employs intervals of seconds and thirds
as shown in Example 2.1. In the melody of “Man of Truth,” there is a similar priority on thirds
and stepwise motion as seen in Example 2.2. Both of these works also utilize the pentatonic
scale, a scale that has been used throughout many cultures and is often associated with folk
music styles. Additionally, the texts Kirchner uses are set syllabically, with very few melismas
throughout his works. Both of these qualities promote singability in his works; they are easy to
28

execute and remember. Through his accessible music, Kirchner’s messages of confronting social
justice can reach every kind of listener.

Example 0.1 Melodic motive within "Eye for Eye"

Example 0.2 Melodic motive in “Man of Truth”

Intricacies of Texture
While Kirchner avoids complexity of form and adventurism of harmonic language
in his many of his works, he delivers a rich tapestry of texture. Both Tesfa
Wondemagegnehu and Grant Gershon spoke of Kirchner’s craft and care for each vocal
line as one of the factors of his compositional style. Wondemagegnehu, conductor of the
Justice Choir – Twin Cities, spoke of Kirchner’s writing. “It sounds so natural. I am
always intrigued by that gift.
5
It really is a gift because, you know, for that music to be as
aurally and emotionally accessible as it is, you could totally lack craft and it is full of
craft, full of creativity.”
6
Gershon, conductor of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, said of

5
“Start Local, Stay Vocal,” Justice Choir, 207, Accessed March 21, 2019, http://justicechoir.org/.
6
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, interview with author, October 9, 2018.
29

Kirchner’s music that “…each individual singer can feel ownership over the piece and
over their vocal line and over the message of the pieces which are invariably things that
we can all really take into heart.”
7
Within the presentation of the melodic vocal lines,
Kirchner relies on contrapuntal techniques to help create textural interest in the music.
One of the ways Kirchner includes contrapuntal writing is through canonical
textures. In many of Kirchner's works, once the melody has been stated, he uses canons
to thicken the texture and build momentum toward the climax of the composition. In
“Man of Truth,” the beginning phrase “I will be a man of truth” is sung in unison, clearly
presenting the theme for the listener. In m. 15, the choir is split into two sections as the
beginning of the phrase is offset by two beats as shown in Example 2.3. In m. 45, the
choir has three iterations of the phrase beginning with the baritone entrance, then the bass
entrance on the third beat of m. 15, and the tenor entrance on the third beat of m. 46. In
the same fashion “Eye for Eye” employs the same canonic approach. The phrase is sung
homophonically by the SATB choir for the first verse. In the second verse, after the
phrase is sung homophonically, there is a repetition of the first phrase in the altos and
tenors. After the second phrase is sung, the basses repeat the second phrase. Imitation and
repetition occur in various forms in the third verse, leading to m. 44 where the first phrase
is sung three times in succession, first by the sopranos and altos, then basses, then tenors.

7
Grant Gershon, interview with author, Echo Park, CA, November 29, 2018.
30

Example 0.3 Imitation within "Man of Truth", mm. 15-18

Kirchner’s arrangements also employ canons. In “Wana Baraka,” Kirchner uses a canon
in m. 35 between the soprano and the tenors, who start two beats later. In m. 42, the
countersubject motive sung by the soprano is also imitated by the tenors in m. 43. In “One Sweet
Little Baby,” the last verse contains a forte melody sung by the sopranos and altos in unison, and
one measure later the men sing the same melody in canon. Example 2.4 shows another example
of imitation in “Unclouded Day”, as the baritones state the melody in measure 35, followed by
the first tenors a measure later with a transposed variation of the melody in C Major. The altos
join in, singing the melody in the original key of G Major m. 37. Each of these imitative
iterations of the melody increases the texture and builds a collective energy for both the audience
members and the singers.

31

Example 0.4 Imitation in "Unclouded Day" mm. 35-37

Within his music, Kirchner also incorporates repeating melodic motives that appear
simultaneously within multiple voice parts. This adds interest to the vocal texture, both for the
audience and the individual vocal material for the choir. These repeated motifs also establish
countermelodies that allow for more melodic options than merely harmonizing the melody. In
mm. 57-59 of “One Sweet Little Baby” (Example 2.5), Kirchner employs a sequence of a three-
note descending stepwise motive in the soprano and alto lines while the tenors and basses sing
the melody. Instead of simply harmonizing the notes the tenors and basses are singing, Kirchner
allows for more independence between the main motive and this countermelody.

32

Example 0.5 Sequence in "One Sweet Little Baby" mm 56-59

The use of sequential material is seen again in Kirchner’s Songs of Ascent. In the second
movement, as shown in Example 2.6, Kirchner uses these repeated motifs within mm. 57-59
among the three-part divisi in the soprano and alto voices. In another contrapuntal characteristic,
Kirchner adds melodic interest to the sequences by overlapping melodies between the soprano
and the alto lines. Leading to the second beat of each measure, the second sopranos sing the
lower notes as the altos ascend above in the voice crossing. Where Kirchner could have placed
these notes in parallel motion as shown in Example 2.7, he chooses to give each line its own
melodic contour to add a unique characteristic to each part.

33

Example 0.6 Sequence within Songs of Ascent, Mvmt. II: mm. 56-59

Example 0.7 Simplified sequence within Songs of Ascent

Folk Style within Piano Accompaniment
Kirchner does not just leave the contrapuntal materials to the vocalists. As a pianist and a
student of the banjo, Kirchner writes distinguishable piano accompaniments within some of his
folk works that focuses on the blending of the two capabilities of the instruments. Kirchner’s
piano accompaniments to his folk style arrangements are written to imitate the banjo, an
instrument that is strongly associated with American folk music.
Specifically, the accompaniments that Kirchner writes are written to imitate a specific
style of banjo playing. Called “frailing” or “clawhammer,” the particular style gives the banjo
plucking a “bum-ditty” sound of a quarter note and two eighth notes (or one eighth note and two
sixteenths, etc.).
8
Each of the syllables refers to a particular finger strumming the strings. The

8
Lawrence Witt, "What Is Clawhammer Banjo?" Deering Banjo, June 29, 2017, Accessed December 27, 2018,
https://blog.deeringbanjos.com/what-is-clawhammer-banjo.
34

first note is played by the nail of the index or middle finger for a count. The next beat in the
pattern is played by the strumming of the strings using the nails of the middle, index and ring
fingers. The last beat in the pattern is played by the nail of the thumb by pulling off of the fifth
string.
9

This clawhammer style allows for some intricate rhythms that complement the “bum-
ditty” pattern described above. With many passages moving in slow harmonic rhythm,
Kirchner’s piano accompaniments imitate the plucking of the banjo while filling in the texture
with faster rhythms with notes fitting in the chord. An example of this accompaniment is seen in
“Brightest and Best”. As shown in Example 2.8, the bass in the piano plays the “bum-ditty”
pattern in the left hand while filling in faster note rhythms in the right hand. This pattern of a
quarter note followed by an eighth note, two tied eighth notes, another eighth note and a quarter
note is one that Kirchner uses against the “bum-ditty” pattern to help with the syncopated feel
and the improvisatory style that one associates with clawhammer playing.

9
Ibid.
35

Example 0.8 Clawhammer Style in "Brightest and Best" mm. 25-30

Additionally, Kirchner writes in the same rhythms twice as fast in the strings. The double
bass plays the “bum” rhythm on the strong beats and the violin plays the two eighth notes, or the
“ditty” rhythms. Example 2.9 shows the two same rhythms incorporated in the piano
accompaniment of “I’ll Be On My Way”. Similar to the incorporation of the rhythms in
“Brightest and Best”, the left hand plays the classic clawhammer rhythm and the right hand
employs the rhythmic syncopation described in the previous paragraph. While it appears that this
clawhammer rhythm is augmented compared to the same rhythmic motive in “Brightest and
Best,” the cut time feel of the latter gives intricate sound heard within “I’ll Be On My Way”.

36

Example 0.9 Clawhammer passage within "I'll Be On My Way"

Gospel Arrangements
Another style Kirchner uses within his compositional language is gospel music, a folk
style tradition in the African-American community. Gospel songs, in their traditional sense, are
marked by their swung rhythms and parallel triadic harmonies within the upper three vocal lines.
Kirchner uses the gospel tradition to set numerous texts, many of which are not originally set in
that style.
One example is Kirchner’s arrangement of “Lo’ How A Rose E’er Blooming.” The
original melody, known by the title “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,” is a German carol harmonized
by German composer Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) in 1609.
10
The original melody, shown in
Example 2.10 is written in common time and uniquely uses mostly stepwise motion in the
melody except for one minor third. The harmonization by Praetorius is homophonic, with
attention focused on the vertical harmonies as there is little motion in the alto line and the leaps
in the tenor and bass lines simply serve harmonic functions to set the melody.

10
Patrick Liebergen, ed., Singers Library of Song: A Vocal Anthology of Masterworks and Folk Songs from the
Medieval Era through the Twentieth Century, (Van Nuys: Alfred Music Publishing, 2005), 122.
37

Example 0.10 Praetorius' harmonization of "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming" mm. 1-5

The contrasts in Kirchner's setting places the well-known melody within a gospel context,
shown in mm. 105-110 (Example 0.11). First the melody is written in 3/4 time, which is a
common meter among traditional African-American gospel music. Kirchner uses more
melismatic passages than in Praetorius’ syllabic setting, both in the melody and the
countermelodies of the lower three parts. This is seen on the word “flower” in the soprano part,
which is sung on a half note in the original setting. The altos, tenors, and basses sing a response
to the melody, like contemporary use of background vocalists who would respond to a soloist. In
typical gospel style, Kirchner uses parallel motion and triadic harmonizations of the lower three
parts, filling in intervals in improvisatory style, for example on the word “tender.” Continuing
the improvisational style, Kirchner repeats the word “tender” in an elaboration of the melody.
Within the accompaniment, the motives take on their own shape without a regular pattern, like
the hemiola within m. 105 or the contrapuntal melodies in m. 110 (Example 2.11). Kirchner
composes the piano accompaniment parts also in an improvisatory style, which would be typical
in a gospel style, where not all of the music is notated. This style of writing gives Kirchner’s
gospel arrangements an authenticity, even though this original source of music is not from an
African-American tradition. This could raise questions about cultural appropriation. To that point
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, conductor and arranger, speaks to Kirchner’s style of writing in this
type of music. “It sounds so natural...I’m sure he’s gotten accused of appropriation many times
38

before and I’m sure he’s going to be accused again. But when you know the person behind the
pen and paper, you know that the research has been done.”
11

Example 0.11 Kirchner's setting of "Lo, How a Rose" mm. 105-110

This gospel arranging style is also seen in his arrangement of “One Sweet Little Baby.”
Shown in Example 2.12, the melody, sung by the sopranos, is harmonized in parallel motion by
the altos and tenors. The basses, in m. 32, sing a countermelody, employing triplet eighth notes
to fill in the intervals instead of simply singing the dominant and tonic notes. These
characteristics help to engage the vocalists musically, which then allows for more personal

11
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, interview with author, September 9, 2018.
39

attention and intention toward the messages of the text. Within the piano part, Kirchner shows
his improvisatory style, adding filler notes in the harmonies and tied rhythms to offset the 3/4
meter. Grace notes are also added within the piano part to highlight the improvisatory nature and
the freedom in the playing while maintaining a harmonic base for the choir.

Example 0.12 Gospel writing in "One Sweet Little Baby" mm. 29-35

Whether imitative or improvisatory in his accompaniment style, Kirchner’s music draws
on music that has withstood the test of time. Regarding his aesthetic, Kirchner says, “What
makes music beautiful? The same thing that makes a view beautiful: there are enough different
things happening in a single frame where there is both a cohesion and diversity that keeps the
brain interested. If there is too much to pick up and figure out among the parts, the brain goes,
40

‘whoa’.”
12
Even when speaking of his music’s beauty, Kirchner shows a concerted effort to help
his listeners to engage intellectually and process the meaning of the message.
Furthermore, regarding the accessible quality of the conventional musical forms and
styles Kirchner chooses, he likens his music to an experience meeting an accomplished potter. “I
drove away from that experience thinking the potter was an ‘ancient.’ The potter was using
techniques that were (sic) centuries years old.” In the same vein Kirchner wrote of his music,
saying:
I am not interested in novelty, nor am I trying to wow you. I am interested in
significance and depth. I mean, why be a choral musician? There are words that
mean something. I am not looking to invent a new harmonic language but I am
interested in something a little more eternal. I don’t want to write something that
lasts fifteen minutes. I want to write something that lasts.
13

By setting texts in folk styles and creating memorable melodic material, Kirchner ensures that
the singers and the audience recall the musical experiences he creates. More importantly,
Kirchner invites the singer and the audience member to remember and reflect on the important
messages of peace and social justice that also withstand the test of time.

12
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
13
Ibid.

Chapter 3
A Descriptive Analysis of Selected Choral Works on Themes of Social Justice

Introduction
The following works are a subset of works by Kirchner that represent how he brings
“flowers to the road” in their presentation of messages of social justice. In addition to presenting
the messages within the text and the musical settings, each analysis will provide background on
the works. The supplemental information includes information on the impetus behind each work,
the first performance, any recorded reactions within rehearsals and performances, and personal
commentary offered by Kirchner as referenced on his website.
Within the eight works selected for analysis, three overarching themes related to social
justice are chosen to organize the compositions based on the content of the text. Each of these
themes stem from Kirchner’s education and life experiences, and those messages are evident in
the compositions. These themes in which the analyzed compositions are placed are
marginalization and empowerment, peace and conflict, and truth and justice. Within each of
these themes, the selected compositions show Kirchner’s craft in presenting various perspectives,
from personal recounting or reflections to commentary by an entire community of people
affected by the particular issue presented. Kirchner’s choral compositions, in presenting these
themes, become lenses through which he invites the listener and the performer to imagine the
realization of social justice ideals in society.

42

Marginalization and Empowerment
Both “Cornerstone” and Rose/Riddle/Rainbow focus on messages of empowerment,
validation, and the communal responsibility of building up the less-fortunate and ignored
populations in our society. Cornerstone focuses on the communal aspect of the music, shown in
the homophonic writing style and emphasis on the collective energy built up throughout the
work. Rose/Riddle/Rainbow, in contrast, gives more attention to the individual and their
developing confidence within themselves in addition to leaning on the community for support. In
both of these cases, Kirchner’s music emits the hope of the community gathering around those
who need support, speaking of a world where no one is left on the margin of society.

“Cornerstone”
Compositional History:
During Kirchner’s college years, he formed a strong bond with his musical and spiritual
mentor, folk singer Steve Kinzie, with whom he would later form a folk group.
1
While Kirchner
had already decided not to study music in college, again, his experiences and relationships
continued to drive him into the music world, allowing him to evolve even more as an artist.
Steve Kinzie’s music and lyrics were a prime influence and inspiration for Kirchner, and their
friendship has helped sustain and support Kirchner even to this day. The group they formed in
1997 along with friends Peg Lehman and Lee Krahenbuhl was called Kindling. The quartet
travelled around the country to perform at youth events, folk festivals, and national conferences
sponsored by the Church of the Brethren. The group also recorded two albums, Kindling Live! in
1999 and Spark the Fire in 2002.
Though Kindling garnered the support of the Church of the Brethren there were some

1
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
43

ideological opinions the denominations upheld that Kindling did not agree with. Kindling was a
group that prioritized love and affirmation, and within that group of people was the LGBTQ
community. In the mid-1990s, a growing progressive movement within the Church of the
Brethren to be more inclusive was also starting to form. However, the affirmation and validation
of homosexuality is one that has been repudiated by the Church of the Brethren. In a 1983
statement from Church of the Brethren titled “Human Sexuality from a Christian Perspective,”
the church acknowledged their stance that heterosexuality was the only accepted form of sexual
interaction within their religious beliefs, and that people who acted out their homosexual
attractions “need the active support and love of the church as they struggle with God's plan for
their lives.”
2
However, Kindling was unswerving in their views to support LGBTQ people, and
as a result were subject to unsuccessful attempts to be disinvited from the Church of the Brethren
national conferences.
3

In response, Kirchner wrote “Cornerstone” to speak to the need of marginalized members
of religious and societal communities. In his notes on his website, Kirchner explains the loss for
the whole community when those who are placed on the fringes of society are left out:
The people at the margins — of any family, of any religious community, of any
society — are never marginal. They matter in every way. They are central to the
future of the whole. Without resolution of the conflict that resulted in their
marginalization, there is no viable future, only a stagnant and toxic present.
4

This sentiment has been studied on a scientific level. Tests were conducted at the
University of Illinois-Research conducted by multiple universities including Columbia
University, University of Maryland and the University of Texas at Dallas. At Stanford

2
Curtis W. Dubble and Robert W. Neff, "Human Sexuality from a Christian Perspective," Church of the Brethren
Annual Conference Official Documents, March 1983, Accessed November 29, 2018
http://www.brethren.org/ac/statements/1983humansexuality.html#I.
3
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, La Verne, CA, April 9, 2018.
4
Shawn Kirchner, "Cornerstone," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed July 1, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-gospel-spiritual/cornerstone/.

44

University, an experiment was conducted where students had to convince someone from
a different or opposing demographic of their opinion. Each test concluded that
innovation, problem-solving and creativity are heightened in diverse settings in
comparison with more homogeneous communities.
5
From Kirchner’s own persecution
due to his personal life and convictions, he composed “Cornerstone” to shine a light on
the value of inclusion of each person within a community.
Additionally, movements within the Church of the Brethren have also changed to
support this sentiment. The Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interest (BMC)
stemmed out of the growing divide of opinions on issues of homosexuality within the
Church of the Brethren. The BMC formed with the express mission of ensuring that the
LGBTQ community felt welcome in Brethren and Mennonite worshipping
communities.
6

Premiere:
There is no information recorded on the premiere of Cornerstone. Kirchner
recollects that the original melody for the song, first performed and recorded by
Kindling, was written in the late 1990s and the choral version occurred as an
arrangement for his church choir at the La Verne Church of the Brethren.
7

Text Analysis:
O the stone that the builders rejected
became the cornerstone of a whole new world.

5
Katherine W. Phillips, "How Diversity Makes Us Smarter," Scientific American, October 01, 2014, Accessed
December 1, 2018, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/.
6
"BMC | Mission & Vision," Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests, October 2006, Accessed December
2, 2018, https://www.bmclgbt.org/mission.
7
Shawn Kirchner, interview with author, December 20, 2018.
45

A grain of wheat may be knocked to the ground
And suffer through the winter’s cold
Only to rise right up again
And bear its seed a thousandfold.

Never shall our journey fail;
A little child shall lead the way
Whose eyes are filled with a shining light,
To whom the night is bright as day.

The love that rolls the stone away
Gives us life that we may sing
“Grave, where is thy victory?
Death, o death, where is thy sting?”

The text is comprised of poetic sections of four Biblical verses. The words that Kirchner
sets as the refrain is a paraphrase based on Psalm 118:22. Structurally, the cornerstone is both a
stone that binds together and in cases of a pyramid, completes a structure. This cornerstone
would have been larger than the others and more attention would have been given to its
formation. Furthermore, the cornerstone would have been laid as a part of a ceremony to honor
the building it was becoming a part of.
Due to the importance of the cornerstone, the builders would throw out many stones until
they found the right one that could fulfill the foundational purpose.
8
Biblical commentaries
mention multiple metaphorical inferences for this “stone that the builders rejected.” Israel and its
people, who were constantly held in captivity multiple times, became the religious center due to
the significance of the Temple of Jerusalem. David, the author of many of the Psalms, was
rejected by many in authority, but God declared him the true King and “cornerstone” among the
people of Israel.
9
Jesus is another example of the cornerstone metaphor, and arguably the
metaphor that was originally intended. According to the Christian faith, as the Savior of the

8
Ray Pritchard, "Rejected Stone," Crosswalk.com, March 30, 2011, Accessed December 2, 2018,
https://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-ray-pritchard/rejected-stone.html.
9
Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Psalms, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2005.), 314.
46

world Jesus and his life on earth was marked by defamation and hatred by many in his
community. However, according to the scriptures, though he would not be accepted by the
leaders of his day, he would soon rule all nations as the Son of God.
10
Kirchner’s interpretation
brings this “rejected stone” to our present day, as any marginalized and rejected person in our
community can be brought into the main presence of a community in order to make the
community more supportive of the entire populace.
The first verse, referring to the “grain of wheat,” is drawn from John 12:24. Here again,
Jesus uses a physical analogy to describe a spiritual circumstance. Jesus speaks of a seed that
never dies and falls to the earth staying alone, losing its power to create new life. In this analogy,
a seed that dies has potential to sprout life anew. In Jesus’ prophecy, his life resulted in many
opposing him and ultimately seeking his downfall, but his death would become the seed from
which springs spiritual life for the whole world.
11

In Kirchner’s text, the seed does not die but suffers through the cold. This seed then,
could be a symbol not for a person but validation of a person. In comments about “Cornerstone”
on Kirchner’s website, he mentions the book Blood Brothers
12
by Elias Chacour about a
Palestinian preacher who, frustrated by the divisions in his church, locks the sanctuary door and
tells everyone they are held hostage until they forgive each other.
13
Once one person asks for
forgiveness, the whole congregation, previously filled with numerous conflicts, begins a wave of
compassion and reuniting. Kirchner first begs the question of what could happen if those who are
marginalized and those at the center of power and influence could see each other as human

10
John Gill, "Commentary on Psalms 118:22", The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible, 1999, Accessed
December 1, 2018, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/psalms-118.html.
11
Craig R. Koester, "Passage: John 12:24," Enter the Bible, Accessed December 2, 2018,
https://www.enterthebible.org/resourcelink.aspx?rid=185.
12
Elias Chacour and David Hazard, Blood Brothers, (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books), 1984.
13
Shawn Kirchner, "Cornerstone," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed July 1, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-gospel-spiritual/cornerstone/.
47

beings worthy of value and support. That seed of acceptance and validation would begin to bear
a new fruitful community for all.
The second verse utilizes the verse from Isaiah 11:6 that speaks to the coexistence of
predator and prey, led by a child. Isaiah prophesied about the way the world would be once the
Messiah returned, when harmony and peace would once again rule the land.
14
The child serves as
a representation of innocence and a lack of experience in cynicism or prejudice, but of a natural
appreciation and curiosity toward others. In Kirchner’s setting of the text, the child leads the
way. The symbolism of the child is shared in Kirchner’s verse as well, as the child’s “bright
eyes” shines a light on the dark world where communities exclude some of its members. Nelson
Mandela (1918-2013) speaks to this innocence as it relates to how humans view one another in
his autobiography titled Long Walk to Freedom. In this famous quote, Mandela writes:
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his
background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to
hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart
than its opposite.
15

As the community relearns its natural inclination to love and appreciate with others, then those
on the fringes of society can be brought back toward the center.
1 Corinthians 15:55 is the verse from which Kirchner draws in the third verse of
“Cornerstone.” This text, written by the Apostle Paul, recounts the resurrection of Jesus Christ
and gives a commentary on the result of the momentous event.
16
Paul speaks to Death, and in his
questions “Where, O Death is your victory? Where, O Death is your sting?”, reveals that the

14
Jay Mack, "The Wolf Will Live With The Lamb," Jonah Among the Prophetic Books, Accessed December 18,
2018, https://jaymack.net/isaiah-commentary/Dd-The-Wolf-Will-Live-With-The-Lamb.asp.
15
Nelson Mandela. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Boston: Back Bay Books, 1995.
16
Matthew Henry, "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15 by Matthew Henry," Blue Letter Bible, March 1, 1996,
Accessed December 17, 2018, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/1Cr/1Cr_015.cfm

48

stone rolling away has taken away Death’s destructive and lasting effect on humanity.
17
As Jesus
lives, so does the hope that his followers will once again join him in life and eternity.
In this interpretation, the stone that was rolled in front of Jesus’ tomb kept him, the
source of everlasting life, from his followers. The stone, then, becomes an impedance to the
sustainment of the life of the community. Once the stone is rolled away, hope is renewed and a
positive outlook is underway. In the same vein, the stone in Kirchner’s verse symbolizes the
structures that allow some people to be placed on a lower “level” due to the demographics used
to categorize people groups within a society. Within Kirchner’s personal life, the structure of
religious organizations was used to separate the LGBTQ community from those who live a more
“suitable” lifestyle. Just as Death lost its sting in the Biblical story once the stone was rolled
away, the structures that keep any marginalized group on the fringes, once destroyed, allow for
new life within a community to find its true potential in unity and acceptance.

Musical Analysis:
“Cornerstone” is written out as a song form, with constant lengths for the refrain and
verse in eight-measure segments as shown in Table 3.1. The work is written for optional double
choir but can be performed by one choir. Most of the text is set syllabically. Relative to the usual
contrapuntal textures within Kirchner’s music, the work is homophonic for most of the work to
show the more communal aspect. Because the verse and refrain return without much variation,
Kirchner employs a variety of voicings and dynamics to build up the intensity of the work.
Added intensity gives both direction and shape within the arc of the composition. This increase
in energy through texture and dynamics also offers a stronger sense of confidence and belief in
the underlying message of the work.

17
1 Cor. 15:55
49

Table 3.1 Form Analysis of "Cornerstone"
Section Refrain Verse 1 Refrain Verse 2 Refrain Verse 3 Refrain
Measures 1-16 17-24 25-40 41-48 49-64 65-73 74-91
Voicing
Double
Choir
Tenor
soloists
Double
Choir
Soprano
soloists
Choir with
vocal trio
Sopranos,
ATB
sustained
chords
SSA, TTB,
SATB choir
with vocal
trio and
descant
Dynamic
range p - f mf mp - f f mf - ff p - ff ff

The refrain includes an introduction without the piano as the choir sings in homophonic
texture. The sopranos sing the melody while the altos and tenors follow the contour of the line
singing in triadic harmonies. In this work, Kirchner stays true to the gospel style. The basses
alternate between C and G pedals for the first eight measures. The basses seem to embody the
strength of the cornerstone in their static line, singing the tonic and dominant to match the
harmonies of the chords that support the melody. In m. 13, Kirchner outlines a descent from
dominant to tonic in the bass vocal line as the top three parts continue in their homophonic
texture (Example 3.1). The refrain ends as it begins, with all of the singers singing in
homophony, as if reminding the listener of the collective role in building a community.

50

Example 3.1 Bass stepwise descent in "Cornerstone" mm. 38-40

The verse begins as the piano accompaniment is introduced. True to Kirchner fashion in
folk-style compositions, the piano part has an improvisatory quality, although many sixteenth-
note motives and grace notes are notated. The verses, as in the melody of the refrain, sound very
simple and employ syncopated gestures. In the “rising” of the grain, Kirchner writes an octave
leap in the solo, depicting the rising and also signifying the resilience of the marginalized who -
like the grain - recover from misfortune. Though the refrain maintains the choral lines from the
first refrain, the intensity is added in the increase beginning dynamic of mezzo piano instead of
the piano dynamic. The addition of the piano accompaniment adds more rhythmic motion as the
syncopation intensifies within the piano’s bass line. Both the dynamics and the piano
accompaniment add to the energy emitting from the choir in their call for a more united and
inclusive community.
The second verse also increases in insistence of the message as the soprano verse starts
on forte dynamic, which is an increase relative to the mezzo forte dynamic in the first verse.
Once again, there is a sense of strength and conviction within Kirchner’s improvisatory style of
writing the solo lines, as if one must really believe the words to sing them in the style Kirchner
demands. The energy in this belief is furthered supported in the syncopation in the piano
accompaniment, which has also become more active in its rhythmic vitality.
51

The third refrain continues to build intensity through a higher beginning dynamic of
mezzo forte and more syncopated rhythms within the piano accompaniment. Shown in Example
3.2, Kirchner also adds a soprano trio who, like background singers, add short motives as
musical responses to the refrain and support the growing conviction of the message sung by the
choir. Some of the responses are textless and some repeat the ends of the phrase the choir just
sang, but all of these extra melodies help to build motion and energy throughout the work.

Example 3.2 Growing textural interest in third refrain of "Cornerstone" mm. 57-59

Kirchner writes more textural strands as the sopranos sing the melody of the third verse
and sustained chords are sung by the altos, tenors, and basses. The addition of the sopranos, as a
group, to this melody further symbolizes the growing involvement in the community while
sustained notes are sung by the other three vocal lines. The soprano line rises, as if improvising
to a climax of the work. The choir grows to a forte and on the word “sting”, a half-diminished
52

chord is sung over a dominant pedal before resolving to the dominant chord. The half-diminished
chord is used to punctuate the “sting” (Example 3.3) mentioned in the text before the resolution,
and for this harmonic depiction Kirchner extends the length of the verse one measure.

Example 3.3 Text painting within "Cornerstone" mm. 71-73

The final refrain begins in an a cappella style. In mm. 74-77, the tenors and basses are
also omitted from the beginning of the refrain as the sopranos and altos sing the homophonic
texture as the sopranos sing the melody an octave higher. The tenors and basses sing the same
phrase instead of the sopranos and altos in mm. 78-81. Even though the voices of half the choir is
absent, Kirchner involves the singers who are not singing by having them clap, physically
embodying the inclusive message of the words of the song. In m. 82, the piano returns to the
texture and Kirchner adds the trio of sopranos and an additional soprano descant to increase the
textural intensity within the final refrain. At the completion of the refrain, Kirchner adds one
more statement of the final phrase, broadening the tempo and extending the soprano and the
53

lowest note of the piano to its largest distance in the whole work. The “world” that Kirchner
depicts in the last chord, with the divisi of twelve notes and the expansive chord, is one that is
vast and full of opportunity, depicting the wonder and potential available to communities that
learn to value each person within society.

Rose/Riddle/Rainbow
Compositional History:

Kirchner and Dr. Beth Willer, Founder and Artistic Director of Lorelei Ensemble,
collaborated to create the three-movement composition entitled Rose/Riddle/Rainbow. In
following the ensemble’s mission of commissioning new choral works for women’s ensembles
that are culturally relevant, Willer reached out directly to Kirchner.
18
She knew of his work and
his willingness to make political and social statements through his music. Because of the timing
of the project, their efforts produced a work that reflects the political and social tensions
stemming from the 2016 United States Presidential election. Through conversations via phone,
the two musicians discussed their collaboration to create a work that addresses the issue of
advocacy. Specifically, this composition would identify a connection deeper than the identities
that had been historically used to define human demographics. “Human demographics” and
“identities” refer to religion, ethnic background, cultural values, gender, sexual orientation, and
more.
19
Along with identity, Rose/Riddle/Rainbow addresses myriad of issues, including the
Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, Black Lives Matter, and the threat of tyranny within the
United States and abroad. While both Willer and Kirchner recognized that issues of divisiveness

18
"Ensemble." Accessed October 9, 2018, https://www.loreleiensemble.com/ensemble/.
19
"Our Identity – What Makes Our Identity?", Accessed December 24, 2018, http://www.ouridentity.org.au/our-
identity-what-makes-our-identity/.
54

and inequality are not confined to the United States, Willer was interested in a musical style that
was identifiably American.
The search for the nature of genuine American music is not a new one. In the late
nineteenth century, Bohemian composer Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) was asked to travel to the
United States to help define a unique American sound. His response was:
In the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and
noble school of music. They are pathetic, tender, passionate, melancholy, solemn,
religious, bold, merry, gay or what you will. It is music that suits itself to any
mood or any purpose. There is nothing in the whole age of composition that
cannot be supplied with themes from this source. The American musician
understands these tunes and they move sentiment in him.
20

Willer’s desire to create distinctly American music that had international appeal for those
seeking to battle this divisiveness and inequality led her straight into Kirchner’s world. Kirchner
- with Willer’s support - chooses to make this composition an homage to the African-American
spiritual tradition.

Premiere:
In a concert titled “Witness”, Rose/Riddle/Rainbow premiered on June 10, 2017 in
Boston, Massachusetts, at Boston University Marsh Chapel, and it had a monumental impact on
the audience and Lorelei ensemble. The composition closed the premiere concerts, and due to its
emotional impact Lorelei later chose it as one of the works on their touring program.
Rose/Riddle/Rainbow is credited by Willer as a work that changes the way the ensemble engages
with music with social justice messages and how the audience members listen and respond to the
ensemble. Willer mentioned how she was personally moved by this music in her overall

20
Eileen Southern. The Music of Black Americans: A History. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2006). 267.
55

perspective, changing how she sees the world and her role in performing music with social
messages such as those in Rose/Riddle/Rainbow.
The "familiar" nature of Shawn's melodies and texts, combined with sophisticated
vertical harmony, and absolutely convincing form make these works immediately
understandable, despite their complexity. They have changed the way we sing,
and they have changed the way our audiences listen to us. Most importantly, they
have changed the way I think about and see the world.
21

During the premiere, the audience was particularly drawn to the third movement, titled
“Rainbow,” due to the harmonies that Kirchner chooses to use to depict a rainbow musically.
22

Since Kirchner’s draws on traditional African-American spirituals, questions arose regarding the
appropriateness - and possible appropriation - of this music being performed by nine Caucasian
women. However, due to Kirchner’s very emotional connection and personal respect of a genre
not necessarily represented by his demographic identity, the premiere audience was able instead
to welcome his interpretation of the African-American spiritual style as a musical genre full of
resilience and bringing cultural awareness.
23
That awareness, according to Willer, is where the
conversations around social justice can really begin.

Text Analysis:
The text for each of the three movements was originally written by Kirchner who
paraphrases from African-American spirituals. The spirituals in the work are mostly quoted in
the text, though some of the paraphrasing also occurs within the musical motives of the
movements.

21
Beth Willer, Email correspondence with author, September 18, 2018.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid.
56

Little Rose
Hush-a-hush, the wind’s a-blowing,
but it’s quiet in the garden,
Grow in peace, little rose, for a while.

Hush-a-hush, the rain is falling,
but it’s dry beneath the bower,
Rest your head, little rose, for a while.
Little rose, little rose
Little breath of Love Divine,
None like you will ever be:
The newest flow’r on the Oldest Tree.

Little rose, little rose,
Born to heal the wounds of Time,
None like you ever was, little rose.

Hush-a-hush, the storm is raging,
Hide you here, in the garden,
Bide in peace, little rose, yet a while.

Soon enough you will be going,
Look for friends to gather round you;
They will be, little rose, your garden wall.
(Thorns will do, when you find none at all.)

Little rose, little rose….
In the first movement, “Little Rose,” the first text is a quote from the spiritual “Steal
Away.” The text is set as a lullaby, not to a child but to a rose. The first verse describes rough
winds and rain falling from a storm. However, the rose is safe in a garden where it can rest and
find peace. Kirchner writes in his program notes on his website that the rose is a metaphor for a
child, specifically a “child born in turbulent times.”
24
In the subsequent verses, the “rose’s”
parents speak to their “child” and comment on the dangers of the world as they reassure the child
that they can keep the child safe. Through the quote of “Steal Away” with the words “I ain’t got

24
Shawn Kirchner, "ROSE/RIDDLE/RAINBOW (general)," , ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed October 14, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/ssa-assorted/roseriddlerainbow-general/.
57

long to stay here,” Kirchner foreshadows that the child cannot stay in the protective care of the
parents forever.
In the second verse, again talking to the rose, the parents state that soon the child will
leave the garden, giving the advice that friends will become a garden wall of protection. In the
absence of friends, “thorns will do”. As the child leaves the parents, friends and the new
community the child finds along through the course of life will be a new protective “wall” in lieu
of parental support. In the absence of any external support, the strength in the “thorns” of one’s
own confidence, resolution, and resilience will suffice.
Kirchner believes these words carry significant weight when considering the Syrian
children who have suddenly become refugees due to the continued violence in the Syrian civil
war.
25
However, the rose can also symbolize children of marginalized populations in many parts
of the world. For instance, children from Central America are travelling in mass numbers seeking
asylum in the United States.
26
On October 12, 2018, a group of around 160 Hondurans started a
trek from the city of San Pedro Sula, considered at one time the “murder capital of the world.”
27

Whether due to the dangers of gangs or the meager wages and struggle to make a living wage,
these families are risking personal safety to try to find a better life. The “walls” referred to by the
current United States administration have become a symbol of exclusion and separation, which is
in opposition to Kirchner’s “garden wall” of protection and acceptance. These “roses” who must
leave their homes to find a new “garden wall” receive a message of comfort and reassurance in
Kirchner’s poem and music.

25
Shawn Kirchner, "ROSE/RIDDLE/RAINBOW (general)," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed October 14, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/ssa-assorted/roseriddlerainbow-general/.
26
Dara Lind, "The Migrant Caravan, Explained," October 25, 2018, Accessed October 25, 2018,
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/24/18010340/caravan-trump-border-honduras-mexico
27
Sonia Nazario, "How the Most Dangerous Place on Earth Got Safer," The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/opinion/sunday/how-the-most-dangerous-place-on-earth-got-a-little-bit-
safer.html (August 11, 2016).
58

The refrain following the second verse carries more religious undertones, referring to the
rose as the “breath of Love Divine”. Now the rose is not just any child but a living expression of
God’s creative power. This religious connection is further aligned as the refrains also mention
the rose being the “newest flower on the Oldest Tree” and healing the “wounds of Time”. Along
with the musical style, the use of religious references in the text is another way this poem
connects with the African-American spiritual tradition. Though placed in a religious context, the
rose is a metaphor for everyone, and Kirchner uses this religious connotation to exhibit the
appreciation of the unique qualities and innate divinity in each human being.
The “rose”, in its divine power to change the world, is expanded to represent each
individual. Kirchner’s program notes explain that each generation heals wounds as new life helps
to heal communities and families in times of trauma, an experience that Kirchner experienced
personally within his own family. In this wider symbol of whom the rose symbolizes, Kirchner
also expresses the belief that each of us has the potential to make a difference, and every person
can be a “garden wall” for others.
28

Riddle
My story’s written down in the Book of Life…

(Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen)

Can you see me?

I’ve got a child to feed
I’ve got a case to plead
I’ve got a march to lead

(Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen)

28
Shawn Kirchner, "ROSE/RIDDLE/RAINBOW (general)," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed October 14, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/ssa-assorted/roseriddlerainbow-general/.
59

I’ve got a crop to reap
I’ve got a floor to sweep
I’ve got a watch to keep

(Nobody knows my trouble, will you try?)

My story’s written down in the Book of Life…

I’ve got a shop to tend
I’ve got a note to send
I’ve got a rift to mend

(Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen)

I’ve got a child to bear
I’ve got a dream to dare
I’ve got a world of care

Nobody knows my trouble,
Will you even try?
Will you follow me home?
Back by the road that I’ve come down?
Back through the door where I belong?
Back to the lap where I heard this song?

(Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen)

My story’s written down in the Book of Life…

“Riddle,” the second movement, uses the text from the spiritual “Nobody Knows the
Trouble I’ve Seen”. The riddle in this movement is the juxtaposition of the contrasting themes of
the repeated text “my story’s written down in the Book of Life” and “nobody knows the struggle
I’ve seen.” These two repeated statements respectively identify the relevance of each person’s
story while also acknowledging the lack of visibility of the marginalized in our global society.
Each life is recorded because they matter. At the same time, many stories are not told or not
remembered due to how we view each other. The soloists ask the audience “can you see me?”
and this question places attention on awareness of our neighbors and our community. The
soloists throughout the movement then mention both mundane tasks as well as social justice
actions, such as sweeping a floor or leading a march. The question “will you even try?” becomes
60

a daring verbal challenge to the audience, forcing listeners to claim their role in the awareness of
the struggles of the people around them.
The last section of text, asking listeners to follow the person back to the original place
where the singer first “heard this song,” serves as an invitation to ponder the riddle of which of
the contrasting themes the child heard most clearly. This text also serves a functional task of
bridging the first and the last movements. The question “Will you follow me home?” relates to
the first movement as the child speaks of their home and “garden wall.” The next question,
“Back by the road that I’ve come down,” alludes to the next movement in which a soloist sings
about the “roads” she has travelled in her life. In mentioning the “song”, Kirchner uses a
common memory of children. This memory urges the listener to remembers the mindset of
children who see the common humanity and essence in one another.

Rainbow
I’ve got a rainbow…

Many miles have I come,
many more have I to go,
but I’ve got a rainbow.

Many tears have I cried,
Plenty tears upon my pillow,
but I’ve got a rainbow.

Many dreams have I dropped,
Dreams I’ve dropped along the road…
…but my friends gathered them up for me,
Till I could dream again (I thank you)

I’ve got a rainbow
(Your dream is my dream)
I’ve got a rainbow
(My dream is yours)

Trouble ahead, trouble behind,
Trouble ahead, trouble behind,
61

But I’ve got a rainbow.

Truth be told, there’ll be rain,
truth be told, it’s raining now…
But the sun is shining before me,
and I’ve got a rainbow
wrapped around my shoulder!

I’ve got a rainbow!
I’ve got a rainbow!
I’ve got a rainbow wrapped around my shoulder!

And “it bends toward justice”
And it’s full of colors
And it shines with promise
And it feels like freedom

I’ve got a rainbow!
I’ve got a rainbow!
I’ve got a rainbow wrapped around my shoulder!

In the third movement, “Rainbow,” Kirchner uses the title phrase “I’ve got a rainbow.”
This phrase recurs throughout the movement as the soloists speak about the struggles for justice,
speaking of the “miles I have to go” and the “tears upon my pillow.” Each of these phrases ends
with “but I’ve got a rainbow,” signifying that this rainbow becomes a support through the harsh
times of life. The soloist then comments on dreams that have been dropped along the road. The
rainbow becomes a symbol of support as each soloist describes the struggles. The proclamations
of the composite of individual soloists depict in a larger sense the struggles of those who are
most marginalized in our society. The rainbow becomes personified as the ensemble sings of
friends gathering up the dreams, becoming the rainbow for one another.
Kirchner emphasizes the communal aspect in the struggle for validation and justice in the
line “your dream is my dream.” Kirchner recognizes the ongoing fight for these ideals and the
current state of the fight for justice. “Truth be told, there’ll be rain/ hell, it’s rainin’ now”
becomes a statement of his view of the moral degradation under the presidency of Donald
62

Trump. Kirchner wrote in the program notes that this line became a substitute for his original
idea to mention President Trump within this verse.
29

The reason for the specific choice of the rainbow becomes clearer at the end of the work
as Kirchner paraphrases words by Martin Luther King Jr., who actually paraphrased the quote
from the eighteenth-century Unitarian minister and American Transcendentalist Theodore Parker
(1810-1860.) Parker’s quote come from a collection called Ten Sermons of Religion
30
, published
in 1859. The full quote that Kirchner references from Dr. King is “the arc of the moral universe,
is long, but it bends toward justice.”
The rainbow, which also as a Christian symbol of God’s grace for his people as seen in
Genesis 9:13, becomes a beautiful and colorful depiction of the arc described in this quote.
31
The
rainbow also presents, in its many colors, a symbol that shows beauty in variety and diversity. In
the use of the rainbow as symbol of an inclusive arc of justice, Kirchner depicts a message that
each person within a community must be the support system and must fight for justice for others.

Musical Analysis:

Rose
The form of the movement is song form, comprised of verses and refrains with an
extended refrain and a coda as described in Table 3.2. Wind noises by singers and musical
gestures depicting wind are utilized throughout the movement, and different voicings and
tonalities distinguish the various refrains and verses throughout. Kirchner uses paraphrasing of

29
Shawn Kirchner, "ROSE/RIDDLE/RAINBOW (general)," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed October 14, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/ssa-assorted/roseriddlerainbow-general/.
30
Theodore Parker, Ten Sermons of Religions, Boston: Rufus Leighton, 1859.
31
Ken Ham, "Taking Back the Rainbow," Answers in Genesis, March 27, 2007, Accessed January 30, 2019,
https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/taking-back-the-rainbow/.

63

“Steal Away” and “There is a Balm in Gilead” within this movement in some easily recognized
melodic fragments and more subtly near the end of the movement.

Table 3.2 Form Analysis of "Rose"
Sections
Intro-
duction Verse 1 Refrain Interlude Verse 2 Refrain Coda
Closing
Theme
Measures 1-8 9-24 25-39 39-44 45-64 65-80 81-83 84-86
Voicing
7-part
voicing
3-part
homo-
phony,
6 and 9-
part
voicing,
major
passages
7-part
voicing
3-part
divisi
6 and 9-
part divisi
8-part
divisi
Para-
phrased
Spiritual
Steal Away, "green
trees are bending" and
"I ain't got long to
stay here"
Steal
Away
There is a
Balm in
Gilead
Steal
Away
Intensi-
fying
Character-
istics
"wind"
music and
sounds
vocal trio
with wind
sounds
both
minor and
relative
major
passages
more
"wind"
music
addition
of Cb,
dissonant
intervals
repeat of
final
phrase of
refrain

In the first measure, the pitches sung are a quote from the African-American spiritual
titled “Steal Away.” Though there are no words sung in this quote, Kirchner connects his
depiction of a storm through the choice of the “Steal Away” melodic passage, which is
connected to the spiritual’s tune on the words “green trees are bending” (Example 3.4) as the
wind from the storm bends the trees. While subtle, this would connect a listener who is familiar
with the original tune to the atmosphere Kirchner is creating. This motif heard in the first two
measures, signified by an ascending and descending interval of a major second, presented in
augmentation, and transposed, respectively, in the second and third entrances. In m. 4, another
melody from “Steal Away” is set without the text, but two measures later the words are used
64

within the paraphrase. The words “I ain’t got long to stay here” signify both the temporary place
spent on this earth as well as the quick passing of childhood. This theme, with an ascending leap
of a third at the beginning, is also developed using transposition and augmentation in the
following entrances (Example 3.5). During the musical material in the first eight measures, the
windy atmosphere is created by blowing or whistling by the singers. These extra-musical effects
occur throughout the movement and are used to transition between sections.

Example 3.4 "Steal Away" theme and its augmented variation, mm. 1-6

Example 3.5 Second "Steal Away" theme and its transposed and augmented variations, mm. 1-7

65

The first verse occurs with the trio in the two beats leading to m. 9. This section is sung
by the middle trio of women as placed in the score. “Rose” is sung homophonically and the text
is set syllabically. At times, the melody or one of the accompanying harmonies leads to two-note
slurs on a particular syllable, but this suggests an improvised style. There are two sections of the
verse, both lasting eight measures in length. Between the two verses, the two paraphrased
motives from the introduction return in mm. 14-18. The second phrase of the melody is a
variation of the first iteration, with both the melody and accompanying harmony rising in pitches
and dynamics to add urgency.
The first refrain, leading into m. 25, begins with a homophonic section with a sextet
consisting of the remaining singers who did not sing the verses. While the verse begins in a G
minor tonality, the verse modulates to the relative major, Bb Major to convey a sense of hope
and comfort. While the text setting is mostly in a syllabic fashion, Kirchner emphasizes the
“tree” with a melismatic section as well as the lengthening of the measure to six beats instead of
the regular four. Dynamically, the “tree” is the loudest word up to this point within the
movement, again marking an emphasis on the “tree”. The range of pitches expands in the next
measure of the refrain, with highest and lowest notes occurring in a span of two octaves and a
major third, from Eb2 to G5. The middle trio of singers joins in m. 33, and this is the first time
the whole nonet of singers is singing at the same time. The entire group sings tutti until the end
of the refrain, which ends with a return to the original G minor tonality.
The material at the beginning of the movement with the “Steal Away” references and
wind sounds returns in m. 39, indicative of its function as recurring interlude between the
sections. When compared with the beginning material, this interlude is intensified through
numerous techniques. Within the refrain, there are more voices incorporated, as the first melody
from m. 1 is sung by two singers, one measure apart. New notes and harmonies are introduced
66

within the section, the harmony introduces an E natural, an F# in m. 44 and the soprano voice
rises to an A in a progression to D Major chord, the first dominant chord presented in the G
minor. Through the rise of dynamics, expansion of range, and inclusion of more voices and
harmonies, Kirchner increases the sense of urgency as the storm builds.
The material from the interlude continues even as the verse begins again in m. 45. This
verse starts at a dynamic of mezzo forte, and the rise of dynamics starts to signify of growing
intensity of the raging storm. Along with dynamic intensity, the range of the solo rises as well.
After the first phrase is sung, the material quoting the melodic fragment from “Steal Away” that
was heard in mm.14-18 returns, but an additional motive from the introduction is added in mm.
50-54. Structurally, the phrases of the first and second verses are similar until m. 60 where
Kirchner extends the melody by executing a variation of the last phrase from m. 57. While the
first verse ended on a D minor chord, this verse ends on two Bb notes an octave apart with a
major third D in between, leaving the tonality ambiguous until the F returns to complete Bb
Major chord (Example 3.6).

67

Example 3.6 Return to Bb Major in "Little Rose" mm. 62-65

Leading into m. 65, the refrain repeats the beginning of the first refrain. To heighten the
intensity throughout the section, Kirchner adds an increase of dynamics in this refrain, rising to
forte in m. 72 in contrast to the mezzo forte that occurred in the same passage in m. 32.
Additionally, a marking of poco animando is added to build up the energy. In embellishing the
melody, more notes are incorporated in the mezzo soprano line in m. 74. In the third and fourth
beats of m. 74 to the downbeat of m. 75, a new motive is employed using four eighth notes and
ending on a Bb quarter note starting on a D and ending on a Bb. This particular motive quotes
the spiritual “There is a Balm in Gilead,” which also refers to healing and coincides with the text
in m. 75. This motive appears again transposed down a major fifth in mm. 76-78 (Example 3.7).
In the same measures Kirchner employs dissonant harmonies in m. 76, as the Cb is juxtaposed
with the Bb on the words “none like you ever was”, emphasizing the uniqueness of the child and
the role the child has in healing the world of injustices.

68

Example 3.7 Melodic quote of "There is a Balm in Gilead" in "Rose," mm. 76-78

A coda starts in m. 81, as the last phrase of the refrain is a repetition of the final phrase of
the second verse. An octet sings this final phrase before the motives from the first movement
return for the final measures, as a closing theme. Whereas the words of “Steal Away” were
present throughout the movement, the ending section is textless. The movement ends as it began,
with the singers singing a quiet iteration of the themes portraying the temporary calm of the
storm.

Riddle

The music in “Riddle” is also set as song form, though Kirchner’s verses and refrains
become more seamless as Kirchner develops the sections. As depicted in Tables 3.3 and 3.4, the
two contrasting themes discussed in the text analysis are musically juxtaposed. The first two
recurring motives throughout the work, labeled A and B, occur throughout the movement. As it
is shown in the tables above, the various recurring sections do not function within the typical
restraints of a traditional refrain of a song, where the recurring material would be absent by the
beginning of the verse. While the first verse occurs, the recurring material B continues. Both
recurring phrases are written within two different sections, with the bridge acting as the
development of the second phrase of the refrain. As the movement concludes, the first phrases of
the recurring material return.

69

Table 3.3 Form Analysis of "Riddle"
Sections Refrain Verse 1 Refrain
Measures 1-4 5-14 15-17 18-27 28-33 34-35 36-39
Use of
Recurring
Material A
Phrase 1
Phrase 2 Phrase 1
Phrase 1
(m.29) Phrase 2
Use of
Recurring
Material B Phrase 1 Phrase 2 Phrase 1

Table 3.4 Form Analysis of "Riddle" continued
Sections Verse 2

Bridge Refrain
Measures 40-47 48-50 51-59 60-61 62-65 66-68
Use of
Recurring
Material A Phrase 1
Use of
Recurring
Material B Phrase 1 Phrase 2
Phrase 1

Within the first four measures, Kirchner presents the first recurring theme, labeled A,
sung by the middle trio of singers (Example 3.8). This music is sung in Kirchner’s typical
homophonic texture set within the work, with the melody sung by the soprano and harmonized in
parallel fashion by the mezzo soprano and alto. The motivic material is set to repeat over a length
of eight beats, which aligns with the 4/4 time signature of the first four measures.

70

Example 3.8 Theme A within "Riddle" mm. 1-3

The next recurring theme, labeled B, begins in m. 5, sung by the remaining six singers.
This melody of recurring material B quotes the spiritual “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.”
Kirchner sets the melody in the compound meter of 6/4, and within the first recurring material
there is a canon among the two sets of trios singing this movement. The pattern is set for four
bars, with the first two trios starting the pattern on beat 1 and the second trio starting on beat 2.
Therefore, within the four-bar phrase, the pattern overlaps between the two trios for counterpoint
within the repeated bars, shown in Example 3.9. Meanwhile, the recurring material A continues,
but now is sung against the 6/4 time signature, which creates a deemphasizing of the downbeats
in the measures. The overlapping of musical motives suggests the complex nature of addressing
social injustice, and the ways that each person internalizes conflicting messages about their own
worth. Solutions to social injustice require an approach that battles multiple issues emerging at
overlapping moments as well as the inner and outer circumstances of each individual.

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Example 3.9 Overlapping themes within “Riddle” mm. 5-6

As the A theme ends in m. 14, the pattern set in the B material also comes to a conclusion
as the six singers sing the last line homophonically. Kirchner introduces the second part of the
theme A, which is the question “Can you see me?” Unlike the first phrase of this recurring
motive, each of the three singers who sang the first phrase sings the second one individually,
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with each iteration taking on a characteristic of timidity, questioning, and defiance as notated in
the score. The last iteration of this quote ends as the beginning of the first verse begins. In the
same manner, social justice is unique and personal for every individual, who ask themselves and
those around them, “Can you see me?” While society and communities may try to rectify the
social injustices they believe are glaring, they must keep in mind that individuals affected have
unique and personal stories.
The verse begins in m. 18 as one of the voices begins to sing. The verse melody is a
variation of the motive from the second phrase of the recurring material A. In this manner,
Kirchner uses the experiences of different people sung by each of the middle trio of singers to
further expand who the “me” is that is not seen. While these statements are being sung, the outer
trios continue with the first phrase of theme B along with the overlapping melodies shown in
Example 3.9. In m. 21, Kirchner again interrupts the regular pattern of the recurring material B
and interpolates a 5/4 measure as the sextet sings homophonically. The overlapping pattern
continues in m. 22 as the second half of the first verse continues within the middle trio group of
singers. However, the theme B is slightly changed as the E minor chords the trios sing is inverted
to raise the range pitches. As the first verse ends, the second phrase of the recurring material B is
finally introduced leading into m. 27. In a similar fashion, the phrase “Will you try?” is sung
separate times among the sextet.
The refrain starts again in m. 28 with the return of the first phrase of the A material, once
again sung by the middle trio. Within this section, the 4/4 time signature returns. Instead of the
first phrase of the B material joining the second phrase of B, the question, “Will you try?”
continues among four singers. This motive eventually comes to a close as the middle trio sings
the second phrase of material A which is sung by each of the trio members in a canonic fashion,
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with a variation of the theme sung by the soprano. M. 36 provides transition from the refrain to
the next verse.
The second verse continues in m. 40 in a similar fashion as the first verse with each of the
singers of the middle trio singing the main motive by themselves and while the sextet of singers
continues with theme B. However, Kirchner adds intensity to this verse by using heightened
dynamics. Also, the phrase “Can you see me” is sung for the first time homophonically by the
trio. The second half of the verse continues and also ends with a homophonic texture of the
phrase in m. 47 as the recurring B material continues in the sextet.
Kirchner develops the second phrase of recurring B material in m. 48, which starts the
bridge of the movement. The sextet starts to sing new melodic material as the second phrase of
the recurring B is lengthened with the text, now asking emphatically “Will you even try?” The
middle trio joins in these words, and it is the first time in the movement that Kirchner
emphasizes the same words among the whole nonet of singers, though not in a homophonic
texture. Homophony is finally reached in the climax of the work in m. 50 when all of the singers
are singing fortissimo, the loudest dynamic of the movement. In m. 51, a series of questions
begins, and the homophony continues among the octet. This measure is the only measure within
the work with an 11/8 time signature, serving a poetic meter to the question “Will you follow me
home?” This measure is also the only one that is sung in homophony with the entire nonet. The
next measure and following measures are in 4/4, and the melodies throughout the next section
are two measures long. The motive, starting on a G in the highest soprano section, then starts on
an Eb in m. 53 and the words are sung by a trio. The next phrase, lowering still in pitch, begins
on a D and is sung by another trio. The last phrase is sung by the middle trio of singers and
begins on a Bb. To decrease the energy built in the previous section, Kircher both employs a
descent of the pitch range with each two-measure motive and a steady decrescendo as each
74

motive is marked a dynamic marking below the previous one, from fortissimo to piano. In the
final decay of sound, Kirchner writes in a measure of silence in m. 59.
The overlapping A and B themes return for the last section of the work. Whereas the
recurring material A started the movement, the last refrain of the work begins with the theme B
beginning its repetition first. This section is 6/4, and the overlapping motives occur within the
outer trios as the middle trio starts the theme A in m. 62. As the sextet singing the B theme starts
a decrescendo to their finale in m. 66, the middle trio of singers continues with a crescendo three
bars after, singing the A theme until the end of the work. With the final text stating “my story’s
written down in the Book of Life,” Kirchner depicts feelings of hope and resolve even in the
midst of troubles, and he leaves listeners with the message that each person’s story does matter.

Rainbow
Kirchner’s third movement, “Rainbow,” is a variation of a song form. Tables 3.5 and 3.6
show the verse/refrain pattern, but as the movement continues, Kirchner again deviates from the
traditional form with developments and extensions of themes and statements from earlier
sections of the movement. Unlike “Rose” and “Riddle” that operated within static key centers,
the key of Eb minor in which “Rainbow” begins is not maintained throughout the movement.
The modal mixtures are particularly evident in Kirchner’s tonalities with the use of G natural and
C natural. Kirchner also incorporates tonal clusters in his harmonic depictions of the “rainbow”
toward the end of the movement.

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Table 3.5 Form Analysis of "Rainbow"
Sections Introduction Verse 1/Refrain Verse 2/Refrain Verse 3/Refrain Bridge
Measures 1-12 13-22 23-33 34-51 52-67
Identifying
Characteristics
recurring
material
presented
one singer sings melody, refrain
sung by middle trio
homophonic
texture,
extension of
verse and
refrain
terraced
dynamics
Keys/Scales
Used

Eb minor
Eb minor, Fb
Major Db minor

Table 3.6 Form Analysis of "Rainbow" continued
Sections Bridge 2
Refrain
developed
Refrain motive
extension Coda
Extension
repeat
Measures 68-77 78-85 86-95 96-107 108-119
Identifying
Characteristics
unison, octave
singing
climax of the
work
harmonic
depiction of
rainbow
addition of final
motive, using
MLK words
Depiction of
rainbow
Keys/Scales
Used Eb Dorian
Eb minor with
F Major Tone clusters Eb minor Tone clusters

In the first section, a trio sings a motive sung in parallel motion within the Eb minor
scale, melodically portraying the shape of a rainbow. This motive and its accompanying
harmonies will be a mainstay throughout the work. One soprano joins under this motive, serving
as a melodic foundation to establish the Eb minor key. In m. 7, the lone soprano is joined by the
rest of the trio and as the motive continues through the first verse, this second trio incorporates
lower tones of Gb3 in the alto vocal line as if enveloping the refrain material in m. 8. The first
words begin with the alto of the middle trio singing the phrase “I’ve got a rainbow” twice, and
Kirchner’s marking of “as if to oneself” strengthens the enveloping feeling of the motives sung
by the sextet. The motive’s rhythmic motion comes to a pause in m. 13 within the sextet as the
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first verse begins. Similar to the “Rose” movement, Kirchner alludes to inner strength coming
from within to push through times of struggle.
With this same alto solo voice as the beginning motive, the first verse starting in m. 13
continues in the first trio. The bottom trio, like in the introduction, joins in m. 18 as the first
phrase ends. M. 20 starts the refrain material, which is harmonized by the two other singers in
this trio. Again, the soloist sings the “I’ve got a rainbow” phrase and an abbreviated echo occurs
before the mezzo-soprano from the middle trio continues with the second verse. The call and
response style within the middle will continue and expand throughout the movement (Example
3.10).

Example 3.10 Response style with "Rainbow" mm. 20-22

The second soloist sings a higher and improvisatory variation of the original melody. In
mm. 30-32, a G natural is used instead of the Gb within this version of the refrain material in a
temporary major tonality. This addition gives a more hopeful tone to this refrain. The echoes also
employ the G natural, and that hope continues to rise with the echoes, the second time rising to
an Ab. The rise of echoes is like the rays of sunshine that will form Kirchner’s rainbow of hope,
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now beginning to arch more and more over the storm-riddled world of the victims of social
injustice.
The third verse, beginning in m. 34, is extended with new material. The refrain also
extended as Kirchner adds new melodic motives. Now sung by the soprano of the middle trio,
this verse begins in the same melodic pattern as the second verse. However, the motives that
have continued through the first two verses and refrains end as the first homophonic texture of
the movement occurs in m. 38, where the choir sings of dreams dropped “along the road” as
shown in Example 3.11. The soloist, whose dreams could not be carried alone, is joined
musically by the eight other singers, portraying camaraderie in the text of the next line, “but my
friends gathered them for me, till I could dream again.” During this phrase, the harmonic
language varies with an addition of Fb, changing the tonal center briefly to the Neapolitan chord
of Fb Major to change the mood of music to match the hopeful sense of the text. Like the refrain,
this line is echoed by the bottom trio of singers and then repeated by the top two trios before
returning to the refrain material. Kirchner makes a musical statement that dreams for people
affected by social injustice need to be “gathered” and supported by others - friends, advocates, or
whomever. The echoes of support from the bottom trio to the top trio inspire the afflicted not to
lose heart. The goal of Kirchner’s rainbow, then, is to provide hope until the oppressed can
“dream again.”

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Example 3.11 New melodic material in "Rainbow" mm. 37-39

The refrain is lengthened in m. 46 as the refrain starts on an Ab minor chord instead of
the tonic Eb minor that began the first two refrains. The soprano sings the melody three times,
compared to the two iterations of the melody that occurred in the first two refrains. As the
soloists sings of the rainbow, the echoes of the main motive now incorporate new text such as
“your dream is my dream” and “my dream is yours,” singing of sharing the dream of the soloist.
After the third verse and refrain, the first contrasting section begins in m. 52. The bridge
immediately begins in a new tonality of Db minor with the addition of Db and Fb on the words
“trouble ahead, trouble behind”. Within this section Kirchner depicts the sentiment of an
everlasting struggle with imitations of a siren, as the soprano oscillates between Eb and Db
(Example 3.12). The measure is repeated four times, utilizing terraced dynamics as the first two
measures are sung with a forte dynamic and the second two are sung piano with no crescendi or
descrescendi. The middle trio of singers, silent for four measures, reenter with the refrain
79

material. The melody in the soprano is an octave higher, followed again by the other singers in
the trio. The contrasting material returns as the the texture thickens, overlapping with the
“trouble ahead” motive (Example 3.12). In m. 64, the refrain returns, and in this iteration of the
refrain material, the middle trio sings the words homophonically to give the feeling of unity and
support. Through the homophonic setting sung by each trio, the joint singing represents a
communal support that can withstand the strongest storm.

80

Example 3.12 "Rainbow" Bridge section mm. 52-55

The second bridge of the work begins in m. 68 as the contrapuntal material ends abruptly
as the nonet sings “truth be told, there’ll be rain.” Almost like a reality check, Kirchner’s
handling of “truth be told…” heeds the warning that social justice reform of any kind is not
simply a “stroll” to find a rainbow. Instead, finding the rainbow requires there to be “rain,”
81

obstacles of all kinds such as social, political, economic, personal and more. The section,
beginning at mezzo piano, gradually increases in dynamic throughout the section as the four-
measure motive repeats. As the melody continues through these eight measures, intensity builds
with three mezzo-sopranos in each of the trios singing in stepwise motion on an Eb Dorian scale
with an added C natural (Example 3.13). Symbolic of the energy generated for social justice
reform by numerous activists, the melody is also sung over itself as the altos sing the melody two
beats behind the sopranos. The homophonic texture returns in m. 74 as Kirchner leads to the
climactic end of the phrase in m. 75, an Eb Major ninth chord as the range ascends to Bb5, the
highest note sung so far in the movement. The homophonic texture continues with a narrowing
of range and decrease of dynamics and leads into the next refrain.

Example 3.13 Ascending scale within Bridge of "Rainbow" mm. 69-73

In this refrain, Kirchner portrays the strength of the entire community through the
collective singing of the refrain material for the first time. In a stretto texture, within a 3/2 meter,
the melody begins with each of the trios on each of the three beats, with the top trio singing on
the first beat, the bottom trio singing on the second, and the middle trio singing on the third beat
(Example 3.14). Each time the melody returns to the first trio, the soprano, singing the highest
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pitches, ascends by a half step. The intensity in the overlapping melodies, the steadily increasing
dynamics, and the ascent of the melody culminates to second climactic section in m. 81. The first
half of the refrain phrase is connected to the second part, completing the phrase “I’ve got a
rainbow wrapped around my shoulder.” This combination of music and lyrics mimics the
momentum happening when individuals, a group or a community begins to fight against social
injustice.

83

Example 3.14 Stretto passage in "Rainbow" mm. 78-79

A new section occurs in m. 86 with a development of the refrain material as Kirchner
depicts the rainbow harmonically. The refrain is first sung in unison, then divides into a nine-part
divisi on the word “rainbow”. As shown below in Example 3.15, the chords that make up the
rainbow are various tonal clusters. Each time the clusters return, one more note is added to the
cluster, from five notes in the first, to six and then seven notes. Both increases in dynamics and
84

higher pitches are utilized through each of the clusters. After the third cluster occurs, the second
phrase of the refrain returns as the coda begins in m. 96. At this point in the work, listeners
sonically experience the empowerment of individuals who have banned together to fight social
injustice, one individual (or note) at a time.

Example 3.15 Collapsed Tonal Clusters within "Rainbow", mm. 87-88, 90-91, 93-94

Kirchner involves three different motives within the coda. The bottom trio begins with
the recurring motive, first heard in the introduction, while the middle trio sings an extension of
the refrain, referring to the rainbow. In this extension Kirchner uses a new motive quoting the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Each phrase describing the rainbow is sung forte, high in the
register, and unison among the middle trio to present these strong statements that highlight the
purpose and result of singing out against social injustice. As two voices responded to the refrain
in earlier sections, the top trio sings in call and response style to the melody of the middle trio.
Kirchner extends the refrain even further in m. 102 as he sets the words “and it feels like
freedom.” The word “freedom” is set on a melisma, a texture that has not been utilized on any
text. This line is sung three times as well, with the different trios joining. The final section
repeats the tone clusters from mm. 86-95, ending the fourth cluster on the final word “shoulder”
on the widest intervallic span of a twelfth. As Dr. King spoke of an arc bending toward justice,
Kirchner’s “Rainbow” provides hope for the future.

85

Peace and Conflict
As discussed in Chapter One, Kirchner’s education and life have given him a deep
personal insight into issues of peace and conflict. While his Church of the Brethren background
taught him about the appreciation of all living beings and to resist violence of any kind, he would
experience firsthand what it means to resist violence and revenge in his own life. It is with
education and personal experiences that Kirchner writes his works that focus on these issues,
such as “Eye for Eye, “Rain Come Down”, and Songs of Ascent.
Similar to his settings about marginalization and empowerment, Kirchner reflects both
the communal and personal responses within these compositions. “Eye for Eye” and “Rain Come
Down” are reactions to the gun violence epidemic seen in the United States. “Eye for Eye” offers
a prescriptive reflection, communicating to humanity about how revenge is not the appropriate
response. In a more personal reflection, “Rain Come Down” is request for an assuagement of
pain felt after a tragic violence. Within Songs of Ascent, a ten-movement work, Kirchner delves
into both personal and communal conflicts within a religious context, presenting both conflict
and resolution within the movements of the composition. In each of the above works, Kirchner
emphasizes the damage that violence and ill-will cause for humanity, and conversely the joy that
comes from peace, nonviolence, and forgiveness.

“Eye for Eye”
Compositional History:
The commission of “Eye for Eye” stemmed from the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub
in Orlando, Florida. On the evening of June 12, 2016, a man opened fire in the club, killing
86

forty-nine people before he was eventually killed by the police.
32
After hearing of this tragic
event, Dr. Patrick Walders, conductor of the San Diego Pro Arte Voices, felt a sense of
helplessness when considering possible actions toward gun violence across our nation. After
speaking with friends and family who shared the same dread, he decided that he needed to create
a musical response to help process these emotions.
33

In September 2016, Dr. Walders approached Kirchner to become a part of the “Disarm
Hate” project, an effort requesting new compositions from multiple composers relating to gun
violence. This concert was curated to help the audience journey through the technical stages of
grief as described by the Kubler-Koss model.
34
The end of the concert focused on the hope of a
different narrative where gun violence is not a normal occurrence.
35
After Walders experienced
Kirchner’s music in a performance in San Diego in 2015, and after listening to his music and
watching him speak about his work, he knew he needed to include Kirchner in this project.
While Dr. Walders commissioned the work, the catalysts for the creation of this work
portraying a message of nonviolence began decades before the communication with Walders.
From the lessons learned from the Church of the Brethren theological teachings against violence
of any kind, the words of the first verse of Eye for Eye that are attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
(1869-1948) resonated with Kirchner.
36
Later in life, during the spring of 2016, Kirchner was
also inspired by a moment at his church in La Verne, CA. He was looking for an anthem to fit
the subject of “light” and was drawn to Matthew 6:22-24 which states:

32
Kayla Cockrel, "The Lives Lost or Changed Forever in the Pulse Nightclub Attack" The New York Times, June 12,
2018, Accessed December 27, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/us/pulse-nightclub-shooting-
anniversary.html.
33
Patrick Walders, “Shawn Kirchner Dissertation Questions,” e-mail message to author, November 19, 2018.
34
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler, On Grief & Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five
Stages of Loss (New York: Scribner, 2014.)
35
Patrick Walders, “The Disarm Hate Project,” San Diego Pro Arte Voices, Accessed, December 28, 2018,
https://sdproartevoices.org/the-disarm-hate-project.
36
Shawn Kirchner, “Eye for Eye,” ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed December 14, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-gospel-spiritual/eye-for-eye/.
87

The eye is the lamp of the body. So then if your eye is clear, so will your whole
body be filled with light. But if your eye is not clear, your whole body will be in
darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how deep is that darkness.

Due to the political climate during the presidential election, Kirchner felt a more urgent need to
write this work denouncing reciprocity of violence and hate, or that the “light” of humanity can
still shine in times of “darkness.” After having arrived at the message he wanted to convey,
Kirchner finished the work quickly on November 5, 2016.
37

Premiere:

The San Diego Pro Arte Voices premiered “Eye for Eye” in their “Disarm Hate” concert
on May 29, 2017. Walders placed this composition at the end of the program, as its message
displays the desired hope and optimism of a more peaceful future at the end of the emotional
journey. During the concert, there were visceral reactions and tears as the performers presented
the concert’s closing work. Comments of praise and positive emails were sent regarding Eye for
Eye.
38
Walders attributes these responses to the simplicity of the work with a profound message
and a mastery of compositional precision that Kirchner crafts in each of his works.

Revisions:

Tonality, led by the Alexander Lloyd Blake, performed “Eye for Eye” at the First
Congregational Church Los Angeles on October 6, 2017. Dr. David Harris, Director of Music at
the First Congregational Church Los Angeles, attended that concert, and after the performance
asked Kirchner if his church would be able to perform the work. Kirchner emailed Harris a new
version of the score for the church choir to sing. In May 2018, Kirchner slightly revised the

37
Ibid.
38
Patrick Walders, “Shawn Kirchner Dissertation Questions,” e-mail message to author, November 19, 2018.
88

music again when Blake asked Kirchner’s permission to record “Eye for Eye” on Tonality’s first
album, “Sing About It”, adding text to textless sections while keeping the notes from the original
version.

Text Analysis:
Eye for eye and the world goes blind (3x)
And how deep the darkness, and the light nowhere to find.
Life for life and the killing goes on (3x)
And how deep the darkness, like a night without a dawn.
Hate feeds hate in a bitter feast (3x)
And how deep the darkness;
turns humankind into a hungry beast.
Give us light, that we may see.

While Mahatma Gandhi has been credited for the quote “Eye for an eye and the whole
world turns blind,” studies show that there are no real records showing that the Indian activist
was the author of the famous statement. Fred Shapiro, editor of the Yale Book of Quotations,
wrote that while the Gandhi family believes the quote came from him, the first actual mention of
the quote was traced to Gandhi’s biographer, Louis Fischer.
39
Fischer described Gandhi’s
approach of handling conflict using the popular phrase, and many since have credited Gandhi
with the phrase instead. Nevertheless, Gandhi’s dedication to nonviolence comes through the
words that Kirchner uses within the work.
The Biblical verses used for this text, Matthew 6:22-24, come from Jesus’ teaching on the
Sermon on the Mount. With texts such as the Beatitudes, this sermon was during Jesus’ earlier
teachings and is the longest and most quoted text from the Bible of words that were spoken by
Jesus
40
. In these verses, Jesus speaks of the eye as the “lamp of the body.” In this sense, as in

39
Fred R. Shapiro, The Yale Book of Quotations (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 269-270.
40
Carl G. Vaught, The Sermon on the Mount: A Theological Investigation (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press,
2001), 7-10.

89

many instances, Jesus refers to the body in a metaphorical sense when he talks about morals and
ethics.
41
The heart, tongue, and hands have also been used in the Bible to teach followers the
ways they should conduct themselves in the most honorable and ethically sound manner (See Job
17:7, Proverbs 6:17, Job 22:29, and Zachariah 4:6). Instead of the eye being a physical entity,
Jesus uses the eye and lamp as symbols of a moral compass. A person is full of light if they do
good deeds and their heart is pure. As a lamp produces light to dispel darkness, one’s eye helps
them to stay on a path of righteousness and good will. Conversely, if one has hate in his or her
heart, the light is dim and, as a result, the actions are without moral character. If the light is out,
then one cannot see, meaning that a person would not know the best intention for their actions.
For the first two stanzas, Kirchner infuses two of the focal points of his writing. The text
is comprised of three stanzas. The first half of the stanza is repeated three times, with the second
half of the stanza sung once. In the first half of the first stanza with the words “eye for eye and
the world goes blind,” listeners hear the paraphrase from the famous quote about the reciprocity
of violence and its harm in the first section of the stanza. This is repeated three times until the
second phrase appears with the words “and how deep that darkness, and the light nowhere to
find.” This second phrase, always starting with the same first five words, refers to the light and
darkness referenced in the Biblical text. Each of the stanzas repeats this pattern. The second
stanza follows the same pattern, with the first phrase commenting on the tragedy of revenge with
the phrase “life for life and the killing goes on”. The constant killing in revenge becomes the
action without the “light” of morality, as dark “a night without a dawn.”
The third verse, following the same pattern, changes the tone. The first phrase of two
stanzas mentions the eye and lives, tying the message to humanity and the loss. The last stanzas
divert the attention more inward to the intention by speaking of hate. Not only are lives lost but

41
Steven P. Wickstrom, "The Eye Is the Lamp of the Body," SPW Books, Accessed December 28, 2018,
http://www.spwickstrom.com/eye/.
90

the hate and the anger builds as more incidences of violence arise. The final phrase of the text
does not follow the usual pattern of the stanza. This phrase appears as a prayer, asking God to
help humanity find a consciousness and good intentions toward one another so that these events
of violence cease.
The text relates directly to Gandhi’s mission of activism through nonviolence which later
influenced the civil rights movements in the United States led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Walders’ use of this text in a concert about gun violence and mass shootings broadens the
focus and lessons that are found in the life teachings of Gandhi and Jesus. This music brings to
focus a radical pacifism, especially in the face of violent killings. In incidences like the Pulse
shooter, the shooter is either killed by police, kills himself, or is later sentenced to death
penalty.
42
In all cases, more lives are lost, and the cycle of lives lost simply continues. Instead of
a focus on reciprocity and revenge, Kirchner’s combining of these texts gives an opportunity to
imagine a world where our innate inclination is to love and forgive.

Musical Analysis:
Kirchner’s message about peace as the preferred method over retribution is one that is
direct, timeless, and universal in nature. Through Kirchner’s musical choices, the universal and
timeless effects are echoed in the music. From the form of the entire work to the scale used in the
melody, Kirchner’s work embodies an “ancient” sense within the music.
The form of this music shown in Table 3.7 is a modified strophic form. This can be seen
as ABACB, with the A sections as the strophes and the B sections as the recurring contrasting
section. One phrase labeled C stands alone, but its role in the work merits its own phrase though

42
Alan Blinder, "After a Massacre, a Question of One More Death: The Gunman's," The New York Times, February
24, 2018, Accessed December 26, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/us/nikolas-cruz-parkland-
florida.html.
91

it shares the text with the following B section. The A sections, while closely symmetrical in their
length and the melodies presented, are delineated as prime (A’ and A”) since the text used in
each section is never repeated.

Table 3.7 Form Analysis of Eye for Eye
Section A A' B A'' C B' Coda
Measure 1-16 17-32 33-38 39-54 55-62 63-68 69-74
Harmonic
Motion
I-III-IV-VI-
IV-VI
I-III-IV-VI-
IV-VI
I-v-VII-
IV-!
I-III-IV-VI-
ii-VI
vi-IV I-v-VII-IV-
I
v-IV-I
Text "Eye for
eye…"
"Life for
life…"
Textless "Hate feeds
hate…"
"Give us
light"
"Give us
light…"
Textless
Key D Major D Major D mixo-
lydian
D Major D Major D
mixolydian
D mixo-
lydian
Melodic Scale Pentatonic Pentatonic Modal Diatonic Single note Modal Modal

Within the A sections, starting at the beginning of the work, the melody begins to reveal
some characteristics that are seen throughout the work. The melodic material is set using the D
pentatonic scale, incorporating the pitches D, E, F#, A and B. The pentatonic scale, the scale
that Kirchner uses for this melody, is well-suited for the timeless message due to its expansive
existence. Studies shows this scale was used as early as 2000 B.C.E., and others mention the
pentatonic scale has been discovered to have been the tuning system for instruments that existed
50,000 years ago, giving the scale an “ancient” sense.
43
Kirchner’s use of the D Major pentatonic
scale for the melody gives the feeling that this melody has existed far beyond its publication

43
Espie Estrella and Nashville Songwriters Association International, "What a Pentatonic Scale Is and Why It
Sounds Good," Thoughtco, September 14, 2018, Accessed December 27, 2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-
pentatonic-scales-2456569.

92

date. The pentatonic scale is also one that has been used in all cultures around the world, not just
in Western music.
44
The pentatonic scale was used within music of Native Americans, sub-
Saharan Africans, and East and Southeast Asian cultures.
45
This point reemphasizes the universal
connection that Kirchner utilizes in the source of text. Kirchner sets texts attributed to historic
Indian and Middle Eastern figures in an American song form. In his fusion of sources of style
and text, Kirchner makes this music and its messaging accessible for listeners in various
communities.
The melody of the work is also set in a very accessible way. Shown in Example 3.16
Kirchner sets the first phrase in stepwise motion within the pentatonic scale, but the motion is
limited as the range of the notes covered are within a perfect fifth (B - F#). The second iteration
of this phrase also uses a stepwise motion of the pentatonic scale. While the first phrase ascends
from and descends to D, the second phrase starts higher on the mediant F# and rises to a B before
descending to an A. This rise of the melody creates more tension and leads to the third and final
iteration of the first phrase, even though the range of the second iteration is a fourth from F# to
B. Kirchner sets this text three times to fit the musical pattern, but inherent in the musical form
of the text setting is the stress Kirchner places on this line of text. It is not just one eye, but many
have fallen “blind” due to violence and anger toward others in our community.

Example 3.16 Melodic material of first phrase of "Eye for Eye" mm. 1-4

44
Bill Mcbirnie, “A Brief Summary Of The Pentatonic Scale.” Canadian Musician 34, no. 5 (2012): 29.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1321148074/.
45
"Pentatonic Scale." Britannica Online Academic Edition, 2018, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
93

This third iteration begins on an F#, as did the second, but ascends up to D5 one octave
above the first note of the composition before descending an octave to D4 on which the work
starts (Example 3.17). This third phrase becomes the climax of the strophe, as it both reaches the
highest note of the strophe and also covers the largest range, with its highest and lowest notes
ranging an octave. Also within this phrase is our first skip over a third, with a descent of a minor
sixth from D to F#. It is interesting to note that this climax falls around 62% of the eight-bar
phrase, which is close to the Golden Mean percent of 61.8%. This ratio that the Golden Mean
represents is seen throughout nature, such as in the shape of shells and leaves.
46
In the structuring
of music, this ratio is a point where climaxes or sectional musical shifts occur, as is seen in
multiple compositions of composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Bela Bartok
(1881-1945), Claude Debussy (1862-1918) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).
47
This
pattern of specific placement of the climax of the verse at this 62% mark strengthens a natural
shape of this arc within Kirchner’s music. This placement of the climax of the strophe will serve
as a precursor for the form of the entire work that will be revealed later in this analysis. These
traditional forms and emotional arc in which Kirchner sets the text offers the listener and
performer familiar material in which they can find comfort while reflecting on the ideas of
nonviolence and forgoing revenge.

Example 3.17 Third iteration of first phrase in "Eye for Eye" mm. 9-12

46
Richard Padovan, Proportion: Number and Geometry in Twentieth Century Architecture (London: E. & F.N.
Spon, 1999), 305-306.
47
Angelica Frey, "Five Classical Pieces with the Golden Ratio" CMUSE, July 01, 2018, Accessed December 25,
2018, https://www.cmuse.org/classical-pieces-with-the-golden-ratio/.
94

Finally, after this third iteration, the second half of the text for this first strophe enters.
This phrase, shown in Example 3.18 beginning with an ascending leap of a fifth from D to A, is
in immediate contrast to the first three phrases. This leap is then accompanied by a stepwise
motion back to D, and the repetition of that tonic note signifies that we are approaching the end
of the strophe. This structure of the strophe will serve as the A section of the work.

Example 3.18 Melodic material of second phrase of “Eye for Eye” mm. 13-16

Also, the form of the work, set in the folk style of a traditional African-American
spiritual, gives the composition a feeling reminiscent of an older era. Folk songs, such as the
spiritual setting after which this composition is styled, are based on oral tradition that was passed
down for generations before the music was transcribed.
48
Within this melody, the iteration of the
first half of the phrase occurs three times before the second half, with each of the iterations of the
text rising in the range used, a feature reminiscent of the spiritual and gospel traditions. Both the
scale and the form of the melody, in their affect and connection to music of the past, lend
themselves to reveal an essence to the “timeless” message of peace and nonviolence. The
connotation of the older works allows for the listener and singer to reflect that peace and
humanity are most naturally connected at their core.

48
"folk music." In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, edited by Helicon.
Helicon, 2018,
https://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/folk_music/0?institutio
nId=887.

95

The harmonies implemented for each verse are set with the same spiritual tradition in
mind. In Kirchner’s studies with Alice Parker (b. 1925), renowned choral arranger and
pedagogue, he was instructed to let the melodies dictate the harmonies for the composition.
49

Kirchner does not adhere to this rule absolutely, as m. 3 introduces a G and m. 6 a C#, two notes
that are missing from the D Major pentatonic scale. The harmonies Kirchner uses for the verses,
though not within the scale of the melody, are strictly within the D diatonic scale. Throughout
the work, each strophe uses chords based only upon the notes found in the scale. This simplistic
harmonic setting throughout the work also gives the music a sense of an older tradition. In this
traditional diatonic setting in the harmonic language, the music sounds like a song that has been
sung for centuries. So, too, then the words of nonviolence and peace sound like an old song that
has been told through the ages.
The A’ section emphasizes more textural complexity through Kirchner’s canonical
techniques. Given Kirchner’s natural inclination towards a thickening of texture as the
composition progresses, the use of repetition is employed throughout the verse. Starting in m. 18,
the tenors and altos repeat “life for life”, a melodic fragment that is originally sung
monophonically by all the parts throughout the first A section, bringing attention to the
importance of each and every life in existence. In m. 20, the basses also repeat the second half of
the phrase an octave below the sopranos. Musically, this technique helps to build an arch for the
work as the second verse grown in intensity and motion compared to the first statement. In terms
of text painting, these repetitions have a thematic purpose as well, as imitation further presents,
sonically, the multitude of lives that are lost due to violence. More variation occurs in mm. 28-
29, as the altos and basses repeat the words “on and on.” In addition to the repeated words in
these measures, the basses and sopranos have rhythms of dotted quarters followed by eighth

49
Kirchner studied with Parker in the Summer of 2008.
96

notes while the altos and tenors sing the words in consistent quarter notes. The difference in the
rhythms strengthens the multiplying effect, again highlighting the multitude of occurrences of
violence within our nation.
New contrasting musical material in the first B section, shown in Example 3.19, begins in
m. 33 as new material is interpolated between the second and third strophes. First, unlike the
scale used within the strophe melody, this section uses the D mixolydian mode with the inclusion
of the lowered seventh tone (C natural). The second contrasting characteristic would be the
absence of text in these measures. Unlike the A section, where the sopranos clearly carry the
melody, both the sopranos and altos have strong melodic passages as the tenors and basses help
to define the chords with their simple movement on each strong beat. The first two iterations of
the syllable “oh” function as an antecedent and a consequent as a plagal cadence occurs in m. 24.
The melodic motive that occurred in the alto in mm. 33-35 is now sung by the tenor leading into
m. 35. In its return, the altos’ motive is extended and sung by the tenors as the sopranos join the
altos and basses in filling out harmonic structures around the repeated motive.
97

Example 3.19 Contrasting "B" material in “Eye for Eye” mm. 33-35

This brief interjection of the contrasting modal and textless setting reflect on the words
that were presented in the first two verses. The mixolydian mode used within this section gives
the music a grounded quality and connecting with music from older traditions. Another
contrasting characteristic about this section is the variation of the rhythms utilized, as there are
no occurrences of sixteenth notes before this section occurs. Also, while most of the other
contrapuntal sections involve duets between vocal parts, the motive with the sixteenth notes
occurs only in the alto line in m. 34, and then repeats in the tenor line in m. 36. Shown in
Example 3.20, this motive in the tenor line is the first time an individual voice part is given
contrasted material in comparison to the other three parts. This choice highlights an emphasis of
individual as well as communal reflection on these ideals of peace and nonviolence, as the effect
of gun violence touches every human.

98

Example 3.20 Independence of Tenor line in "Eye for Eye" mm. 36-38

Beginning in m. 39, the A’’ section intensifies with the text repetition, more divisi within
the vocal sections, the use of more notes within the melody and an added descant. In this verse,
the first words “hate feeds hate” are repeated twice for a total of three iterations for each phrase,
which is one more than the last verse. The first climactic moment occurs in m. 50 when the
choir is divided into seven parts, and the range of the vocal lines reaches the highest point of the
composition with the F# sung by the first sopranos. Similar to the height of energy in the verse,
Kirchner sets this moment according to the Golden Mean, Kirchner employs this same technique
in order to give this text an unmistakable importance within the work.
After the climactic moments in m. 50, there is a huge contrast in texture and the energy of
the work in m. 55, labeled section C. There is a feeling of time and space suspended as the
sopranos and altos singing the “give us light” text in octaves on a D and the tenors and basses are
absent from the sound. The light that is our conscience is set by Kirchner as a pure sound of the
99

singing of one note, and this intent of purity is maximized in the instructions for a lack of
vibrato. The basses and tenors enter in m. 60 with a B minor chord under the sopranos and altos
who are maintaining their notes in octaves (Example 3.21). Then, two measures later, the tenors
and basses resolve to a G minor chord as the higher voices stay sustained.

Example 3.21 Section C: Kirchner's depiction of purity in "light" mm. 55-63

From the harmonic language seen above, it can be inferred that the light, or the natural
inclination toward peace or justice, can be seen in this pure sound that is made by the sopranos
and altos. The B minor chord, a chord that has been used to depict some of the more negative
aspects of violence and revenge, underlies the reiterated lines sung by the altos and sopranos.
This chord depicts the second half of the text from the book of Matthew in the Bible, as the
man’s lack of a clear vision leads to a flawed conscience. In this case, the flaw is violence
through revenge, which can seem like a just cause but actually just begets more violence. The
transition from B minor to G Major represents the adjustment in thinking and in “vision”, as the
tonality releases tension with the use of the IV chord. Harmonically, the major sonority of the
subdominant chord depicts a sense of justice that includes peace and understanding.
100

In m. 64, the B section of the setting again uses the D mixolydian mode that was used
beginning in m. 33. However, this section varies as there are words set to this music. This text
finishes the phrase that was started in m. 55 as “give us light” becomes “give us light so we may
see.” This harmonic shift in the music, which first acted as the reflection of the message of the
first two strophes, now offers the solution in a plea. The solution offered with the same music as
the reflections places the answer and this plea in the minds of the listener. In this “light”, one can
“see” the true essence of what is just and right. The aspects of the music traced back to older
traditions helps to express the permanence of this message.

“Rain Come Down”
Compositional History:
Approximately one year after the death of Kirchner’s mother, two students walked into
Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. After the students planted a bomb that failed to
detonate, the students opened fire on the school population, killing twelve students and one
teacher and wounding twenty others.
50
At the time, the Columbine mass shooting was the
deadliest school shooting in United States history.
51

As Kirchner was driving home the day after the shooting, it started to rain. This
experience gave him the impetus for this composition. The thought that came to his mind was of
the memory of the surviving students who returned to school and placed flowers on the cars of
the fallen victims, the young people who would not return to drive them.
52

50
"Columbine High School Shootings Fast Facts," CNN, March 25, 2018, Accessed December 13, 2018,
https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/columbine-high-school-shootings-fast-facts/index.html.
51
"Columbine Shooting," History, November 8, 2009, Accessed December 13, 2018,
https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/columbine-high-school-shootings.
52
Shawn Kirchner, "Rain Come Down," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed October 19, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-folk-americana/rain-come-down/.
101

Once “Rain Come Down” was complete, Kirchner entered the work into a competition
sponsored by the University of Oregon. Titled “Waging Peace through Singing,” this contest
received 700 entries from thirty countries, including Congo, Estonia, Israel, Spain, South Africa,
and the United States. These works were divided by performing forces, and those that received
the designation of “Top Honors” were placed in a list of compositions selected to premiere at the
2002 Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium. Kirchner won “Top Honors” in the SATB
division for “Rain Come Down.”
53

Text Analysis:
Come, rain, come down,
come, rain, come down,
Heaven’s tears of mercy,
come a-runnin’ down.

Say no words, it is too soon,
say no words out loud.
But wrap your quiet arms around,
hide us in your cloud.

Come wash away this grief and pain,
and let all hearts be clean.
And bring the fairest flow’rs
to meet the sorrows we have seen.*

A little lower than the angels
we were born to be,
Yet which of all the creatures
knows this misery?

*Alternative text for second verse:
Come wash away this awful stain,
And let our hearts be clean.
And bring the fairest flowers to meet
The evil we have seen.

53
"The Waging Peace Repertoire: Selected Works," Waging Peace through Singing, Accessed November 1, 2018,
http://www.iwagepeace.com/selectedworks.html.
102

Kirchner’s poem, speaking of the rain, comes from his experience in the car the date after
the shooting where the impetus of the song takes place. This text makes up the refrain and will
repeat through each of the verses. The rain from “heaven’s tears” signifies a religious connection
and a prayer as the poem presents a yearning for relief from the pain of loss.
In the first verse, Kirchner writes on the lack of appropriate expressions after a tragedy.
This perspective stem from his personal knowledge of these experiences after the death of a
loved one. This verse might as well have been written the day after Kirchner’s mother’s murder.
It was “too soon” for anyone to try to comfort those experiencing the pain and turmoil of such
horror. Though the condolences do not suffice, the rain’s physical act of cleansing and angelic
embraces will. In today’s current context, this notion about action over words has become an
arguing point of contention in the growing claims of politicians’ automatic response to issues of
mass shootings. In reaction to recurring mass shootings such as Columbine, current popular and
political reactions have publicly offered thoughts and prayers to the victims’ family and
friends.
54
Increasingly, however, an opposing public reaction to those thoughts and prayers has
been to criticize the politicians for their empty remarks without action to prevent future mass
shootings.
55

After the shooting in December 2017 in San Bernardino, CA, the press retorted the
common “thoughts and prayers” reply. Shortly after, the New York Daily News, published on
their cover a commentary entitled “God’s Not Fixing This.” This piece called attention to the

54
Megan Lavey-Heaton, “Thoughts and Prayers': The Phrase That People Are Growing to Loathe," PennLive.com,
November 06, 2017, Accessed December 29, 2018, https://www.pennlive.com/nation-
world/2017/11/thoughts_and_prayers_backlash.html.
55
Ed Mazza, "People Sick Of 'Thoughts And Prayers' Demand Action After Florida School Shooting," The
Huffington Post, February 15, 2018, Accessed December 28, 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-
shooting-thoughts-prayers_us_5a851c42e4b0058d5565da26.

103

automated reaction from leaders of the United States government.
56
Even faith leaders have
stepped up to say that the call on God and prayer has been overused and has lost any comforting
effect for victims.
57

The poem continues with Kirchner’s recurring use of the theme of nature embodying the
positive aspects of life. In this verse, the rain symbolizes an alleviation of the grief that one feels
after losing a loved one. In this context when speaking of the heart, the opposite of clean is not
dirty but stained. The rain, in washing away the emotional stains of the heart, renews the hope
and joy that is taken away by the incidences of gun violence. In the second half of the phrase,
Kirchner again uses nature to combat the challenges our world faces by referencing the poem by
Gwendolyn Brooks’ titled Young Afrikaans.
58
The “flowers” that are brought to the school are
not just in the physical sense, such as the flowers left on the cars of the students lost at
Columbine High School and in events honoring the deceased. In Gwendolyn Brooks’ metaphor,
flowers also represent the beauty in our humanity that we can use to fight against and to heal
from injustice and tragedy. Kirchner’s reference speaks to this role that flowers and the beauty of
nature in these dual roles.
In the alternative version of the text, Kirchner takes a more direct stance against the
actual events that occur, with the emphasis and reflection on the effects of these types of events
more than on the emotion of the griever. The rain, instead of washing away the stain of grief,
washes the stain of the actual violence of the event. The “cleanliness”, then, that is desired is a
place where these types of massacres do not continue. In this verse, continuing in this re-framing,

56
Ryan Bort, "Politicians Offer Thoughts and Prayers, but Not Much More, in Wake of Las Vegas Shooting,"
Newsweek, October 02, 2017, Accessed December 28, 2018, https://www.newsweek.com/mandalay-bay-shooting-
las-vegas-politicians-thoughts-prayers-675461.
57
Tara Isabella Burton, ""God Is Not a Cosmic Vending Machine": 9 Faith Leaders on "thoughts and Prayers","
Vox.com, February 15, 2018, Accessed December 30, 2018, https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/3/16408658/9-
faith-leaders-action-after-tragedy-florida-shooting-majory-stoneman-douglas.
58
Gwendolyn Brooks, Blacks / Gwendolyn Brooks (Chicago, Ill.: Third World Press), 1987.
104

the flowers bring justice instead of relief, fighting the “evil” of the world that manifests itself in
the killing of others.
The final verse starts with a phrase derived from the Bible. Hebrews 2:7 reads “You
made them a little lower than the angels; You crowned them with honor and glory.” The verse
depicts humankind as God’s beloved creatures. Using the current state of pain and suffering, the
text of this poem reflects how Kirchner challenges humankind’s value of human life. Given all of
the pain in his life and then seeing pain in the lives of many families who lost children at
Columbine, this question Kirchner asks of God’s intent for humankind is one that is asked by
many religious people when faced with tragic circumstances. In Kirchner’s setting of these
words, he once again allows the music to draw both the singers and listeners into tough
conversations about tragedy and its purpose both in our humanity and our faith.

Musical Analysis:
Kirchner’s “Rain Come Down” follows a strict song form with alternating refrains and
verses, as shown in Table 3.8. Like the verse anthems of the sixteenth-century English
Renaissance period, the sections of this anthem alternate between solo voices and choral
passages. Though the melody does not change between the verses and refrains, Kirchner utilizes
different voicing for each verse and refrain, allowing solo and choral passages to portray the
personal and communal reflections on the tragedy of the Columbine shooting.

105

Table 3.8 Form Analysis of "Rain Come Down"
Section
Piano
Intro-
duction Refrain Verse Refrain Verse Refrain Verse Refrain Coda
Measure 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40 41-48 49-56 57-64 65-69
Singing
Forces
SATB
Unison
Male
Solo
Men 2-
part
divisi
Female
Solo
SATB
divisi
Male/
Female
duet,
choir
accom-
paniment
SATB
divisi
with
solos
SATB
divisi
with
solos
Added
textural
voicing
Choir
entrance
Male
Solo
Harmony
of refrain
Female
Solo
Bass
counter-
melody
and
three-
part
harmony
of refrain
choral
sustained
harmony,
duet
duet
counter-
melody
over
SATB
divisi
from last
refrain
Ended in
homo-
phonic
texture

The first eight measures introduce the melody in the piano accompaniment. The melody,
laid out in eight measures, forms a parallel period with two four-measure phrases, shown in
Example 3.22. At the end of the first four measures, an imperfect authentic cadence appears as
the melody ends on the fifth scale degree (C). Even though the harmony in m. 5 is different than
in the beginning of the first phrase, the beginning of the melody for each of the two phrases is
identical, making the parallel period. At the end of m. 8, the melody ends on the tonic, creating
the perfect authentic cadence and thus concluding the period.

106

Example 3.22 Period Structure throughout "Rain Come Down" mm. 1-8

The melody in m. 9 is sung by the choir with the tenors and basses singing the octave
below the sopranos and altos. In the melody sung by the choir, the phrase starts on the second
eighth note of the first beat, whereas the original melody presented in the piano introduction
started on the second beat of the measure. As the text is set syllabically, the slight variation of the
melody when the choir enters is a practical choice to fit with the text. In m. 17 the first solo is
sung by a tenor/bass soloist, as if this is coming from Kirchner’s own voice and own story.
Again, whether the verse starts on the second beat or the second half of the first beat relies on the
text. Another slight variation occurs in the verse is that m. 20 ends on a perfect authentic
cadence.
The refrain sung in m. 25 maintains the exact melody that was sung by the choir in m. 9,
except this time only with the tenor and bass voices. Additionally, instead of unison voicing, the
tenors and basses sing in harmony, with the basses maintaining the refrain. The tenors sing in
parallel harmonies that are consonant with the melody and the harmonic texture set by the piano
accompaniment. The tenors and basses provide a communal response to the soloist, joining him
107

in praying for relief from the pain of loss. The piano accompaniment, matching the voices in the
tenors and basses, is also placed in a lower range.
Additional compositional techniques and motives appear in m. 33 as a soprano/alto
soloist sings the second verse. In the piano accompaniment starting in m. 33, there is a stepwise
motive in the right hand of the piano accompaniment. The stepwise function then becomes an
arpeggiation of the F Major tonic chord in a descant above the vocal line. In m. 38, a series of
stepwise eighth notes in two-note slurs appear in what is known as the sigh motive commonly
seen in works of Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Shown in Example
3.23, these motives are used to emit a feeling of suffering or sadness reflecting the “sorrow” in
the text.
59

Example 3.23 Sigh motif in "Rain Come Down" m. 38

The refrain returns in m. 41, and again the texture thickens with the addition of
harmonies and countermelodies. The basses start a simple countermelody, singing an abbreviated
text of the refrain on pedal tones of the tonic and dominant of C Major that are played in the
harmonies of the refrain. The melody is now in the soprano section and the tenors and altos add
parallel diatonic harmonies in homophonic texture with the soprano. The sigh motif that
appeared in m. 38 reappears in m. 46 in the piano accompaniment to emphasize the sorrow
inherent in the score.

59
Walter Emery, "Bach's Symbolic Language," Music & Letters 30, no. 4 (1949): 345-54,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/730676.

108

The texture of the work reaches its peak of intensity in m. 49 in terms of contrapuntal
activity. With either a small group or solos, the melody is sung in a harmonized duet as the choir
supports the sound with sustained chords. In the duet, the two personal reflectors come together
to question their role in God’s humanity. Along with sigh motifs used to depict humanity’s
position on the text “a little lower than the angels,” Kirchner also employs wide descending leaps
in the chord progressions that the choir sings. The expansive leaps imply that Kirchner questions
the Biblical description, especially the phrase “little lower.” Large descending intervals represent
that perhaps in the human pattern of recurring violence, the distance between angels and humans
is larger than what was originally intended.
In m. 57, the refrain comes back, and all of the vocal parts also reappear in this variation.
The bass countermelody returns as does the homophonic harmonization of the melody from the
upper three voices. In m. 58, another countermelody occurs in the duet/small group. The sigh
motifs are utilized in these countermelodies as well. In this texture, Kirchner evokes a sense that
the whole community is coming together to mourn and ask for a relieving of their grief.
The work ends with a four-measure coda starting in m. 65, repeating the second phrase of
the refrain. This section is sung by the duet/small group over sustained chords by the choir. The
last two measures are sung homophonically as the duet/small group rejoins the voicing of the
choir. The simple homophonic texture signifies the community’s last plea is not sung loudly or in
a contrapuntal style, but together as one voice, as the community comes together to move
together from this tragedy.

109

Songs of Ascent
Compositional History:
Kirchner first thought of the Songs of Ascent in 2012 as he desired to set to music his
grandmother’s favorite psalm, Psalm 121, which begins “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills.”
60

When Kirchner researched more of this psalm and the surrounding texts, he discovered that this
psalm was one within a group of fifteen psalms that are known as the Songs of Ascent. He
immediately thought to expand his original intent of setting one psalm to include a multi-
movement work with the whole set.
61
While Kirchner wanted to begin work on these psalm
settings earlier, he had other projects that were more pressing, including the commission of
Inscapes for Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale where Kirchner was the
Composer-In-Residence.
62

After writing the Plath Songs and Inscapes, Gershon and Kirchner considered various
ideas for the third commission.
63
Kirchner’s upbringing in the Church of the Brethren tradition
naturally pulled him toward music that would present themes of peace and reconciliation.
Additionally, there were other subjects Kirchner wanted to address within Songs of Ascent. He
also wanted to comment on conflict and the use of religion to divide and destroy those who are
different.
64
After coming to an agreement on these goals and themes with Gershon, Kirchner
started composing the movements, having already imagined the work consisting of string
orchestra, baritone soloist, and harp. The latter instrument alludes to King David, the author of
many of the psalms.

60
Shawn Kirchner, Songs of Ascent, ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed October 19, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-concert-suites-works/songs-of-ascent/.
61
Shawn Kirchner, "Writing Songs of Ascent, ShawnKirchner.com, October 15, 2017, Accessed October 19, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/blog/writing-songs-of-ascent/
62
Grant Gershon, Interview with author, Echo Park, CA, November 29, 2018.
63
Ibid.
64
Ibid.
110

Premiere and Revision:
The first version of the Songs of Ascent was given on March 10, 2015 with Grant
Gershon conducting the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Walt Disney Concert Hall. The soloists
for this performance were Suzanne Waters and David Castillo.
This premiere, while well-received by the audience, was not Kirchner’s original intent in
terms of the shaping of the work. At the time Kirchner was overcommitted in his commissions.
He therefore decided to decrease the number of psalms to seven movements for the Los Angeles
premiere. Kirchner expressed to Gershon that he felt that the original version of Songs of Ascent
had themes that needed to be stated more directly, specifically the conflict within the Psalm
texts.
65
He would receive the opportunity to premiere a new version after a trip to Boston to hear
his premiere of Rose/Riddle/Rainbow by the Lorelei Ensemble. While working with Lorelei, he
was hosted by David Hodgkins, the conductor of the LGBTQ classical choir called Coro Allegro.
Kirchner spoke with Hodgkins and played through the Songs of Ascent and mentioned the new
movements. After Hodgkins agreed to premiere the new version, Kirchner worked on an
alternate version of Songs of Ascent that would include more of the of the Psalms texts.
66

The newly revised Songs of Ascent was premiered on March 11, 2018 by Hodgkins and
Coro Allegro at the Sanders Theatre of Harvard University. Hodgkins paired Kirchner’s new
version of the Songs of Ascent with a newly commissioned work by Kareem Roustom. Titled
“We Will Rise,” Hodgkins paired these two works to present musical depictions of war and
peace. Hodgkins described Roustom’s work as a dark piece, filled with mixed meters and an
intimate narrative about the refugee crisis in Syria. Kirchner’s composition was placed in the
program’s second half as an intentional contrast to the Roustom composition. In this
programming order, Kirchner’s composition gave a positive conclusion to the concert, leaving

65
Ibid.
66
Hodgkins, David, Email correspondence with author, November 29, 2018.
111

the audience with message of hope and relief compared to the denser nature of the first
commission.

Text Analysis:
I. Psalm 132: “Lord, remember David…”
II. Psalm 122: “I was glad when they said unto me…”
III. Psalm 131: “Lord my heart is haughty…”
IV. Psalm 127/128: “Except the Lord…” / “Blessed is every one”
V. Psalm 124: “If it had not been for the Lord…”
VI. Psalm 120: “In my distress I cried unto the Lord…”
VII. Psalm 129: “Many a time have they afflicted me…”
VIII. Psalm 130: “Out of the Depths…”
IX. Psalm 121/126: “I will lift up mine eyes…” / They that sow in tears…”
X. Psalm 133/134: “Behold how good and pleasant…” / “Behold, bless ye the Lord…”

The Songs of Ascent, consisting of Psalms 120-134 in the Bible, are texts that were sung
by the ancient Israelites as they travelled up to Mount Zion and the Temple in Jerusalem as
commanded by the Torah. These travelers attended the three pilgrimage festivals throughout the
year and these songs would serve to hasten their journey and to prepare the travelers spiritually
for the religious festivals.
67
The authors of the text vary, as King David wrote four of these
psalms (Psalm 122, 124, 131, and 133) Solomon wrote one (Psalm 127) and the remaining are
anonymous. Kirchner, in setting the psalms, chose to set them in a different order than they were
placed in the Bible in order to create a storyline that would best represent his idea of the conflict
between different peoples and their resolution.
This first four movements of Kirchner’s setting depict the mindset of David and his
people as they travel, conveying a sense of joy along their journey to reach a destination where
they will find peace. The first movement starts with the setting of Psalm 132, which speaks of

67
Frank-Lothar Hossfield, Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101-150. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), 293-
294.
112

the past struggles of David and the Israelites and their hope for a brighter future. In the setting of
Psalm 132, Kirchner uses a solo baritone to describe the quest to find the place where the
community can gather celebrate their faith. The second movement, sung by the choir, connects
the community’s desire with David’s words using Psalm 122, “I was glad when they said unto
me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’” In the second half of this movement the emphasis
changes to peace and finding peace once they reach the Temple of Jerusalem. The third
movement uses text from Psalm 131. This movement, which speaks of David’s humility within
his faith and encouragement for his people to trust in the Lord, is first sung by the soprano soloist
before the soloists is joined by all of the sopranos and the altos. This movement speaks to the
temperament of David, and the soprano and alto voicing on the text portraying humility
foreshadows the role the women will play later in this work. The fourth movement, comprising
both Psalms 127 and 128, expresses through the choral voicing the community’s belief in their
faith and their trust in the Lord. Similar to J.S. Bach’s passion oratorios, Kirchner utilizes the
choral movements as the commentary from the community at large to support the messages of
the soloists and to give a broader context to the story.
68

The next four movements represent the section of the work dedicated to depicting
conflict. The first movement in this section uses the words from Psalm 124, “If the Lord had not
been on our side.” This psalm, written by David, acknowledges that the Lord was the only reason
that Israel was not defeated by its many enemies during David’s reign.
69
Kirchner make a point
in his blog that this verse was particularly difficult to set, as people use religion in their defense

68
John Eliot Gardiner, “First Passion” in Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015)
343-396.
69
Glenn Tatum, "The Psalm of Ascent Study by Glenn Tatum," Accessed November 25, 2018,
http://www.rossmoorbiblestudy.org/lessons/psalms.pdf.

113

to commit violence against others, including terrorist groups such as Islamic State, Al-Qaeda,
and the Ku Klux Klan.
70

71

Musically, Psalm 124 has been set to music in both classical and popular genres.
American pop singer and songwriter Bob Dylan (b. 1959) wrote an anti-war song titled With God
on Our Side that speaks to numerous wars that have been the result of communities claiming
God is on their side. Dylan cites the Spanish-American war, the Civil Wars, both World Wars
and the Vietnam war as examples in a newly revised version of the song in the 1980s.
72
Frances
Pollock (b. 1989), in recently commissioned opera Stinney, uses Psalm 122 in a scene during the
1940s where the African-American community and Caucasian community are at odds over the
conviction of the fourteen-year-old George Stinney Jr. for his alleged rape and murder of two
Caucasian girls.
Kirchner also employs Psalm 124 to speak to the use of faith in conflict. Kirchner states
in the program notes that Psalm 124 has been a troubling one for him personally as someone who
is aware of the turmoil caused by religions and its divisive characteristics.
73
Within Songs of
Ascent, he uses it to comment on opposing groups using religious ideologies to justify various
behaviors toward each other. This setting of Psalm 124 involves tenor and baritone soloists,
whom Kirchner considers to be related, quarreling and both considering themselves to be on the
right side of God.
The sixth movement, as a reaction to the conflict presented by the tenors and basses, is
sung by the sopranos and altos in a setting of Psalm 120. Depicting a “chorus of mothers,” the

70
Shawn Kirchner, "Writing Songs of Ascent, October 15, 2017, http://www.shawnkirchner.com/blog/writing-
songs-of-ascent/
71
Max Abrahms et. al., "The KKK Is a Terrorist Organization." POLITICO,
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/the-kkk-is-a-terrorist-organization-105717. (April 15, 2014.)
72
Robert Shelton. No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan (London: New English Library, 1987),
293.
73
Shawn Kirchner, "Writing "Songs of Ascent," ShawnKirchner.com, October 15, 2017, Accessed October 19,
2018, http://www.shawnkirchner.com/blog/writing-songs-of-ascent/.

114

sopranos and altos sing of a distressed heart toward this conflict.
74
In their turmoil, the women
protest the conflict caused by the men to no avail, saying “I am for peace, but when I speak, they
are for war.” The seventh movement represents the dueling men, who are undeterred by the
grieving women and their pleas for peace. The text for this movement, Psalm 129, speaks to the
Israelites’ oppression and their hope for God’s blessing and the destruction of their enemies.
75

Through this psalm text, Kirchner emphasizes the conflict between the two brothers as the tenors
and basses sing “many a time they have afflicted me from my youth.” The eighth movement uses
text from Psalm 130, a penitential psalm, as the people start to realize their wrongdoing in their
conflict.
76
The words “out of the depths I have cried to thee” is set for the chorus as the
community, wrecked from the conflict and cries for peace, turn back to God and call once more
for help. There is a turn of mood and tone later in the movement with the words, “but there is
forgiveness with thee” as the community is reminded of God’s grace and mercy.
The last section of the work, consisting of the final two movements, focuses on the
reconciliation after conflict. Using Psalm 121 in the first half of the ninth movement, Kirchner
sets the text “I will lift my mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help.” These words
hold both a physical and spiritual meaning, as the road to Jerusalem was not an easy path to take
for those who set out for the three annual festivals.
77
Spiritually, as one attempts to live out a life
of faith, one will encounter struggles and this psalm serves as a reminder that the Lord, who will
“preserve thee from all ill,” is ever-present and never rests.
78
In Kirchner’s narrative, this psalm
reminds the dueling brothers that the Lord will protect them, and therefore they do not need to

74
Shawn Kirchner, "Program Notes," March 11, 2018, Accessed November 13, 2018,
http://www.coroallegro.org/season/we-will-rise/program-notes.
75
Matthew Henry, "Commentary on Psalms 129 by Matthew Henry," last modified March 1, 1996, Accessed
December 27, 2018, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Psa/Psa_129.cfm).
76
Matthew Henry, "Commentary on Psalms 130 by Matthew Henry," last modified March 1, 1996, Accessed
December 27, 2018, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Psa/Psa_130.cfm.
77
Glenn Tatum, "The Psalm of Ascent Study by Glenn Tatum," Accessed December 27, 2018,
http://www.rossmoorbiblestudy.org/lessons/psalms.pdf.
78
Ibid.
115

fear their outcome nor hate their enemy. The second half of the movement incorporates text from
Psalm 126 as the soprano soloists gleefully sings “they that sow in tears shall reap in joy”. As the
dueling tenor and baritone, the brothers, reunite, the two soloists sing the text “then was our
mouth filled with singing and our tongue with singing, for the Lord hath done great things.”
The chorus, once again comments on the story, singing Psalm 133 in the final movement,
“how good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity.” This text seems simple enough,
but must have carried extra significance as the Israelites constantly encountered both external
dangers and conflict amongst the different tribes within their own community. Finally, the
second half of the final movement utilizes Psalm 134, as all of the chorus sings “lift up your
hands and bless the Lord.” The community, in their differences and conflicts, can come together
in a religious place that both has caused divisions yet has also been the place for unity and for
thanksgiving.

Musical Analysis:
Kirchner uses harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic elements to depict the ascension aspect
of the journey to Jerusalem. In the original version of Songs of Ascent, the keys centers rose in a
median relationship with each successive movement. In the revised version, due to the additional
movements and the subsequent re-ordering of the movements, the pattern of the ascending key
centers no longer exists throughout the work. Remnants of the ascending thirds can be seen in
the first two movements as the key travels from F# minor to the relative major, A Major. Also, at
the end of the work, the last three movements are in G Major, B Major, and D Major,
respectively, to keep the pattern of ascending thirds as seen in Tables 3.9 and 3.10.

116

Table 3.9 Form Analysis of Songs of Ascent
Movement I II III IV V
Key F# minor A Major E Major C Major C minor
Choral Voicing B Solo SA/TB/SATB SATB
Solo Voicing Baritone
Soprano/
Baritone Tenor/Baritone
Instrumentation Harp/Strings Strings Harp/Strings Strings

Table 3.10 Form Analysis of Songs of Ascent continued
Movement VI VII VIII IX X
Key A minor B minor
G Major/ B
Major B Major D Major
Choral Voicing SA SATB
Solo Voicing Tenor/Baritone
Soprano/Tenor/
Baritone Baritone
Instrumentation Harp/Strings Strings
Strings
(cello/double
bass divisi) Strings Harp/Strings

In addition to the “ascent” of key centers, Kirchner uses two motives to connect the
movements thematically, even as the literary themes vary throughout the narrative. The first
recurring motive, called Motive A, relies on both harmonic and rhythmic elements. Throughout
the Songs of Ascent, Kirchner utilizes chain suspensions between two lines moving in stepwise
motion. These lines, offset rhythmically and creating tension and release, depict the motion
portrayed in the psalm, be it the falling of ointment or the rising of the dew. The chain
suspensions Kirchner uses throughout Songs of Ascent occur in both ascending and descending
motion. The notes either create suspensions with the moving between second or thirds, or
creating fourths and thirds, but the general motion is parallel intervals of a third, the inverse
interval of a 6th, or the displaced octave addition for a tenth interval. This motive mostly occurs
within the instrumental parts, particularly in the string sections.
117

The second recurring motive, Motive B, is a recurring melodic shape used throughout the
movements of Songs of Ascent that represents upward movement. This motive, usually involving
four notes, involves an ascending interval, a descending interval of a smaller value, and an
ascending interval of a greater value. The descending interval might seem contrary to the
ascending motive, but this interruption of parallel movement adds complexity, gives more
developmental options, and depicts a more realistic ascent up a mountain that would have some
dips and turns. Overall, the ultimate destination in the motive is the highest note. The entire
interval range from the first to last note is an eleventh, or a perfect fourth displaced by an octave.
This motive is most prevalent in the vocal lines.
Motive A is seen almost immediately, as the cellos and the second violins move in
parallel motion in mm. 3-4 of the first movement, shown in Example 3.24. The second violins
move on the second beat of m. 3 and the cello moves on the third. In m. 4, the second violin
moves on the first beat and the cello moves on the second before both instruments ascend on the
third beat. In m. 25, the same motion occurs between the second violins and cellos, occurring
two measures later between the seconds and violas that repeat the notes previously played by the
cellos. The descending version of this motive occurs in mm. 49-52 within the viola divisi.
Motive B is used in the first movement with the harp entrance in m. 31. The harp starts on E4,
ascends a major sixth to C#5, descends a major third to A5 and ascends an octave to A6.

118

Example 3.24 Motive A in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt I mm. 1-4

In the second movement, Motive A appears in an ascending motive in 3-2 suspensions
between the cello and viola, and in m. 9 in 7-6 descending suspensions between the first violins
and the violas. After this motive ends, Motive B, as shown in Example 3.25, first appears in the
vocal line of the tenor/bass entrance in the second movement. In m. 11, the tenors and basses
sing “I was glad” on the notes B-C#-A-E. This involves an ascending major second interval, a
descending major third, and an ascending fifth. The next four notes repeat the motive before the
melody continues. In m. 18, on the words “Let us go into the house,” Kirchner composes a
diatonic inversion of the motive on the notes A-G#-B-E (Example 3.26). The second, third, and
fifth intervals are in the same order but moves in contrary motion from the notes in m. 11. The
original motive returns as the melody repeats in m. 30 with the soprano/alto entrance.

119

Example 3.25 Motive B in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt. II mm. 7-12

Example 3.26 Inversion of Motive B in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt. II mm 18-20

Motive A appears again in m. 45, but this iteration is elaborated. 3-2 suspensions occur
between the violins, but the second violin part adds an extra note in the otherwise stepwise
descending line. Measure 49 contains 7-6 suspensions in both ascending and descending motion
between the violin parts.
In the fourth movement, the first two instruments to sound start with Motive A, as the
viola and double bass move together in an ascending 2-3 suspension chain as shown in Example
3.27. This motive accompanies the entrances in the choir, which begins on Motive B transposed
down a major second from the men’s entrance in the second movement. The sopranos sing
another iteration of the melody, transposed a major twelfth higher in a tonal answer to the
basses’ subject. The Motive A, now played the cellos and second violins, also transpose down a
perfect fourth to match the dominant key (G) in which the soprano enters. In another answer by
the tenor in m. 17, the motive contains the same contour, but the final ascending interval
becomes a fourth. The altos enter on the exact entrance of the basses in m. 27 as the basses sing
120

the altered motive one measure later. As the form of this movement is binary, both motives
repeat in the second half of the work in m. 91.

Example 3.27 Motive A in Songs of Ascent: Mvmt. IV mm. 1-4

The fifth movement also employs Motive A and the contour of Motive B. Within the
dueling phrases of the baritone and tenor soloists, the ascending leaps and smaller descending
note pattern is extended through the third beat of m. 6 to the downbeat of m. 8. An iteration of
the altered motive ending in a perfect fourth occurs in m. 15 of the tenor entrance. The bass,
singing the same melody, sings both motives mentioned in mm. 20-22 and m. 29, respectively. In
m. 42, the tenor and baritone soloists sing an ascending 4-3 suspension chain on the text “blessed
be the Lord,” shown in Example 3.28. Motive A also played briefly in the strings, occurring for
the length of one measure in mm. 29, 31, 82, and 84.

Example 3.28 Motive A in Songs of Ascent: Mvt. V mm. 40-44

121

The sixth movement employs Motive B in the harp part in the first measure and then in
the melody of the sopranos in m. 10 as well as the alto entrance in m. 12. At the end of the bar,
the sopranos and altos sing of their grief and dismay as they fight for peace against the constant
fighting. The motive is sung three times as the sopranos start the phrase on m. 46, singing “I am
for peace/ but when I speak/ they are for war”, shown in Example 3.29. As sopranos and altos
sing Motive A, Motive B is played by the strings as a final call for peace.

Example 3.29 Motive B in Songs of Ascent: Mvt. VI mm. 46-47

Within the seventh movement, Motive B returns in its original contour in m. 8. In a
parlato (spoken) style, many of the notes are repeated in the vocal line of the tenor before the
intervals occur to imitate speech, but the B-D-B-F# shows the same contour, which is then
repeated in the bass line, transposed down a fifth. The repeated notes and the minor chords
spelled out within these motives present a stronger sense of the anger between the dueling
brothers, and the theme is then developed and segmented throughout the movement in even more
angular vocal lines. Within the strings, Motive A moves throughout several instruments to create
one of the longest ascending suspension chains of the entire work. Starting in m. 34, Motive A
begins between the cello and violas which are then joined by the second violins in m. 36. A brief
descending motive occurs in m. 38 before the rising motive starts again in m. 41, now between
the first violins and the violas.
The contour of Motive B is presented in retrograde at the beginning of the eighth
movement as Kirchner sets music to depict the “depths” that the singers have reached
emotionally. The larger interval precedes the smaller in these motives, first present in the cello
122

and double bass and then in the bass vocal line. The general shape of the phrase rises and
descends an octave and then rises a third. In a work about ascension, the change in contour of the
line matches the change in the motion in a more complex fashion than just an inverse of the
motive. A more similar variation of the original Motive B occurs in the soprano line in m. 19
with the words “I wait for the Lord,” as if the anticipation of God’s coming offers an “ascent” of
mood, even if only for a brief moment. Motive A only occurs only for a measure when the altos
and tenors sing “there is forgiveness” in mm. 62 and 66. Both times the second violins and violas
double the descending 3-2 suspension chains, musically depicting the tensions subsiding between
people who can forgive each other.
Motive A occurs first in the ninth movement in a descending 7-6 suspension chain
between the soprano and alto vocal lines in m. 10. A similar motion occurs between the first and
second soprano in m. 14, followed by an ascending motive sung in m. 17 by the basses and
second sopranos in a 3-2 suspension chain. The first violins and violas take over the Motive A in
mm. 25-26 before the soprano divisi start a descending 3-2 suspension chain in mm. 31-32.
In the second half of the movement, Motive B returns subtly in the cellos in m. 38, becoming the
countermelody to the soloists’ new phrase on the words “they that sow in tears.” The vocal
entrances are doubled first by the cellos, then by the violas in each of the repetitions. The
baritone solo sings a phrase following the same contour in mm. 92-93 as the last iteration of the
motive within the movement.
The final movement, true to Kirchner’s practice of returning to familiar material, carries
both A and B Motives. Motive A begins in the harp entrance, ascending for two measures and
descending. Motive A, in its descending form, is used to depict the ointment running down in
mm. 14-17. This motive returns as the harp returns in m. 24, foreshadowing the soprano and alto
rising 4-3 suspension chain describing the rising of the “dew upon the mountain of Zion.” In m.
123

29, for the first time in the work, the harp plays both an ascending and descending suspension
chain at the same time (Example 3.30), and these A motives in contrary motion are doubled in
the strings.

Example 3.30 Motive A in Contrary Motion in Songs of Ascent: Mvt. X mm. 26-29

Motive B appears as the basses begin their vocal line with two ascending fourths
connected by a descending third. The soprano sings Motive B in m. 31 transposed a seventh from
the bass entrance. Leading into m. 41, the second violins play the melody from the second
movement as the choir starts the recapitulation from the beginning of the work by singing the
same phrase “I was glad.” In m. 70 and m. 77, the altos and tenor/bass entrances sing the original
vocal melody again, now on the words “bless ye the Lord!”, signifying the ascent in spirits as
they have reached the temple. In m. 107, the harp returns to its original motive, extending the
motive as the last ascent in m. 123.
124

Musically, Kirchner uses the two motives to illustrate words of delight, anxiety,
happiness, anger, hope, distress, and rejoicing. From the first note to the last, Kirchner’s Songs of
Ascent emits a joy in peacemaking within his musical journey that shines through.

Truth and Justice
Since the presidential election in 2016, Kirchner has felt the need to use his music to
make more direct statements about the current state of affairs in the United States. In the news, it
seems that lies have become commonplace, and greed and inequality are further supported by the
lies to keep the “status quo” of hierarchical systems and division among different groups of
people.
79
To spark an awareness and catalyst for change within his works, Kirchner causes the
listener to question what is right and just. The works speak of honor, truth, acknowledgement of
wrongdoing, and true intention in the ways that both performers and listeners are allowed to
participate in raising the moral bar. This sensitivity in moral awareness works toward Kirchner’s
ideal of a more whole community.
These themes of truth and justice are within “America the Beautiful”, “A Sign Opposed”,
and “Man of Truth”. “America the Beautiful” speaks of the “true” history of our country,
presenting a more contemplative version of the patriotic song that omits some of the
“stumblings” made during the country’s founding. In a communal sense, this song is sung with a
new sense of pride that comes with the hope of living up to the ideals on which the country was
founded, rather than reflecting on the actions in the past. “A Sign Opposed” presents the truth
embodied in a leader who stands for justice in the face of the Old Order. This leader challenges
systems that have historically been unjust for many while serving a select few. Lastly, “Man of

79
Maria Konnikova, “Trump’s Lies vs. Your Brain,” POLITICO, January/February 2017, Accessed Jan 17, 2019,
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/donald-trump-lies-liar-effect-brain-214658.
125

Truth” takes a communal approach to how people must speak truth and live truth,
acknowledging past mistakes toward others in order to help in the healing process and to practice
living with a high moral sense.

“America the Beautiful”
Compositional History:
When Kirchner started writing his rendition of “America the Beautiful” in Spring 2018,
he intended the composition to be performed by an TTBB choir. The TTBB setting was set to be
sung by the Orpheus Male Chorus of Phoenix, but the timing of the completion did not work, so
Kirchner simply wrote the work for his own musical fulfillment.
80

While Kirchner appreciated the melody that was originally set by American composer
and organist Samuel Augustus Ward (1847-1903), he desired to set the words by Katherine Lee
Bates to a new melody. After starting his work on the composition and thinking more on the
United States’ turbulent and often ignored history, Kirchner felt the need to amend the text as
well.
81

While working on the TTBB arrangement, the author came into contact with Kirchner
due to the author’s interest in programming “American the Beautiful” for an upcoming concert.
The author, upon learning of Kirchner’s work on “America the Beautiful,” mentioned to
Kirchner that this composition would be well suited for a choir called Tonality. Tonality, a
choral ensemble dedicated to utilizing culturally diverse voices in presenting messages of peace,
unity, and social justice, had been planning their upcoming concert entitled “Democracy in
Action.” The author, Tonality’s director, was in the process of planning for the concert and

80
Shawn Kirchner, “Additional Questions,” E-mail message to author, December 21, 2018.
81
Shawn Kirchner, "America the Beautiful," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed December 28, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-folk-americana/america-the-beautiful/.
126

establishing a program of choral pieces that would present messages of personal responsibility,
empathy, and persistence during the political process. Since these messages would be developed
during the concert, the author told Kirchner that his work would be a compelling work on the
program. Its message of the shortcomings in the history of the United States and also the hope
and desire to truly be a great nation for all would offer a unique perspective in the concert. As a
result, Kirchner began work on an SATB version with the intent to premiere at the Tonality
concert.

Premiere:
“America the Beautiful” was premiered on October 7, 2018 at First Congregational
Church Los Angeles. Kirchner played the piano accompaniment for the premiere performance.
Originally, the work was going to be premiered as the second selection of the concert, behind
another world premiere written for the “Democracy in Action” event. However, due to the
impact the music had on the singers and the message the music portrayed, the author made a
decision in the week prior to the concert to present Kirchner’s work at the end of the concert.
The message served as a reminder of the country’s past and its shameful beginning with a
message of hope and yearning to be a country whose behaviors matched the ideals.
Kirchner’s work received a standing ovation during the concert, and multiple audience
members spoke afterward about the inspiration the music provided. One audience member
commented in the audience survey that this music, “... made me aware of another point of view
of reality. I believe that our country has made some advancements towards equality for all, and
yet has a long way to go.”
82

82
Anonymous, Concert Survey, Tonality, Los Angeles, CA. (October 7, 2018).
127

Text Analysis:
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain
America, America, God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea

O beautiful that ancient feet
Beneath the countless stars,
Ten thousand years in Beauty walked,
Through wilderness unmarred.

And fateful then, that sailing fleets
A new world sought, and found,
And whose bright promise wrought a doom
Whose echoes yet resound.

America! America!
May God forgive thy vying strains.
Thy pride yet tame with rightful shame,
That others’ loss bought selfish gain.

O sorrowful for captive feet
In chains against their will,
Who toiled through centuries of wrong
To triumph still:

Whose heroes proved so beautiful
In claims of lawful rights,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God yet mend thine every flaw,
Redeem thy soul and be made whole,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed human tears.

America! America!
From farthest shores thy people stream,
The multitude that seek thy good,
And share a common dream.

128

America! America!
God shed His bounteous grace on thee,
Thy beauty crown with unity,
From sea to shining sea!
The source of the original text from which Kirchner elaborates is written by poet
Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929). In 1893, Bates, a professor of English literature at Wellesley
College, traveled from her university in Boston, Massachusetts to Colorado to present a lecture.
During the voyage back east after the completion of her lecture, Bates and her accompanying
travelers took a detour to the top of Pikes Peak, one of the highest summits in the southern range
of the Rocky Mountains.
83
While on her descent, Bates looked out over the land and her
inspiration from that sight sparked the beginning of her poem.
84
Two years later in 1895, Bates’
poem was first placed in The Congregationalist, a newspaper based in Boston.
Bates’ text portrays her awe at what must have been a very different visual landscape
from the flat land in Boston, Massachusetts. The rest of the poem, either asking God for riches or
describing the settlers’ actions, is one that exudes pride for the country and appreciation for the
beauty that the new America had possessed. Kirchner, in maintaining Bates’ first stanza verbatim
in his setting, displays an agreement with her sentiment of appreciation for the country and the
beauty that lies within.
Kirchner’s text, however, transitions to another priority in the second stanza. The words
in the first two lines of Bates’ poem, “O beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern impassioned
stress/ a thoroughfare for freedom beat, across the wilderness,” starts to give an account of how a
specific kind of bravery and persistence led to the United States’ expansion. Kirchner found that

83
“America the Beautiful,” Library of Congress, 2002, Accessed December 21, 2018,
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000001/.
84
"America the Beautiful," In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, 2018,
Accessed December 22, 2018,
https://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/america_the_beautiful/
0?institutionId=887.

129

this telling of America’s history was not as forthcoming in the events leading to the nation’s
control of the land “from sea to shining sea.” In his thoughts about Bates’ description and his
impetus to amend the words, Kirchner states that Bates’ lyrics deny a very important part of
history that Americans tend to leave out of their story of the nation’s first settling.
85

Bates, to Kirchner, only represents one perspective of the history of the country. There
were populations in the Americas before the “‘pilgrim feet’ beat a ‘thoroughfare of freedom…
across the wilderness.’”
86
Studies from 2012 show that Paleo-Indians, a name given to the first
inhabitants of the Americas, travelled over 10,000 years ago to this continent.
87
Bates’ telling of
the history, while inspiring and patriotic, leaves out the fact that the pilgrims’ expansion of
territory led to the death of many Native Americans and that United States history starts with
stealing land and resources from a population whose voice and value have been repressed.
Kirchner retells this story in his second verse, mentioning the “ancient feet” but referring
instead to the Native Americans who first walked the lands of the Americas. Kirchner’s text then
speaks of the “doom” that occurred to the Native American civilization when “sailing fleets”
from the European settlers arrived. In the line “whose echoes yet resound,” Kirchner highlights
the contemporary implications of the trauma due to the interaction of the new settlers, of which
Bates and Kirchner are descendants. Kirchner’s re-telling of the American story also has
personal reverberations, as his mother’s murder (described in Chapter One) was a result of the
unresolved tensions surrounding Native Americans and European descendants. The refrain
contextualizes Bates’ telling with Kirchner’s reframing, suggesting a “pride...tame with rightful

85
Shawn Kirchner, "America the Beautiful," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed December 29, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-folk-americana/america-the-beautiful/.
86
Ibid.
87
David Reich, et. al., "Reconstructing Native American Population History," July 11, 2012, Accessed, December
29, 2018, https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11258.
130

shame.” The resources and land that Americans gained was at the expense of others, leaving a
complex sense of gratitude and pride for what Americans can now claim as their own.
In the third verse, Kirchner shifts focus from Bates’ original intent to include another
population that has been instrumental in the building of this nation. Bates’ poetry in this section
mentions the heroes of the Revolutionary war who in their “liberating strife” paved the way for a
new country and a new future. Kirchner, too, speaks of heroes in his rendition of the poem, but
does not speak of the soldiers but of African-Americans. Kirchner describes a story of slaves “in
chains against their will” who eventually would “triumph still” even as fellow Americans would
suppress the citizenship and humanity of the African-American population. The irony is a strong
statement as the African-Americans and their struggle for freedom are placed within the original
stanza that spoke of settler liberation from the control of other governments.
This sentiment is not new to Kirchner. In 1852, one day after Independence Day,
African-American abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) gave a speech entitled
“The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro.” In this speech, he asks several questions that
continue to be asked and with which Kirchner, using his amended poem in a choral composition,
chose to communicate Douglass’ same message. Douglass writes:
Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here
to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?
Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in
that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called
upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits
and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence
to us?
88

Like Douglass, Kirchner reminds the listener in his words that the struggle for freedom was not
just an external fight with England, but an internal one as African-Americans - who also

88
Frederick Douglass, “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” (speech, Rochester, NY, July , 1852), Modern
History Sourcebook, https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/douglass-hypo.asp
131

sacrificed in the name of freedom and justice - had to endure hardships in order to find their
place as citizens of the United States. Kirchner ends this stanza with lines from Bates’ original
second verse asking God to help improve the issues that still exist and have found new,
contemporary manifestations politically and socially. Furthermore, with the change of words
“redeem thy soul and be made whole,” Kirchner adds to the prayer his definition of what it
means for the country to have solved their issues of social justice. In the United States’
“wholeness”, populations like Native Americans and African-Americans would feel the same
representation and comfort, calling the United States their home.
In the fourth verse, Kirchner maintains Bates’ original text. Bates’ message in this verse
is one of hope and a dream that lies above the turmoil and stretches across time. Kirchner
lengthens the verse, and in his lengthening he illuminates the broad array of people to whom the
United States can be home. “From farthest shore,” people from countries throughout the world
have been attempting to find safety and promise of a better life in the United States, yearning for
this “common dream” that all Americans share. This message rings as a resistance against the
tenor of the government and the current United States president’s increasing pressure against
immigrants coming into the country. In November 2019, ironically on Thanksgiving Day,
President Trump threatened to close down the U.S. border with Mexico, stating that “the
southern ally has lost ‘control’ on its side.”
89
This sentiment from President Trump to close
borders to a neighboring country is a stark contrast to the image of Lady Liberty welcoming in
foreign immigrants looking for shelter.
Kirchner ends the text with one last refrain, the words that Bates wrote in the first stanza.
Though the first stanza strictly used Bates’ poem, Kirchner alters the text for the last iteration.

89
Andrew O’Reilly, "Trump Threatens to Shut down 'whole Border' with Mexico If Immigration Becomes
'uncontrollable'," November 28, 2018, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-threatens-to-shut-down-whole-
border-with-mexico-if-immigration-becomes-uncontrollable.
132

The text “Thy beauty crowned in unity” speaks to the ideals on which this country was built. The
hope that U.S. citizens can find common ground and learn to see each other and care for each
other in this country is one that is a constant goal, and this text Kirchner places serves as a
reminder of those goals as Americans maneuver through the country’s current pain and promise.

Musical Analysis:
As shown in Tables 3.11 and 3.12, Kirchner extends the recurring sections of Ward’s
original strophes to make refrains, making this work into a song form. Kirchner uses melody and
harmonic movement to depict the essence of a journey over mountainous terrain. This depiction
begins with the first motive introduced by the piano as an arpeggiated Db chord is played in
ascending and descending motion. Visually, the first four measures of the work look like
mountains (Example 3.31). As Kirchner notes within the score, Bates’ first imagination of these
words occurred while on Pikes Peak, and this is depicted visually in the score.

Table 3.11 Form Analysis of "America the Beautiful"
Sections Verse Refrain Verse Refrain
Measures 1-11 12-21 22-38 39-51
Key Centers/
Cadences Db mixolydian
Db Major/
mixolydian
Db mixolydian, A
Major, C Major
C Major, Eb Major, Db
Major, Ab Major, Cb
Major, Gb Major, Bb minor
Voicing TTB SSA/TTB TTB/SSA/Tutti

133

Table 3.12 Form Analysis of "America the Beautiful" continued
Sections Verse Refrain Verse Refrain
Measures 52-68 69-80 81-89 90-110
Key Centers/
Cadences
Bb minor, Db
Major/mixolydian,
Bb Major
Bb Major, Db Major,
E Major, Db Major,
Fb Major, Db Major Db mixolydian
Db Major, E Major,
Db Major
Voicing ATBB Tutti

Example 3.31 Piano accompaniment depicting mountains in "America the Beautiful" mm. 1-4

Kirchner writes a new melody for the verses, only using the tenors and basses. When the
tenors and basses enter in m. 5, their motive also depicts the mountains with rises and falls.
Within the first 12-note melody, three similar four-note motives are linked together. Each of
these motives begins and ends with an ascending and descending second. However, the
ascending interval in the middle of the phrase grows from a fourth, to a fifth, and then a sixth in
the tenor line in m. 6. The first line, with the lowered Cb, occurs as Kirchner sets the melody in a
mixolydian mode.
134

In m. 7, the melody concludes in the characteristic of a Landini cadence. This cadence,
named for the fourteenth-century Italian organist and composer Francesco Landini (1325-1397)
occurs as an unstable sixth resolves to the octave. Shown in Example 3.32, the sixth is formed by
the Eb-Cb interval on the first beat of m. 7 between the bass and tenor vocal lines. However,
instead of the bass resolving down to the Db, the line ascends to form a first inversion chord. The
lowered tonic of Db occurs in the bass, giving the root position chord. This same slightly
modified Landini cadence occurs at the end of the second phrase, ending on m. 11. Surely,
Kirchner’s background knowledge and experience with fourteenth-century choral music surfaces
in this twenty-first-century composition.

Example 3.32 Landini cadence within "America the Beautiful" m.11

While Kirchner creates an entirely new melody for the verse, the motive of the refrain in
m. 12 begins with the ascending major sixth that exists in Samuel A. Ward’s original melody. As
the refrain changes from a modal to diatonic key and the dynamic lessens to mezzo piano, the
iterations of “America” seem gentler, as if these qualities represent a quiet reverence compared
135

to the patriotism that ignores the troubled past of the country’s beginnings. As the Cb tones re-
enter in m. 16, an imperfect cadence resolves to a Fb Major chord before transitioning to more
expected Cb Major. This harmonic movement through a common-tone modulation foreshadows
the progressions that will occur later in the movement.
The second verse begins with the same “mountain” motive in the piano (Example 3.31)
before the piano range rises to match the tones of the sopranos and altos, who sing without the
tenors and basses. The melodic and harmonic language used in the first verse is continued in the
second verse, with the sopranos and altos ascending in their melody as Kirchner describes the
stars in m. 26. The second phrase of the verse continues in the same vein as its counterpart in the
first verse. However, the verse is lengthened as the tenors and basses start to sing over the
sopranos’ and altos’ last chord. This melody starts off with the same three notes as the original,
but the last descending second becomes an ascending minor second as the key changes to A
Major. This unexpected key change matches the intent of the contrasting mood of the verse
extension. The tenors’ and basses’ dynamics shift to forte and the major cadences show the force
behind Kirchner’s setting of the text describing the damage the American settlers caused to the
populations of Native Americans who had existed on this land. This is especially evident as the
men arrive to the downbeat in a common-tone modulation to C Major on a suspension within the
range of a tritone on the word “doom” in m. 37. These dissonant harmonies juxtaposed with the
more consonant cadences give a provide a complexity of emotion. This sense is fitting to
describe the presence of both hope and guilt, as a bright promise of the new Americans came at
the expense of the indigenous tribes already living on the same land.
After Kirchner starts the refrain set in m. 12 in a transposed key of C Major, the women
join in and the key shifts immediately to Eb Major, an unexpected turn but hinted at from the
previous refrain. From this point Kirchner employs a rapid succession of common tone
136

modulations, rarely staying in one key center for more than two measures. Each of these
modulations that occurs from mm. 41-51 includes a note from a previous chord in order to
provide a smoother transition into the next key (Example 3.33). These quick changes cause a
lack of steadiness in the harmonic language, as the listener never feels that they have a “home”
key or a tonic chord on which they can rely. Like the lack of a strong tonic base, there is a lack of
confidence in singing these patriotic songs with an unabashed pride once confronted with
conflicting messages about the country’s treatment of its indigenous people. This constant
travelling through different key signatures is a harmonic depiction of the complexity with which
current Americans sing these patriotic songs.

Example 3.33 Common tone modulations in "America the Beautiful" mm. 41-51

The third verse is a contrasting setting in terms of melody and harmony. Kirchner slows
the tempo in m. 52 as the driving eighth notes in the introductory motive seem more
contemplative. The altos join the men for the entrances of the music that Kirchner sets in low
vocal ranges for the four parts. The tempo set and the lower tessitura embody the weight of the
chains described at the beginning of this verse. The mood shifts as Kirchner describes the
resilience of the African-American community, and the music follows with a cadence in Db
Major as shown in Example 3.34. The second phrase of the verse begins in that key as the second
phrase has started in the other verses in the mixolydian mode, but in place of the Landini cadence
the chords cadence on the subdominant Gb chord, with the final phrase ending with a Picardy
third of a D natural to end in Bb Major.

137

Example 3.34 Third verse regarding hope in "America the Beautiful" mm. 58-60

Kirchner uses more repeated notes for the melody that were used in the previous verses.
Mm. 36-37, mm. 65-66 and 69-70 have the same stagnated melodic pattern. As the chords
change around the melody, the notes in the melody continue on one note. Kirchner uses the
melody and surrounding harmony to show the insistence and perseverance of the African-
American community.
Kirchner again begins the next refrain in m. 69 with the familiar ascending sixth, but
harmonies that underlay the melody become even more unstable as shown in Example 3.35. The
refrain begins in Bb Major, as the sopranos and altos sing in harmony. Kirchner obscures the
calm feeling of this iteration by adding a Gb into the chord, a dissonant note against the F natural
in the altos. The Gb becomes the seventh of the Ab chord as a half cadence in Db Major. This
phenomenon occurs again as the sopranos sing the same sixth in Db Major with the altos’
harmonization in the same key. The lower sections, now including the mezzo-sopranos, sing an
A Major chord under the melody, with the tenors’ Db acting as the enharmonic third, C#. This A
138

Major chord leads to E Major as the common tone modulations begin again. In the same vein as
the first refrain, the melody ends in Db Major. With the return of the tonic and the introductory
motive, Kirchner gives the sense that the work is coming back to more familiar territory as the
final verse and refrain arrive.

Example 3.35 Dissonance in refrain of "America the Beautiful" mm. 69-73

The fourth verse, beginning in m. 81, is not maintains the structure similar to the first but
employs more voices as the sopranos and altos join in singing the melody and accompanying
harmonies. The dynamics grow to forte as the whole ensemble sings Bates’ original words of
hope “undimmed by human tears.” The refrain begins in Db Major, now with an added soprano
descant, and modulates once more to E Major. As the end of the work nears, modulation to E
major returns to Db Major. A brief cadence on an Fb Major chord and a minor plagal cadence
139

occur before the second and final setting of the refrain starts in m. 100. The second refrain,
ascending to a high Cb ends on a cadence in the same manner as the beginning of the work. In
this cadence and the widely spanning Db Major chord in the choir, Kirchner portrays his belief
and pride for America, a flawed but growing and ever-learning country that continually strives to
live to up its ideals. This appears to be a strong musical message of hope in the midst of
Kirchner’s exposing the contradictions inherent in “America the Beautiful.”

“A Sign Opposed”
Compositional History:
On May 10, 2018, Suzi Digby, Artistic Director and Founder of the Golden Bridge Choir,
asked Shawn Kirchner if she could commission a new work for the 2018 concert. The Golden
Bridge Choir is a choral ensemble of twenty professional singers who under Digby’s direction,
curate concerts that connect the choral music of English Renaissance composers to contemporary
composers in the Los Angeles area.
90
Each new commission from the Los Angeles composers is
written in response to a composition by an English Renaissance composer. For this commission,
the composition to which Kirchner would respond was Lullaby, my sweet little baby by English
Tudor composer William Byrd (1539-1623).
91

Byrd’s work was published in 1588 as a part of his collection of songs titled Psalms,
Sonnets, and Songs of Sadness and Pietie.
92
Also known under the title Lullaby for Holy
Innocents, this work is a nativity carol that speaks to the Biblical story of King Herod, ruler of

90
"Goldenbridge | About," The Golden Bridge Choir, Accessed, September 20, 2018,
https://www.goldenbridgechoir.org/about-1.
91
Suzi Digby, interview with author, email correspondence, November 23, 2018.
92
Joseph Kerman, "Music and Politics: The Case of William Byrd (1540-1623)," Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society 144, no. 3, 2000, http://www.jstor.org.libproxy1.usc.edu/stable/1515590.

140

Judea beginning in 37 BC, and the massacre of the Jewish babies.
93
This story is described in
Matthew 2:16.
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding
wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all
the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he
had diligently inquired of the wise men.

Set for five voices, Byrd sets the picture of Mary, mother of Jesus, comforting her son as she
asks him in the refrain “what meanest thou to cry?” A narrator answers the question as he speaks
to predicament of Mary and Joseph fleeing Bethlehem after King Herod exercised his order to
kill all of the children under the age of two years old to maintain his power as the king.
The project for the Golden Bridge Choir gave Kirchner an opportunity to set the text
from Luke 2:34-35, a text that he was already contemplating for a possible setting. This text
speaks of the baby Jesus and his role in establishing a New Order in opposition to the Old Order.
Kirchner reflected on the meaning of this text and the questions it raised, including the different
decisions people make in trying times.
94
In the program notes, Kirchner expands more on his
intention behind the use of this verse, speaking of the acts of intolerance and hate that came
about when President Barack Obama took office in 2008. After Kirchner connected Byrd’s
reference to the slaughter of children and the nativity story to current political resistance to a
New Order, he found the occasion to set these words to music.

Premiere:
“A Sign Opposed” was premiered on Golden Bridge’s annual concert on September 16,
2017 at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, CA. Kirchner spoke at the premiere,

93
"Religions - Christianity: King Herod," BBC, September 18, 2009, Accessed September 30, 2018,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/herod.shtml.
94
Shawn Kirchner, "A Sign Opposed," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed November 1, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/satb-christmas/a-sign-opposed/.
141

putting in a contemporary context how the shifts in policy of the current administration
compared to those of the Obama administration revealed true intentions and feelings of both
politicians and the public around the country.

Text Analysis:
34
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,“Behold, this child is
destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign opposed,
35
so
that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your
own soul too.”
95

This text tells the story of Simeon, noted as a wise and just man in the Bible, blessing
Mary and Joseph for their son Jesus, who was going to be the Savior of the world and a “sign
‘opposed’ as he would bring the “rise and fall of many.” According to Luke 2:26, Simeon had
been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he laid eyes on the Christ-child. After
Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph went to the temple, as was the custom. Simeon was told by the
Holy Spirit that what he had waited for would be at the temple. Upon laying eyes on Jesus,
Simeon blessed the new family.
Simeon spoke of Jesus causing the rise and fall of many. This is interpreted in a physical
and spiritual sense. As the Israelites would reject Jesus and ultimately call for his death, the
consequence would be that Israel would fall to the Romans.
96
Spiritually, Jesus’ coming was to
save the souls of his believers. According to Christian doctrine, in order to rise to an eternal
sanctuary, one must admit their faults and put their trust and faith in Christ. In doing so, the
“fall” is essential for the believer to eventually “rise” to eternal glory.
Simeon also spoke of Jesus being a “sign opposed” or in the King James Version, a “sign
which shall be spoken against.” The Jews, in their view of the promised Messiah, expected a

95
Luke 2:34-35
96
Adam Clarke, "Commentary on Luke 2:34," The Adam Clarke Commentary, 1832, Accessed November 4, 2018,
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/luke-2.html.
142

more temporal kingdom to be delivered by Christ. Simeon prophesied that Jesus’ saving would
not meet the expectations of the Jews and for that reason, his existence would bring hardship to
him and his family.
97

Also, as Jesus was proclaimed the Savior of the world, he would bring into question the
systems that held religious leaders and wealthy citizens in a hierarchical social and political
system that benefitted few at expense of many. Jesus, in his very existence, challenged the
powerful, stating that the only Kingdom was in heaven with his Father, the Lord God. According
to Jesus and the prophecy, the poor and marginalized would rise to become heirs of a true
kingdom not on this Earth, stripping away at the power of the hierarchy. In that claim he would
find opposition by those who benefitted most by the hierarchical systems. Jesus, therefore,
represented a New Order where worldly values and status do not matter. The Old Order, built
strongly on status and class, rejected this idea, those who embraced it, and the man who
embodied it.
In Luke 2:35, Simeon speaks of “hearts being revealed.” After Jesus fulfilled the
prophecy by his death, the souls of the faithful entered into Heaven while the hearts of those who
rejected Jesus as the Savior perished.
98
This reckoning began through Jesus’ life on earth, and the
individual decisions to choose which way the heart and mind would follow came with great
reward or severe consequences.
Kirchner’s contemporary context also reflects on the Old and New Order. Kirchner
mentions in the program notes for the work that “A Sign Opposed” specifically refers to the
backlash after President Obama’s election as the 44th president of the United States. That victory
also became the fuel needed to release an opposing sense of white nationalism, one that had been

97
Matthew Henry, "Commentary on Luke 2 by Matthew Henry," Blue Letter Bible, last modified March 1, 1996,
Accessed November 4, 2018, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Luk/Luk_002.cfm
98
Ibid.

143

quietly stewing since Obama’s presidency.
99
When President Trump was running for office, he
fanned the flames of white nationalism, blaming immigrants for crimes and remaining silent
when racist comments or actions occur.
100
Beginning with birtherism as Trump claimed Obama
was not an actual American citizen, many facets leading to Trump’s victory stems from the fear
that Obama’s presidency signified an end of relevance of the White Christian majority and its
social/political power.
101
This tactic worked, and the hatred toward the other that is stemmed by
racial anxiety continues to divide the nation.
102

The vision of Obama, a black man, as the leader of the free world revealed a hatred for
the “other,” a characteristic that has defined Trump’s presidency. Trump has given a portion of
his supporters - mostly White men and White Americans without college degrees - an
environment where their outrage toward a more equal and representative America can be
resisted.
103
As in Simeon’s prophecy, this too shall pass, as in 2045 it is predicted that a
minority-majority will be the demographic of this country and the white majority will no longer
have the numbers necessary to wield as much influence.
104

Musical Analysis:
The overall form of “A Sign Opposed” is ABAC, shown in Tables 3.13 and 3.14. The
sections generally follow the text, as do the main motives. Throughout the work, the sections are
clearly separated by cadences and a slight decrease in contrapuntal material. For the B and C

99
Joy-Ann Reid, "Opinion | The Seeds of Trump's Victory Were Sown the Moment Obama Won," NBCNews.com,
October 20, 2017, Accessed November 5, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/seeds-trump-s-victory-
were-sown-moment-obama-won-ncna811891.
100
Ibid.
101
Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The First White President," The Atlantic, May 22, 2018, Accessed November 5, 2018,
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/.
102
Ibid.
103
Dana Milbank, "Obama Was Right: He Came Too Early," The Washington Post, June 01, 2018, Accessed
November 5, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-brings-on-the-death-throes-of-white-
hegemony/2018/06/01/0cf2d636-65c7-11e8-a69c-b944de66d9e7_story.html?utm_term=.40d05ebbd166.
104
Ibid.
144

sections, each variation of the theme within the larger sections are labeled with a lowercase letter
of the section and the number of the original statement or the varied subsection. Common tone
modulations allow for Kirchner to highlight the binary structure the verses imply.

Table 3.13 Form Analysis of "A Sign Opposed"
Sections A B
Subsections a1 b1 b2 b3
Measures m1-m21 21-33 34-44 45-50
Text "A child shall be a sign..." "Destined is he for the fall and for the rising of many."
Key Centers Eb Major/ e minor
D Dorian/ Eb
Major
F# minor/ C#
minor
A minor/ E Major/ C
Major/ E minor

Table 3.14 Form Analysis of "A Sign Opposed" continued
Sections A C
Subsections a2 c1 c2
Measures 51-79 80-104 105-134
Text
"A child shall be a sign
opposed...”
"So that the secret thoughts of many
shall be laid bare.”
Key Centers Eb Major/ E minor C minor/ Eb Major/ E Major/ C Major/ G Major

This emphasis on the opposing sides is seen at the beginning of Section A. Depicted in
Example 3.36, the altos enter on a G pedal tone while sopranos sing the first motive in Eb Major.
The sopranos finish their melody on the same note and continue to hold the G pedal as the altos
sing an altered version of the melody. Kirchner gives the alto the melodic material in E minor,
which is a strong contrast harmonically to the Eb Major, but G natural is a common tone. The E
minor chord seems foreign in the Eb Major key, and its use connotes that the opposing order on
which the first phrases are based is heard as a unifying theme. After the tenors and basses enter
145

on the same opposing themes in Eb Major/E minor, the sopranos sing of a sign that the child will
become. The first tonality seems as if the work returns to Eb Major, but with the tenor and bass
addition of a B natural in m. 11 and the alto entrance of an F# in m. 12, the Eb functions
enharmonically as the mediant (D#) in a B Major chord. The section depicting the opposing
themes continue as the progressions continue in common tone modulations to D Major and G
Major before returning to the tonic of Eb Major.

Example 3.36 Opposing themes in "A Sign Opposed" mm. 1-6

The first iteration of the B section, labeled b1 in Table 3.13 starting in m. 21, continues in
the common tone modulation to C Dorian with the raised sixth of A natural. On the text
“destined is he” this descending melodic pattern and minor tonality foreshadows that, not
dissimilar to the metaphor for our current situation, the future will not be bright for the child. The
relative major tonality is used temporarily to speak of the “rising” of some people who will
benefit from the New Order signified by Jesus’ birth, but as the verse continues the fall is once
again represented by the C minor scale. The b1 section ends on a minor dominant G chord,
which again leads to the b2 section through a common tone modulation.
In the b2 transition, Kirchner uses the third of the G minor chord enharmonically as the
Bb becomes the mediant A# in F# Major, the beginning key in m. 34. Again, the major tonality
146

does not endure as the tenors and the soprano line sing an A natural, once again moving the
harmony to a minor tonality. An addition of D# in the soprano leads to C# minor as the
modulations continue to show the Jesus’ unfortunate destiny. As in the b1 section, Kirchner uses
the relative major key of E Major to show the “rising” whereas the fall is set in C# minor.
The third iteration continues in the same pattern, using the E as a common tone
modulation to C Major before settling in A minor. This iteration is short, as the first four
measures end in a minor plagal cadence as an E Major chord ends the phrase. In a familiar shift,
E Major turns into E minor as the second four-measure phrase with the common tone G natural
leads back to the repeat of the A section in its original key of Eb Major.
The a2 section as noted in Table 3.14 begins in a similar fashion as the beginning of the
composition. Kirchner finishes the phrase with the last word “opposed” that was left out of the
first a1 section. On the word opposed, Kirchner employs very quick modulations of Eb Major
and E minor with G as the common note, shown in Example 3.37. These quick modulations
occur again, but with the E natural as the common tone and the tonality oscillating between E
minor and C Major. The last “a sign opposed” proceeds from E minor to Eb Major as the G is
once again used in the tonal “war” between the two “opposing” harmonies.

147

Example 3.37 Harmonic Depiction of Opposition within "A Sign Opposed" mm. 70-72

The final section of the work begins in C minor as the choir sings “so that the secret
thoughts of many may be laid bare.” As seen in previous measures, quick progressions occur.
The word “thought,” as it is sung by the different parts, descends a minor second, as if the
thoughts appear one way but are actually more sinister in nature (Example 3.38). When the
different voices sing “be laid bare” Kirchner writes the line on repeated notes, depicting the
bareness of the truth in the melody. In the c2 subsections, the phrases become more melodically
angular on the words “secret thoughts,” as if the secret become more visible.

148

Example 3.38 Descending "thought" motive in "A Sign Opposed" mm. 82-89

This sentiment of secrets being laid bare is strengthened through the crescendo that
begins at the beginning of the c2 section in m. 108. Throughout the section, the intervals
Kirchner uses repeated notes as the intervallic motion ceases to be contrary. The rhythmic
motion slows, the contrapuntal lines halt and the tenor sustains a G pedal as the work ends as it
began on the Eb Major chord.

“Man of Truth”
Compositional History:
Kirchner was commissioned to write “Man of Truth” for the 2018 California Men’s All-
State Choir. Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, composer and guest clinician, conducted the choir
149

although the commission had already been awarded prior to his involvement.
105
Kirchner wrote
the composition as a response to the growing news of Russian hackers within the presidential
election of 2016. Kirchner’s sentiments are not just anecdotal. Titled “Selective Exposure to
Misinformation: Evidence from the consumption of fake news during the 2016 U.S. presidential
campaign,” research prepared by a joint team from Princeton University, Dartmouth College and
the University of Exeter found that one in four Americans viewed a website that was
intentionally displaying information that was false, with Facebook© and other social media
channels being the main outputs for those sites.
106
Kirchner also wrote the commission in
reaction to Donald Trump’s statements and actions for which he was seldom held accountable.
The work raised the questions of what it means to be someone who values honor and dignity, and
how Americans should live out those ideals. While Kirchner did not immediately write this work
in response to the #MeToo movement, he wrote in the notes about the work about the connected
relevance to those stories and the work men need to do in healing wounds resulting from sexual
harassment and assault.
107

Premiere:
Wondemagegnehu mentioned that Kirchner attended the rehearsals before the premiere
of the work in February. Though the date of the premiere is listed on Kirchner’s website as
Saturday, February 17, 2018, the premiere was actually the night before. When Kirchner
attended the rehearsal and spoke about the textual intent of the work to the tenors and basses,

105
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, interview with author, October 9, 2018.
106
Brendan Nyhan, Andrew Guess and Jason Reifler, "Selective Exposure to Misinformation: Evidence from the
Consumption of Fake News during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign," Dartmouth College, January 9, 2018,
Accessed November 10, 2018, https://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/fake-news-2016.pdf.
107
Shawn Kirchner, "Man of Truth," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed November 9, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/ttbb-assorted/man-of-truth/

150

there was a spark in the room.
108
The young singers immediately understood that this work
surpassed the bounds of gender but spoke to ideals that we should all celebrate as human beings.
Wondemagegnehu was worried at first that there might be some transgender students who would
feel left out or discouraged by the mentioning of gender roles, but Kirchner explained the work
in a sense that was understood and accepted by all. Due to this reaction, Wondemagegnehu
decided that the work should be performed at the event before the official premiere. At this
concert, all of the student performers and their parents were in attendance for the concert.
Wondemagegnehu described the ovation that the tenors and basses received as astounding and
spoke about the emotional impact of the work for the singers and performers alike.

Text Analysis:
I will be a man of truth; never will I fear my shadow.
When my words return to me, I will not deny them.
When my deeds are brought to light, I will own them.

Nor would I bandy in deceit and trade my face for a disguise,
Nor would I steal away the sun and take the light from other’s eyes.

I’ll chart my course by stars eternal, shining bright in crystal skies.
I’ll chart my course by stars eternal, far beyond the reach of lies.
I call upon their light to light my way,
To lead me back when from my path I stray,
To shine until the darkness turns to day,
And the wind has swept the veiling clouds away.

Nor would I steal away the sun, and cause another one to stumble,
But if the truth should cause a crumbling tow’r to tumble:
Let it fall.

I will be a man of truth.

108
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, interview with author, October 9, 2018.
151

Many metaphors are displayed for interpretation in “Man of Truth.” The text, set for
men’s voices, clarifies Kirchner’s intent for the “man” to be used as the specific gender as
opposed to the neutral term. This text, using natural inferences to light, shadows, stars, and wind,
are characteristic of Kirchner’s connection to the Earth and shows his deference to nature. The
natural depictions in the text are tied to ideals deeply connotated with morality and humanity
throughout the work.
This text seems simple at first glance. In the midst of a political climate where many
statements are seemingly made without regard to factual evidence, the “man of truth” can simply
represent men making statements based in factual information. The literal interpretation at the
heart of the impetus of this composition can be interpreted as talking about a man that is
deceitful and speaks or writes false truths. Not only in words, but also in deeds does a man need
to be honorable and truthful.
A deeper look at the second half of the phrase offers another conclusion. “Never will I
fear my shadow” expresses that there is something to fear by telling the truth. This appears to
obscure the first interpretation of the words “truth” and “lie,” since it might not be immediately
clear how fear would come by telling the truth. However, if the truth was not limited to
something that was said, but rather something that simply was, then the meaning has more clarity
and carries a more general relevance. Yes, men need to tell truth, but the truth is not only tied to
their words or actions. This truth - a more internal truth that affects our words and deeds, - is not
only tied to words and deeds but also our moral compass.
109

The “lie” then, in relation to the “truth” of which Kirchner speaks, is this facade of a male
who shows no emotion, since emotions presumably communicate weakness. This false sense of

109
Alex Lickerman, “The Truth about Morality,” Psychology Today, August 11, 2013, Accessed Jan 12, 2019,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-in-world/201308/the-truth-about-morality.

152

manhood lies in the pretense that as a man, one must show strength, deflect from personal or
emotional turmoil, and always arise from any struggle as the victor.
110
Vulnerability and humility
are not traits that are connected to the long-held belief of what it means to be a man. But to live
in this truth – a truth where men are allowed to show emotions of sadness and pain and love for
each other without fear – is to transform the words and deeds of men and allow men to live
without the burden of existing as a part of a false identity.
111

The text speaks to this false identity with the words, “nor would I bandy in deceit and
trade my face for a disguise.” The next line mentions the vow not to “steal light from other’s
eyes,” again blending natural occurrences of nature with our “true” state of morality. This
statement is also a commentary of how men react to other men and other groups in our
community, including women. With the text, “if the truth should cause a crumbling tower to
tumble, let it fall,” Kirchner’s speaks to both an individual destruction of the personal walls as
well as the societal system that has upheld an unequal sense of power and representation for
men. This truth that destroys a sense of “toxic masculinity” opens a door for equity and allows
freedom from a patriarchal system of tiered representation. In this vow to “chart courses by stars
eternal” and “call upon light to lead the way”, Kirchner shows us that like the vast length of time
where the stars and light have existed, so too have the pillars of the moral fabric that help to
shape humanity and our moral truths.
In both cases, whether in falsehood or gender identity, the hope that comes from the truth
is found in the stars according to Kirchner’s poem. Kirchner alludes to a quote from J. R. R.
Tolkien’s book, The Lord of the Rings.
112
In one section of the story, Sam and Frodo are within

110
Justin Baldoni, “Why I’m Done Trying to be ‘Man Enough’” (speech, New Orleans, LA, November 2, 2017),
TedWomen, Accessed October 14, 2018,
https://www.ted.com/talks/justin_baldoni_why_i_m_done_trying_to_be_man_enough/transcript.
111
Ibid.
112
J. R. R. Tolkien and Wayne G. Hammond, The Lord of the Rings. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2014.

153

Mordor and almost give up hope. At that moment, the clouds part for a second and a single star
becomes visible. It is this moment in the book that Kirchner uses when writing the text that refers
to stars and light as symbols of hope for a better future.
113

Musical Analysis:
The form of this work shown in Tables 3.15 and 3.16, is rounded binary. The sections are
labeled ABABA. The motives and phrases are labeled in lowercase letters. Since the A sections
never return with a full statement, the form of this composition is labeled rounded binary instead
of ternary form.

Table 3.15 Form Analysis of "Man of Truth"
Section A Interlude B
Phrase
Sections a b a' c d e
Measure 1-10 11-14 15-18 19-22 23-27 28-40 41-44
Harmonic
Motion I-vi iv-I I-vi vi-V V-V V-V vi-V
Text
"I will be a
man of
truth...”
"When my
words
return...”
"I will be a
man of
truth...” Textless
"Nor would
I bandy...”
"I'll chart
my course"
"I vow to
be..."

113
Shawn Kirchner, "Man of Truth," ShawnKirchner.com, Accessed November 9, 2018,
http://www.shawnkirchner.com/composition/ttbb-assorted/man-of-truth/
154

Table 3.16 Form Analysis of "Man of Truth" continued
Section A B A
Phrase
Sections a'' c' d' e' a'''
Measure 45-53 54-59 60-72 73-79 80-84
Harmonic
Motion I-I V-IV V-V I-V I
Text
"I will be a man of
truth..."
"Nor would I
steal..."
"I'll chart my
course..." "I vow to be..."
"I will be a man
of truth..."

Within the compositional details of this work, the male identity reveals itself in numerous
facets. From the beginning of the work, both staves in the piano are in the bass clef to give the
piece a lower tonal range to match the lower range of the men. Additionally, the ascending
parallel tenths along with the range give the work a sturdy feeling (Example 3.39). Both within
the rhythms of the piano and the choral lines, the rhythmic figure of the dotted eighth and
sixteenth note become a unifying characteristic throughout the entire work. This rhythm gives
the work an angular quality and becomes a rhythmic depiction of strength and a “masculine”
tone to the work.

155

Example 3.39 Parallel tenths and angular rhythms in "Man of Truth" mm. 1-2

In m. 3, the choir starts to sing the first section, labeled a in Table 3.15. Immediately
Kirchner uses angular rhythms and marcato articulation in the vocal lines to highlight a
“masculine” quality in the music. Additionally, the collective vocal presentation of the first
phrase expresses resolve. With few exceptions, the text is set syllabically, giving the composition
a speech-like quality even with Kirchner’s lyrical melodic setting. Where the low range of the
piano, the articulation, and unison show an unyielding and familiar depiction of a “strong” man,
the complexity of this statement is displayed in the dynamic. Instead of a proud man insisting to
the world in a shout, the vow to be a man of integrity is sung from a personal point of view. This
sensitivity carries within it an awareness of the vulnerability that it takes to admit mistakes and
step into a new sense of oneself. Stronger still with an increase in dynamic to mezzo forte in m.
7, the men sing in unison and grow to forte, signifying the strong desire to actively pursue a life
without lies in word, deed, and identity. This A section, ending in m. 10, provides motives that
will return throughout the work although they will be extended and varied later on in the
composition.
156

The second section of the composition begins in m. 11, with the men dividing
immediately into two parts. This divisi continues until m. 15, and within these measures are two
parallel phrases. The lower line appears to be the melody, and the text is set homophonically to
emphasize the words that are being sung. Through mm. 10-14, Kirchner begins the phrase in a
mezzo piano dynamic with crescendi and decrescendi, but these dynamic changes occur at the
end of the phrase. The phrases and Kirchner’s dynamic patterns do not simply show exactly
where the emphasis in the phrase should go; these patterns also suggest Kirchner’s opinion on
the priority of our actions as humans.
The phrases “when my words return to me” and “when my deeds are brought to light”
describe moments where men fall short of acting in a morally conscious manner. In these
instances where mistakes are broadcast, it is typical for one to feel ashamed. These phrases are
marked in a softer dynamic. However, Kirchner does not make these points the height of the
phrases. The second half of the phrases, with the words “I will not deny them” and “I will own
them” are where the dynamics increase. The harmonic intervals between the two vocal lines
become simplified, only using thirds and sixths (with one perfect fifth) as opposed to the more
florid harmonies including suspensions in the first half of both the phrases. This simplicity of
melodic contour between the vocal lines on these words adds clarity and emphasis in the text.
With these choices, the composer places value on how one’s missteps are handled, not the
mistakes themselves.
An abbreviated return of the first section occurs in m. 15. Instead of a single voice in
unison, the motive occurs in imitation in the bass two beats later and a perfect fourth below the
original melody. More homophony occurs in m. 16, but now there is a divisi of three voices
before coming together again in unison for the last note. As in the first iteration of this line, the
word “truth” and “shadow” are placed on the tonic and submediant, giving a contrasting
157

depiction of their value when juxtaposed two measures apart. A short interlude in the piano
occurs before the second verse in m. 23, which begins the second overarching section.
In m. 23, Section B begins in a similar fashion as the b phrases of Section A (Table 3.15)
with the men singing homophonically as the basses sing the melody. True to Kirchner’s style of
writing, the tenor contrapuntal section seems just as singable in its intervallic qualities as the bass
melody, allowing both sections melodic interest. This is an important value, as all singers who
interact with this music should feel that their specific line is important, both textually and
musically.
In m. 28, a fourth motive is introduced (Example 3.40), and unison singing is utilized
once again. This new motive, lasting two measures, consists of mainly an E Major pentatonic
scale in the vocal lines with the piano adding harmony using the fuller spectrum of E Major
diatonicism. Kirchner uses this pentatonic scale to give the melody a universal feel and a
connection to older generations, which matches the spirit of the text. As the men sing about the
moral compass that was already set in the stars, the use of the pentatonic scale also points
backwards to folk music of an earlier era. This fourth motive repeats in m. 30 with a noticeable
difference in m. 31. While the basses maintain the melody, the tenors add another melodic line.
At the end of the second motive on beat three in m. 31, the division of voices continues with the
addition of a third vocal line. In this divisi in m. 32, the baritones sing an A#, which comes as a
surprise, especially after the pentatonic section. Given that most of the music has been diatonic
or pentatonic, this A# comes across as unnatural. Kirchner implements text painting on the
particular word “lies”, giving a sense that lying is as offsetting as the A# would be within an E
Major tonality.

158

Example 3.40 Fourth motive in "Man of Truth" mm. 28-30

In m. 38, Kirchner uses his piano accompaniment in portraying the wind. The rhythmic
motion of this piano section calms as the running sixteenth-note passage ceases, bringing
attention to the return of the text to be a “man of truth.” In this version of the first motive, the
basses and tenors enter at different times, signaling that more and more men are joining the call
to act honorably and respect others.
Kirchner continues with imitative texture in m. 45, now with the melody being sung in
three-part imitation (Example 3.41). In this iteration of the first motive, the music is sung in a
pianissimo dynamic, not as a statement to yell to the world but one that one internally accepts
and lives without need for proclamation. The piano echoes this sentiment, as only quarter notes
and half notes are employed so the text is heard plainly and clearly.
159

Example 3.41 Imitation of motive in "Man of Truth" mm. 45-48

The second B section returns in its full form in m. 54 as the voices and the piano increase
in rhythmic and dynamic energy, balance by the men’s return to a unison texture. Kirchner
continues to use the piano accompaniment in his text painting in m. 56. The slurs in the second
beat musically depict a “stumble” as repeated notes interrupt the ascending four-note stepwise
motive (shown in Example 3.42). In m. 77, the men enter into an imitation of the vow as
occurred before in mm. 40-42, but in this extended version the tenors and basses finally
crescendo to forte in m. 77 as the vow to live as honorable men is finally understood in way to be
sung with pride and conviction. Again, as Kirchner concludes the movement, the final iteration
of the vow is not sung with a lot of contrapuntal material or with a lot of angular rhythmic
intensity. Plainly stated, the men join together in a homophonic texture to state that the change in
160

community and the social environment - as well as each individual - begins with truth, integrity,
and respect for each other.

Example 3.42 Piano accompaniment depicting "stumble" in "Man of Truth" m. 56

161

Chapter 4: Summary and Conclusions

The chapters of the dissertation serve to highlight the work and dedication of Shawn
Kirchner to bring his choral compositions to light, especially more recent works with strong
messages of social justice. As many of the works that have been analyzed in this study are
relatively unknown, the dissertation also serves to introduce some of Kirchner’s more socially
conscious choral works to an audience who has already become avid appreciators of Kirchner’s
compositional output.
Within the first chapter, Kirchner’s musical upbringing is detailed according to events
and people instrumental in shaping his natural affinity to music and songwriting. From his
earliest days, Kirchner found writing melodies and improvisation innate, and his parents quickly
sought to nurture those gifts in him through piano lessons. The section of the chapter follows
Kirchner’s life through educational experiences, post graduate activities, and his time moving to
Los Angeles and finding a prominent role as an arranger and composer with the Los Angeles
Master Chorale. Following this experience, Kirchner currently has involved himself in music that
responds to the current social and political climate stemming from the 2016 president election.
The second half of the first chapter is also biographical, focusing on the events Kirchner
has labeled “transformational” or influential in terms of his beliefs and values within messages of
social justice. Many of these formative experiences stem from Kirchner’s upbringing within the
Church of the Brethren, a denomination rooted in pacifism and political resistance. Kirchner
learned about the value of all living beings and became familiar with the teachings of civil rights
leaders and their practice of nonviolence. The chapter also mentions Kirchner’s experiences as a
member of the LGBTQIA community and the sensitivities and empathy he gained through this
marginalized identity. This includes the deep connection and musical response to the movie
Brokeback Mountain, from which Kirchner wrote songs based on the perspective of each
162

character. Additionally, the chapter speaks of the murder of Kirchner’s mother and his practice
of forgiveness and resistance toward revenge. Each of these experiences gives context to
Kirchner’s focus of writing music with social justice messages and clarifies how he is
particularly inspired to fuse his passions for music and for harmony among people.
The second chapter focuses on some of the distinguishable characteristics within
Kirchner’s compositional output. The folk characteristics in his music allow accessibility for the
listeners to engage with the music from a familiar viewpoint. Kirchner’s priority in creating
music that is steeped in tradition results in a conservative approach through his use of tonal
language. Through imitation and sequences, Kirchner finds creative uses of texture to build
energy and write vocal lines that offer melodic and harmonic purpose for each vocal part.
Additionally, Kirchner’s piano accompaniments tend to feature an improvisatory style. Through
description of the techniques and specific musical examples, the chapter highlights these
techniques using Kirchner’s musical output to show the patterns through his oeuvre.
In the third chapter, the discussion of the analyzed works offers the reader an
understanding of some of the social impetus behind select Kirchner compositions. The works
analyzed in this chapter are categorized into three themes: marginalization and empowerment,
peace and conflict, and truth and justice. For each of the compositions selected, the information
provided includes context to both the creation of the work and their premieres, including
reactions from performers and audience members. The analysis provides insight into both the
text chosen (or written, in many cases) and the musical analysis relating to form and any
compositional techniques used in setting the text. Within each description of the text, the focus
on social justice message and their connection to current events serve as a guide in how these
works can be used to respond to issues of the “here and now.”
163

This dissertation aims to give readers and potential programmers of Shawn Kirchner’s
works a clearer vision of the information about him as a composer. The hope is that each work’s
relevance, in terms of overarching message, can be showcased in future concerts with a deeper
understanding of the composition’s meaning. The topics of these works and the conversations
that are catalysts for the creation of this music speak to a larger purpose of music as an
instrument in the struggle for equality. Kirchner’s life’s work to create a world where each living
being is validated is developed in each work he creates. Therefore, an additional aim for this
study is to encourage others who desire the use of music as catalyst for change.

164

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172

Appendices
APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN KIRCHNER
Conducted and Transcribed by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following transcript is of a personal interview between the author and Shawn Kirchner on
April 9, 2018. These questions serve to establish the basis of the dissertation, including
discovering biographical information for the first chapter and questions about Kirchner’s
rhythmic and harmonic language.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE: Could you please tell me about your musical development.

SHAWN KIRCHNER: Sure. Well I started off as a songwriter and an improviser. To be a
songwriter, that means you are responding to an inspiration or an impulse, mainly with words
and melody. There is a lyrical response with songlike melodies. I would say when I think of this,
I think of composers like Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff, composers like that.
These composers are song-based composers, and I don’t mean motivic or developmental but
expressing a whole melody. I would consider myself in that school. When I was eight years old, I
wrote my first song when spring started.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE: When did you start to do arrangements?

I am also an improviser, always have been. I am always messing with stuff that’s there. This of
course, relates to being an arranger. From the beginning, I always wanted to start to add notes. I
started to play from the hymnal, but I was always adding passing tones. By the time I was in the
sixth grade, I was elaborating anything in front of him. I remember when I was at summer camp,
I played hymns and my teacher asked everyone to listen to what I was doing. I have always been
a natural arranger. I did not receive any education, but just knew how to expand melodies and
harmonies.

Fast forward twenty years, now I just go to the piano and just emote. I am not specifically
composing but just expressing with the piano. I had the proficiency of piano to just play, and I
would spend a lot of time playing in the recital hall when no one was there.

My approach to choral music was through arranging. Because I had facility at the piano, I would
just go and play it out. I was never a composition major, never had classes where I was supposed
to write projects.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE: Can you talk to me about your musical college experiences?

173

SHAWN KIRCHNER. Yeah. In choir I formed a choir and started to arrange pieces with that
choir. The choir was made up of Peace Studies and international students, mostly. After that, I
spent about a year in the Brethren Volunteer Service, which is the Church of the Brethren’s
version of the Peace Corps. Basically, it was just a year of your life with no pay and we go work
somewhere. After that I formed a touring quartet that did peace education and concerts. That
group was called Joya, which stood for Journey of Young Adults. We travelled on the sea coast
of South Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Mexico, everywhere. I was the main mastermind of
the arranging, and this was where I learned what worked and didn’t work within choral writing.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. So you never actually studied music in school?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. Well I did do my Masters in my 20s after the Brethren Volunteer
Service. After that, I moved to Chicago and went to an ACDA (American Choral Directors
Association) convention. I remember a lot of the choral music were arrangements of songs.
Again, because songs are where it’s at! This is where the initial emotional impulse of people
arises and what connects with people. I remember thinking to myself, “There is no reason why
my music shouldn’t be performed at ACDA.” I mean, I had the facility and was growing
different vocabularies.

On that note, I was going to go into foreign languages after school. And what is foreign language
but different sounds and ways to express the same thing. In music, I want to understand the
language, and then the style. That is how it sounds real and follows the authentic tradition. No
matter the style, I want to show respect to the different sounds based on what makes those things
unique and distinctive. Again, this is arrangement based. Messing around with material and
seeing what else is in it. Because I was working with singers, I started to apply this mindset of
improvising and lyrical material.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Thank you. Can you talk to me about your change to
composing from arranging?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. My first composition was about ten years ago I think. Grant Gershon
asked me for a commission for the High School Festival and he wanted it in Spanish. After that, I
found a Pablo Neruda text, and those sound like art songs. That music is lyrical, and the piano
part is very pianistic.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Would you say you have a particular style to your music that
is general for most of your music?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. I like to think of myself of a musical linguist. I think of the musical
language or style to use depending on the text, and each piece has its own language. My music
though is very idiomatic to the piano, with really intense and thoroughly developed piano parts.
In my music, the piano is super important.
174

This shows a debt to the art song tradition. There can be a way that I wrote choral music that
gives a lot of material to the accompanying instrument and not to the choir. I love intricate
textures and layers. I like to have a certain amount of things going on. Like Bach. I want to be
like Bach. He achieves something aesthetically that I would like to achieve. I mean, what makes
a view beautiful? There are enough different things happening in a single frame where there is
both a cohesion and diversity, and that keeps the brain interested. Too much to pick out and
figure out each part and the brain goes “woah”. There is enough to overwhelm you, but in a good
way. I like to choose counterpoint, choose layers, choose canonic devices, elements that will
enliven the texture but still help it all coordinate.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. I love that. Can you talk to me about your preferences in
harmonic language?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. In my arrangements, I like to use Alice Parker’s approach. I worked with
her at a farm and respect her as a music philosopher. The way she arranges is the way I want to
arrange. The melody is used as the source material for the piece. If that tone appears in the
melody, it is fair game. This is a simplistic and pure approach. I tend to not want to go far from
the original set of tones used in the melody. I want the DNA of the piece to be the source
melody.

I think that my melodies and harmonies have an “ancient” sound. I have a story to help explain
that. Ok, so a friend and mentor is a potter. I would watch him create clay and they did a firing. I
was actually able to help him fire up the kiln, which was an outdoor kiln based on Chinese
pottery methods. Actually they use a lot of his work. Almost everything his wife uses the potter
made for them. Anyway, I drove away from that experience thinking that the potter was an
“ancient”. You know, he was not looking to invent new harmonic language but interested in
something a little more eternal.

I am actually not interested in novelty. I am not trying to wow you. I am interested in
significance and depth. I mean, why be a choral musician? Because there are words that mean
something. I am not looking to invent new harmonic language but interested in something a little
more eternal. I mean this is temporal vs. eternal or ancient vs. modern. I have felt pressure to
sound more contemporary. I do not want to say something that matters for fifteen minutes but I
want to say something that lasts. I am not adventuresome in that way. An example of that is
“Eye for Eye.” I am not going to wow someone with how far the piece goes harmonically, but
how deep and how powerfully the textures can be constructed and paced so the most intense
words can be accompanied by the harmonic intensity to express in the truest way possible. My
aesthetic is to go deep with expression of meaning. The meaning side is super important to me.
Like, super important. This might be what makes me a unique composer.

175

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Thank you. Can you tell me about some social justice
influences in your life?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. One of these would definitely be Steve Kinzie. He is a folk songwriter,
poet, banjo player, elder, and friend. He is also a guru, like a spiritual father to me. I mean I had
grown up involved in classical music but decided not to study music in college. I met Steve in
my first semester and immediately realized how great of a folk musician he was. Through him I
discovered this genre that had its own whole depth and tradition. It also had great poetry. You
know, I think Kinzie was definitely responsible for my discernment for quality in text. I got to
watch him construct lyrics and see the care that Steve wrote songs with. He is such a wordsmith
and was so careful with the sound and meaning. I learned what great lyric writing was by
watching him write his own lyrics and poetry. He would always write songs to issues like gun
violence or Matthew Sheppard, political asylum and things like that. Kinzie would use music to
write responses to things like that. For ten years, we were in a group we formed called Kindling.
We made two or three albums and did concerts for the Church of the Brethren. However, we got
disinvited to their conferences actually because we pushed for LGBTQ equality and rights before
the church was ready for it.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Now I would like to ask you about some transformational
events or events that brought you to a special awareness?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. I would say this started in public school. In seventh grade, I had a World
Cultures class. There is where I learned a reverence for life was taught. This totally resonated
with me. A relevance for all beings, people and plants as well. In high school I studied civil
rights with Phil and Louie Reiman. The Reimans were pastors, and they were the biggest peace
activists. They actually withheld a portion of the taxes that would go to the Pentagon, they were
that adamant against anything dealing with the war. Instead, they would choose peace
organizations and give that money that would have gone to the Pentagon to those groups instead.
Actually, the IRS repossessed their things to pay of the taxes.

Another event was the murder of my mother. I responded to this by songwriting and connected
my responses to music. To me, music became a strong source of healing. Also, I gained more
empathy for those who were affected by violence.

In college I studied Peace Studies. I intentionally studied subject in classes and then travelled to
China to hear voices that were different from mine. Women in literature was a class I really
enjoyed. I learned a lot of foreign languages. I like to think globally and wanted to become a
global citizen.

Another event was me coming out. In this way I had to come to terms with a label that society
would tell you to be ashamed of.

176

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Can you characterize the development of your music in phases
or eras?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. Hmm… I haven’t thought of that. Ok. So the Peace Choir and Joya
happened between 1989 and 1994. This was when I was arranging choral music on the fly.
Pieces like “Wana Baraka” were arranged based off the songs I did with Joya.

1998 to 2006, that can be Arrangements, Arrangements, Arrangements. This is when I decided at
ACDA that my music should be performed. First arrangements started to get published during
this time. That would be my “Bright Morning Stars,”, “Wana Baraka,” and “Cornerstone.”

The next thing would definitely be 2006, which stands on its own. This is where I did “Meet Me
on the Mountain” I believe from December 2005 to June 2006. I was going to just do a demo but
I had such amazing players on the project, so I just took extra time to redo a few vocal tracks and
add a few extra touches. I saw Brokeback Mountain and it changed my life. After seeing
Brokeback Mountain, I didn’t want to write about religious things. I didn’t want to write about
things I don’t know about but real relationships and life. I wrote on the relationship dynamics
with all the characters. I mean, there had never been a big screen gay love story that hit popular
culture. The power of the film and the performances was that transformative. I mean, that film
opened me up completely. I quit all of my jobs, including church jobs and decided to just write
these songs.

I think the next category would be 2007-2011. This was when I transitioned from arranging to
compositions and my first commissions. This was the first time I wrote for Grant. In the fall of
2006 the Los Angeles Master Chorale commission “Tu Voz” for the 2007 High School Festival.
Also, that year the McAniff family reached out and asked him for a recommendation of a local
composer that might be a good fit to write a piece for their father. That was “Memorare.” Grant
gave me a bunch of opportunities. Through Grant I wrote another commission with a prominent
LAMC family in 2009. Then Grant kept on commissioning works and giving me premieres with
the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

I started with my larger works in 2012 to 2015, when I became the LAMC Composer-in-
residence. In this time, I wrote some of my larger works like Plath Songs, Inscapes, and Songs of
Ascent.

From 2015 on, I am just doing mostly commissions. I did Rose/Riddle/Rainbow in this time. You
know, although my pieces have always reflected my upbringing and social awareness in the
background, I would say that political events or recent years have focused my mind much more
toward responding to this dangerous time in the fabric of our society. Some kind of basic norms
are under threat in a new way in recent years that I wanted to respond to. This is why choral
music and words, what words communicate in choral music, this is the aspect that instrumental
music does not have. I mean I am an intuitive on the Myers Briggs test, and that means I want to
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talk about meaning, that mostly comes out in words in melody as opposed to colors and sounds
like in breadth of variation in instruments.

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APPENDIX B: PHONE INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN KIRCHNER
Conducted and Transcribed by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following transcript is of a phone interview between the author and Shawn Kirchner on
September 27, 2018. These questions specifically pertain to the specific events Kirchner selected
in an earlier interview as ones that shaped his views about social justice and interpersonal
relationships among different people.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Thank you for talking with about these events. Alright, can
you please tell me about the incident of your mother’s passing, murder?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. Yes. I was twenty-eight and living in Chicago when my father called me
on the phone and told me that she had just been found. And I got on a plane immediately and
went up there. I was the first kid to arrive. Anyway, it was an out-of-the-blue random act of
violence although I don’t think it is as random as it sounds in terms of the great geopolitical
movements of people and traumatic migration that you’ve heard me talk about.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Yes.

SHAWN KIRCHNER. My parents migrated to a lake in Northern Minnesota after retiring at the
age of 50 from their state jobs. My mother worked for the Department of Human Services,
basically she worked with welfare, you know, of families with need. And my dad was a detective
ironically enough. But they - to use the terminology - migrated from Iowa to Minnesota and
bought a resort that was a quarter mile from an Indian reservation. A young man who had grown
up in difficult circumstances was out all night with his friends partying. And I don’t know what
was going on in his mind, but he took her wedding ring - after he had his way with her and killed
her - to pawn. And he was caught immediately by the police the next day. And he’s been in
prison ever since then, since the age of eighteen. Minnesota has no capital punishment, which
was a relief to my brother and sister and I. I’m not sure if it was a relief to my father. So he’s
been in prison since 1998. So he’s thirty-eight years old now, the murderer, the young man.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. The ideals of not wanting the death penalty, were those values
instilled by your mother?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. I would just say that is Church of the Brethren influence. There was a
well-known family in the Church of the Brethren, a pastor’s family, he was killed down in
Florida and his daughter Suzanne, I’m trying to think of the family’s name, she actually became
an activist against the death penalty. So we had had that example in our lives of just knowing
about... oh Bosler was their name. We knew the example of Suzanne Bosler who was, you know,
very effective as a campaigner against the death penalty since she had experience murder in her
own family and yet she didn’t think that two people should get killed after one person had been
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killed. She thought the one death is enough. And of course I think the Bible is pretty clear about
the New Testament’s take on the death penalty. When Jesus encountered a bunch of people about
to stone a woman to death, he asked the person without sin to cast the first stone. So he
interrupted a death penalty. So, anyway, as far as we were concerned that was the Christian
teaching on the death penalty.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Right. You had mentioned to me about how the incident with
your mother gave you an opportunity to realize how to respond musically to times of grief. Can
you expand on that?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. Yeah, I mean, this isn't something a person consciously chooses to do.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Right.

SHAWN KIRCHNER. I am someone who has always responded to life events through music
because that’s my chief avenue for expression. So the great catastrophe of her murder provoked a
lot of musical response from me. I wrote a lot of things, you know, well I wrote a lot about
trauma and healing. Also, I identified a lot more with families of victims of shootings, you know.
The Columbine school shooting came the next year. I identified way more than I would have
because I knew what it was like to lose a family member from a sudden shocking incident of
violence. So yeah, I think I certainly wrote a lot of music and I’m sure everything I have done
since then has been influenced, you know, by that experience. Or my interest also in cultural
healing. Because the whole settling of the American continent - the great movements of different
peoples against and with each other on this continent - has set all kind of stems in motion that
have resulted in all kinds of, you know, you couldn’t even count high enough to get the number
of incidents of violence that have happened because of the juxtapositions of Europeans, Africans,
and Native Americans. I mean, how can you count high enough to count the number of
incidences of violence that have happened because of those three sets of people coming into the
same space together? I mean, you can’t even count high enough.

But for me, I mean, the fact that my own family history should be entwined in the ongoing
unhealed cultural trauma of these migrations, the fact that my family history should get involved
and, I mean, I don’t know. It just shows you how deep history is and how strong its
reverberations are. And the things that seem random are actually not random. I mean, alienation
and marginalization in society are real and they have real effects and real consequences. And
“haves” and “have nots” is a real thing.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Thank you, that is very true. Can I ask you about... You had
mentioned coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community and your interactions with the
labels of that community being another events that shaped your thinking of social justice.

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SHAWN KIRCHNER. Yeah. I think anyone who has to be different or anyone who carries a
visible or a hidden difference with those around them has a whole different journey of
consciousness than people who are within the norm of their social circumstances or within the
large majority of their social circumstances. And so I think honestly it’s kind of invaluable for
your own growth as a person to have to contend with the difference because you learn so much
more than people who don’t contend with their differences.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Agreed.

SHAWN KIRCHNER. I mean it’s not easy but it’s kind of like there’s an identity claiming that
has to be done that takes courage and introspection and reflection and inner growth. And I think
there’s a different kind of growth through people who are recognizing their own privilege via
white privilege or you know, being more of a heteronormative privilege that they might have. I
think for them, to kind of learn the ways in which that is privilege is their own kind of change to
learn but it’s a totally different way of learning and I think you learn a lot later. You know, I
think when you’re growing up and you’re different you learn early to recognize things and to see
things and you also learn to identify with other people who are marginalized.

So anyway, yeah… so all of that to say is that I had the benefit of that consciousness-raising
experience in my formative years.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE: Yes, so how old were you or was there a moment?

SHAWN KIRCHNER: Well, I think about college I was kind of working things through because
I wasn’t a simple case. I’m a complex person, you know, so I think for some people it’s much
clearer and easier and obvious and for me it wasn’t and still isn’t actually.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE: Can you talk to me about the impact - well you have done this
to some extent - but what Brokeback Mountain meant to you as a transformational event and
your understanding of social justice?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. You know, honestly I don’t think it was transformational related to social
justice. It was transformational for me about art. Because I mean, yeah, I was excited about it
because it’s really great for our community whose story hasn’t been told on the big screen in a
mainstream kind of way… it’s a huge deal. So I was very excited just for the social justice
component of that. But in terms of the actual movie, what I wasn’t prepared for was to feel like
that work of art - with the music and the movie itself - to have such a strong impact on me. And I
think there’s a way that the filmmakers handled the ending of that move that leaves it kind of
open like it’s unresolved. You’re kind of left with Ennis (main character in Brokeback
Mountain) realizing what he had and what he lost and he has the rest of his life in front of him
and the viewer is left with just this enormous question mark of what is going to happen. And I
think for a certain percentage of people that saw Brokeback Mountain it had almost an existential
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impact - that openness of that situation - and I’ve actually talked with people from across the
country who experienced a similar thing. It actually presented the idea that your life is whatever
you make of it and you go choose right now and decide what your life is going to be. I know
people that actually moved across the country after seeing Brokeback Mountain because they’re
like, it’s now or never to live the left that I have dreamed of living. For some reason, I think the
movie asked that of people at an existential level, some people that were kind of open to is and
vibrating with it. You know, in sync with it. And so I think I was really one of those people and
really responded again just like after my mom’s death. It wouldn’t be going too far to say that I
experienced it as a trauma. I actually experienced the movie as a trauma in some ways that I had
to respond to.

And I wrote songs for every character in that movie. That’s how connected I felt to that story and
the actors. I mean, I thought it was just and amazing… Ang Lee’s directing and the
performances were just unbelievable. And that story. I think they made people identify with them
really strongly so I identified with the heartbreak of every single character and I wrote songs for
each and every character, be it the straight wives or be it the bi(sexual) husbands. There are
songs for everyone in that movie. So I would say for me it was a heart and soul-opening
experience to really let that movie affect me to be open to what that move was offering at a
personal and artistic level.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Thank you very much. Do you have anything to add?

SHAWN KIRCHNER. Well just kind of the idea that you can’t really separate, you know,
personal growth and artistic growth, that sort of stuff. I had a great awakening with Brokeback
Mountain but it was mostly creative. I learned that I can write songs for other people. Because up
until that point when I had written song in my life I have been me responding to my own life
events. But when I saw Brokeback Mountain, that was when I realized I can write songs for
another person by putting my really strongly into their shoes. I remember having this very
specific thought as I was working on one of the songs and it was for one of the female characters
actually. And it was kind of like it was this idea that I didn’t have to try very hard to write the
lyrics. All I had to do was to put myself emotionally into their situation and just say whatever it
is they would say. So it was kind of my experience of having to learn how to be an actor because
was never a good actor but my brother and sister were. I thought I had no acting talent. After
Brokeback Mountain I realized that I also have the ability to empathize and to get into another
character but my way was just through music. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that that
experience gave me a really profound and concrete example of empathy for other people. And so
at the root of that whole project, it’s really only love. Because in that movie all the characters
were motivated by their love for each other and they were wounded by their love for each other.
The wives were wounded by their love for their husbands who had conflicting lives and hurt
them very much. And the male characters were wounded by their love for each other because of
what it meant in society for them to be or not to be successful living out that love. But love was
motivating everything in that movie and also every single song that I wrote is a song about love.
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You know, the love that two human beings have for each other. But also it was my love for them
as people for them as characters, that motivated my ability to write those songs. So I guess what
I’m trying to say is that at a deep level, even having any consciousness for social justice at all is
a human response to just having love for another person and my ability to have love for another
person and to feel empathy for them and their left struggle immediately and instantaneously
allies me with their life and their life journey and their life unfolding. And as a songwriter in this
instance, I was discovering that, you know, through creativity. I was entering deeply into the
lives, albeit these are imaginary character. But their stories are not imaginary. The stories are real
and many people have those exact stories. So anyway, I just wanted to mention the idea that love
and your capacity as a person to experience love both for the people you know but also the
people you imagine knowing. How can I meet everyone in the world? I can’t but I can imagine
knowing other people in the world and therefore I can imagine caring about how their life goes
and I think that is the foundation of social consciousness.

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APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW WITH GRANT GERSHON
Conducted and Transcribed by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following transcript is of a personal interview between the author and Grant Gershon on
November 29, 2018. Grant Gershon is the Kiki and David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los
Angeles Master Chorale in Los Angeles, CA. This interview was conducted to gain insight into
Shawn Kirchner’s first commissions as a composer. Furthermore, this interview collected
information regarding the composition and later revision of Kirchner’s third commission for the
Master Chorale, Songs of Ascent.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Can you describe to me how you came to know Shawn
Kirchner?

GRANT GERSHON. Yeah. I first met Shawn when he came to audition as a tenor in the LA
Master Chorale. And that was way back in 2002 or 2003 and I think he had just recently
relocated to LA, and of course he was brilliant. He mentioned that he was a pianist as well and
he had worked with the Chicago Lyric coaching, and didn’t mention anything at all about
composing or arranging at the time. So then he was in the Master Chorale and I knew Shawn for
three or four years before somebody mentioned to me his setting of “Wana Baraka.” And so we
checked it out and that became one of our “party pieces.” Everyone took it so to heart and we
would perform it many times. And then Shawn in his quiet way mentioned at one point that he
had composed and arranged a fair amount of seasonal music and the CBS special. So he brought
me this big binder of stuff, and this is maybe in 2006 or seven somewhere around there... it was
full of gold. All of these arrangements that we have been performing virtually every December
since then. His arrangement of “Lo How a Rose” and “Joy to the World” and “One Sweet Little
Baby”… With each new arrangement or composition I was so impressed. First off, the
craftsmanship is so beautiful. Every line sings so well and the harmonic language is so rich and
satisfying and, of course, the audience completely flipped out for his music as well. Then I think
in 2010 we he mentioned that he had just completed a cycle of three old American hymns called
Heavenly Home and I think he had done them in La Verne. I was putting together an American
concert and so we put those in the concert. You just knew - and we knew from the first rehearsal
but even more so singing them for an audience for the first time - that people were just going to
be amazed and this was going to be a classic American piece. And you know, it seems like it was
one of the things that really put Shawn on the map or made people all over the world aware of
his music. I remember there was a Chorus America conference in San Francisco in 2011 and
they asked a few of us to participate in a “Hidden Gems” seminar where we shared some pieces
that we recently premiered or discovered. I remember I shared Heavenly Home there and played
a recording. And again it just felt like people were like, “Oh my God who is this guy?” and
“What is this music and where do we get a copy of it?” After that in the next couple of years as
we continued to do various pieces of Shawn’s it just occurred to me that the Master Chorale
hadn’t had a Composer-in-Residence since Skip Lauridsen during Paul Salomonuvich’s tenure in
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the 90s. I just started thinking, well we’re doing Shawn’s music all the time we love it we feel
like it really embodies so much of what I like to think of as the spirit of the LA Master chorale
and aspirationally who we want to be and what we want to sound like, so maybe Shawn would
be agreeable to be composer-in-residence and let’s just formalize this thing, so that’s basically
how it started. It was super organic and I love the fact that he was literally in residence because
he singing in the choir and was writing these amazing pieces. So it was a three-year appointment
and each of the three years we commissioned him and premiered a major piece like the Plath
Songs, which I think was the first year and then Inscapes the second year and then Songs of
Ascent, or the first version of the Songs of Ascent.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Can you tell me more about Songs of Ascent and how that
piece came about specifically?

GRANT GERSHON. Well Shawn as usual has a whole bunch of ideas percolating and I
remember that we got together and he was telling me about several. I asked him which was he
most excited about or most eager to pursue and it was this idea of focusing on the set of Psalms
that’s about pilgrimage and about strife between and within communities and reconciliation, and
so we agreed that that should be the focus. He had the idea right off the bat that this would be for
string orchestra and harp with the harp being this allusion to David and the Psalms. There would
be a baritone so as that would represent David or the head of the community. And so as usual
with Shawn he was writing on a tight deadline because he had a million different projects going
on and I remember him saying at some point that he had decided to cut down the number of
movements he would focus on. He talked a lot about the key relationship ascending by thirds that
he felt was really interesting and baked into the structure of the piece. So we premiered that
version of it and with baritone and soprano soloists and it was beautiful and really successful and
people really responded to it. Once we performed it I knew we would want to revisit it at some
point before too much time had passed and so three years felt like probably the right gap. It’s not
so soon the audience members will think, “well wait did we just hear this” but it will still be in
the group’s memory and they would be ready to keep going with it. What I didn’t realize was
that Shawn was also ready to keep going with it, too. It’s kind of unusual in my experience for a
composer to go back to a piece that seems so fully formed as the original version was and to do
an extensive rewrite and reconfiguration and re-thinking that affects not just the structure of the
piece or the details, but really underpinnings that heighten and bring to the forefront themes of
the piece that were a little more submerged in the text. I know that is what Shawn has talked
about a lot, feeling like a conflict that he felt was implicit in the piece was maybe too implicit
and needed to be brought out. I really feel like a piece now in this form is the way that the piece
should live. If feels like the arc of it and the conflict within it is much more palpable and vivid,
means the resolution in the final two movements are in response to something that we’ve all been
through. So I just feel like emotionally and spiritually it’s now a really interesting and thoughtful
and satisfying journey. So I’m tickled that Sean was willing and able to revisit the piece and
really rethink, and it sounds from what Shawn has described to me that this really does represent
his original ideas for the piece and for whatever reason it just became the other thing. It’s
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interesting to see an artist who’s willing to not only examine issues but examine his own work
and look at it really objectively and then take the risk of taking a piece that already on the surface
is successful and rethink it.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Did you have any conversations with your singers in rehearsal
or your audience members about the piece and its themes?

GRANT GERSHON. Yes, we talked about it a lot in rehearsal. Specifically the themes of
conflict and the themes of when you have two different groups who feel they are in conflict and
both feel like not only they are in the right, but God knows they’re in the right and how religion
can be distorted to represent any viewpoint that people want it to represent. And so we talked
about that a lot in rehearsal because that is exactly what changed about the piece. The theme was
under the surface and now it was absolutely front and center, particularly the two duets with the
tenor and baritone and the men’s chorus and then the new movement with the woman in reaction
to that conflict is so powerful and so beautiful. I felt like for myself and for the singers that now
the piece feels much more real and certainly timely as opposed to being something that you
admire and it’s beautiful. Now it’s something that you feel like you can live and you are living.
Obviously I suppose the biggest difference is now it’s 2018 and he wrote the original and 2015,
and for a lot of us if feels like the world changed in a real significant way and you can no longer
paper over things (that is if you ever could) but for a lot of us it’s more overt. Therefore the piece
now is what it is because of what’s happened.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. In the premiere, if you could speak to the original or especially
the new version, were there any conversations from audience members or any specific reaction
you can remember?

GRANT GERSHON. I have to preface this by saying I have the worst memory. My dad has an
amazing memory. He can remember what he ate with my mom at some restaurant in 1951 but I
don’t have his memory. I don’t remember the specifics but I remember a lot of feedback about
how emotionally resonant people were finding the piece and particularly people who remember
the other version as well and could gauge their emotional response to both.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Shawn credited you for giving him his first commission with
another family?

GRANT GERSHON. Oh yeah that’s right! That was with the McAniffs. Ted was our former
board chair and his family basically wanted as a gift to commission a piece. So I remember I
suggested Shawn and they had the text already, the Latin prayer Memorare and so we got
together. Because it was a surprise, Ted was not involved, but the family and I got together and
talked about the text and what it meant to Ted, who is a very devout Catholic. And so Shawn
created this piece and it was the first piece he created specifically for the Master Chorale and that
piece was another very compelling reason why we felt, to make it official, to have him as the
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official composer-in-residence. I do remember conversations around that piece and as he took on
his residency just saying to Shawn that he had the green light, permission granted to really
explore maybe more than he’s had the opportunity before, the kind of composition that he wants
to focus on. We wanted to put as few parameters around his work as possible. And so for
instance, Memorare divides into 15 or 16 parts which is a Shawn Kirchner thing now, so it
creates this rich tapestry of sound. I really feel like it was very much unlike anything of his that I
had heard up until that point, and I was really happy that he was able to take that and use that
specific commission. I felt like it let his wings unfurl a little and just explore with more freedom.
It’s been super satisfying to watch Shawn over these last eight, nine years again just become so
confident in his own voice and in his sound world, become more specific and more identifiable
as that Kirchner sound. It’s really great that he’s taking that initiative.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What aspects about his music would you say have been
pertinent to the LA Master Chorale sound or what do you value most about Shawn Kirchner’s
compositional sound?

GRANT GERSHON. I think it’s the fact that everything comes from a real emotional directness
with Shawn. So each individual singer can feel ownership over the peace and over their vocal
line and over the message of the pieces which are invariably things that we can all really take
into heart. That is the most fundamental level and those things then create harmonic language
that is really satisfying. The way he voices chords, the way that he finds resonances. That
mysterious quality where overtones just start to blossom where there are more notes sounding
than he wrote on the page which he has such a great ear for and such an incredible craft. Another
thing about a lot of Sean’s music is that it has a catharsis about it. So many of his pieces build to
something or to a moment or a passage that seems to unlock the sense of euphoria and it’s so
strong for the performers in for the audience as well. I feel like there’s a certain point in a lot of
his pieces where things start to levitate and you have these out of body experiences. He often will
go that extra mile in terms of what he asks from the singers vocally and emotionally. There are
so many examples: Angel band you get into the third verse of Angel Band and you’re just flying
miles above the earth. Next week we’re about to do again his “Lo How a Rose” and it has a
similar thing where you can’t believe you’re a part of this. It’s so transcendent and ecstatic and
again to me that is a hallmark of Sean’s music and there are very few composers that I know of
that can create of that level of euphoria. When you experience it once you are like-- more of that!

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Have you had conversations with Shawn about infusing
messages of social justice in his music?

GRANT GERSHON. Yes. Knowing who Shawn is and knowing his background in the Church
of the Brethren, we’ve talked about that a lot and what that means to him and the kind of ethos of
his upbringing. I know that when we have had conversations about the various commissions, that
aspect of his own background has been in play. It’s interesting though because when I think
about the three commissions for the Master Chorale the Plath Songs were very specific to her
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poetry which is extremely personal and psychological. And then Inscapes is responding to the
poetry which is again the opposite of Plath, but it’s also much more of a broad view of the
environment and spiritually our place on earth and the specifics of beauty around us. And so the
themes of social justice are really only implicit or very under the surface and then with Songs of
Ascent he started to tap back into that. So to me it’s been really interesting to see now because
the original Songs of Ascent were in 2015 but to see where he’s going now and again I think
really finding a renewed purpose in composition. And I’m really happy about that because
Shawn’s music has the ability to reach so many people and his musical language is so
compelling. I feel the more that that is married to his own really strong personal system of ethics
and morality and sense of responsibility, the more powerful his voice will be and the more
effective he’ll be as an artist. So I’ve been really happy and excited to see how he’s continuing to
develop and continuing to find within his own personal beliefs system how to spread a message
through his music.

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APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW WITH BETH WILLER
Conducted by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following is a transcript of a series of questions posed by the author to Dr. Beth Willer,
founder and Artistic Director of the Lorelei Ensemble, on September 18, 2018. The purpose of
the interview was to collect research on the commission of Rose/Riddle/Rainbow and its
premiere by the Lorelei Ensemble.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. How did you come to commission Kirchner’s
Rose/Riddle/Rainbow?

BETH WILLER. Lorelei commissioned the piece in 2017, as part of our ongoing efforts to
expand the repertoire for women's vocal ensembles. I was familiar with Shawn's work and the
general character of his work, and in designing a program entitled "witness" I was looking for
composers that I believed could make a strong social and personal statement.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What were the guidelines you gave Kirchner to compose this
work?

BETH WILLER. I don't typically set guidelines, aside from divisi/instrumentation (in this case,
SSSMMMAA a cappella), length (initially, this remained flexible for this particular
collaboration), and a general theme of the program. Shawn and I engaged in several extensive
conversations by phone, getting to know each other a bit more, and brainstorming about how we
might respond musically to social and political tensions that had arisen in the months since the
2016 election - particularly in relation to socioeconomic class and the social divides that prevent
us from advocating for one another - from seeing each other for more than the surface qualities
that typically define and divide us. Given national and global turmoil at the time (and ongoing), I
was also particularly interested in this set drawing on American musical style and identity, while
reaching for an international relevance. From this conversation, Shawn crafted a series of texts
and original melodies that was both familiar and original, in a texture and style that was built on
careful consideration of the particular artists in Lorelei.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What subjects are being highlighted within
Rose/Riddle/Rainbow?

BETH WILLER. On the whole, this set is a celebration of humanity - all of humanity. "Little
Rose" is a text that may at first listen seem to reference a specifically Christian perspective - but
it is in fact a lullaby for "a child born into turbulent times." It is a particularly beautiful text that
sets celebrating the unique beauty and divinity of every human, and their potential for impact in
the world. "Riddle" is about looking out and seeing those around us - seeing their story ("can you
see me?") and their troubles ("nobody knows the trouble I've seen"), and knowing that each and
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every story is part of a larger story ("my story's written down in the book of life"). "I've Got a
Rainbow" is a statement of courage and perseverance - it is full of hope for justice and progress.
This final statement is both weighty and determined, and demands service from each person that
walks across this earth. It is absolutely thrilling and transformative.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. How was this work used within your concert?

BETH WILLER. On the premiere concerts, Shawn's work was the closer of this concert, tying
together a program that considered ancient and contemporary martyrdom, American identity, and
immigration. It continued to be on our touring program, where it followed other contemporary
Americana works that are designed to build on traditional American melody/text/form/style,
while also pushing us forward in our conversations about American identity.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What specifically stands out within this composition that
makes it a significant composition (if you believe it is)?

BETH WILLER. It absolutely is significant, and important. The "familiar" nature of Shawn's
melodies and texts, combined with sophisticated vertical harmony, and absolutely convincing
form make these works immediately understandable, despite their complexity. They have
changed the way we sing, and they have changed the way our audiences listen to us. Most
importantly, they have changed the way I think about and see the world.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. How did Lorelei react to this composition?

BETH WILLER. It is absolutely one of the most fulfilling and meaningful works we have
premiered in our first 10 years.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Did the audience have any particular reactions to Kirchner’s
work?

BETH WILLER. The audience also tends to be very drawn to and awe-struck by these works -
particularly "Rainbow." There have been, understandably, occasional questions as to whether or
not a group of white women can stand on a stage and sing a set of music by a white man that
draws upon texts and event snippets of melody from African American spirituals. While I
wouldn't call these "spirituals" in any traditional sense, I acknowledge that they draw on this
tradition (and this genre was certainly part of our initial discussion about what this set might be).
That said, I believe that the statements in these pieces are truly personal for Shawn, while also
remaining relevant for individuals and communities around our world. Resilience and struggle
continue to shape our music - particularly that which seeks to comment on and impact social
change and reform. I believe our audiences absorb and begin to embody both resilience and
awareness in listening to this particular music, and that is where social change can begin.

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ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What musical aspects do you value in Kirchner’s musical
language?

BETH WILLER. I value Shawn's knowledge of the human voice, as an instrument. He writes
words and lines that are natural and immediately singable, even when they are virtuosic.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Why do you feel that social justice messaging is worth
implementing in choral music?

BETH WILLER. Our art form reaches more people and communities than any other art form.
We have the potential to reach individuals in our ensembles, our audiences, and our classrooms
in ways that no other discipline can. Singing is also a natural vehicle for protest and change, and
has been for centuries. As artists, it our responsibility to tell stories that matter - both now, and in
the future - and to make those stories relatable so that we can develop empathy and
understanding of perspectives beyond our own. Elizabeth Broun (Director of the Smithsonian
Museum of American Art) said "Art is not always about pretty things. It is about who we are,
what happened to us, and how our lives are effected." This is an absolute driving force in my
commissioning work, and I'd say it rings true in the music of any great composer. Social justice
has a natural place in the choral art, in that we are people singing together - there may not be a
more powerful way to deliver messages of unity, struggle, resilience, and reform.

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APPENDIX E: INTERVIEW WITH TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU
Conducted and Transcribed by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following is a transcript of a series of questions posed by the author to Tesfa
Wondemagegnehu conductor of the All-State Men’s Choir, on October 9, 2018. The purpose of
the interview was to collect research on the commission of Man of Truth and its premiere.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Alright, so I would love to talk to you about your work with
Shawn Kirchner when it comes to “Man of Truth” and start with the circumstances around the
creation of that piece.

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. Oh well I will say this. I found out I would say after I had
already… It was a few months after I said “yes” to the gig and there was a commissioned piece.
I was like, “Oh, ok, cool. And who is the composer? And they were like, “Shawn Kirchner.” And
I was like, “What, really?” You know it’s kind of weird. You’re not expecting to be like, oh wait,
you walk into a commission like that for an All-State. And so I was like, “OK,” and so Shawn at
that point had already pretty much finished the piece. So I wasn’t a part of the buildup. That was
100% on Shawn. That was his baby, so I don’t want to any credit for being a part of the actual
composition.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Sure.

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU: But I was a part of the journey of introducing it to the
tenor/bass choir in February. And so I remember one of the fist times of reading it through with
Shawn at the piano and there was just… going through that piece with him in the room. There
was a little bit of magic. I mean, they were so locked in and right after the first run Shawn
actually explained his idea about how, you know, it’s not necessarily about masculinity at all. He
talked about it’s about as a man though, we have to have integrity. We have to really think about
the things that have been said in recent times. We have to be more accountable. Where is the
honor? Where’s the truth and dignity that comes out of being a man?

And so it was so interesting because it could have happened that someone would have reacted
negatively but that wasn't’ the case. They bought into the idea of what is true, what is right, what
is equitable, what is justice, what are all of these things that all of us strive for regardless of
gender. That was powerful to see Shawn present it in that way because it could have been, you
know, someone could’ve been… You run across people that have had these conversations -
particularly with tenor/bass pieces - even mentioning gender. Have you had conversations about
this?

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ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Yes. Actually one of the students in the USC (University of
Southern California) Chamber Singers recently did a whole project on transgender voices and the
high school I teach at has a transgender student as a soprano.

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. Yep. And what was so cool though was that everybody
bought in - just for a moment - that this piece is not about gender. It’s about these things and
ideals that we all celebrate as necessary moving forward in the 21st-century. And so if I can offer
that, I mean, that pretty much summarizes it and those tenors and basses were eating out of
Shawn’s hand. I mean his personality. Shawn is just the warmest, most lovable dude on earth. I
just love that guy! But to see those tenors and basses respond to him the way they did, that was
beautiful. It really was beautiful.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Where there any strong responses by the singers or the
audience that you can recall?

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. I mean when we sang it we actually sang it twice. So check
this out. The concert was Saturday but we had a preview night on Friday night so we actually
premiered it on Friday night because I felt like the words were so profound it should be heard
twice. And so we sang it Friday night and we talked about it. We kind of had a talk with the
audience. The other students from the other choirs were present inside the big cathedral where
we sang it and the ovation the tenors and basses received for their performance for “Man of
Truth,” that was legit.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Wow, so aside from the textual content and the idea about the
words, which obviously you value, can you tell me what you value musically about the piece?

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. I find it to be honest. You know, sometimes you come across
compositions where people are trying. It’s like, you know what, let me go ahead and elaborate.
Harmonically, they’re trying to evoke something or dynamically, it’s forced. That’s what I mean,
by “trying” sometimes it’s forced. I felt none of that in the composition. There is a sense of
almost simplicity that I think illuminates the text even more. The fact that Shawn took that
approach to the composition, it was like, “This is simple, people.” The text begins to sink in. I
mean, just such a simple melody to represent how simple these values that we should always
cherish should be. Naturally, he achieved that message and it was very intentional on Shawn’s
part, actually.

He allowed for the piece to speak to the simplicity of the line and the harmony is mostly
diatonic. It is almost all diatonic. There are moments that it breaks away. But there are moments
where he plays with dynamic color at times. I don’t even have a score. For the fact that I haven’t
even touched this piece of music since February 2018 and I can still recall some of these things
in it, that’s a testament to, I think, the composition itself and how he was able to nail it. He nailed
it.
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ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. So your work revolves around social justice. Can you tell me
your thoughts about why you find choral music specifically to be so important in speaking
messages of social justice?

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. You know, I think my work is evolving. It was around social
justice and still is revolved around social justice, but I’m really more focused on the dialogue
that can be had in a choral context. So one of the things that I do with the Justice Choir is we will
sing a piece of music and then we will actually have a roundtable townhall form style discussion
with a community leader or expert on a certain area. So one of my first social justice guests was
an activist and an attorney. She was on CNN and she helped lead Black Lives Matter and she’s
done all the things. And I will say that first in the room were mostly White folks and most of
those people - if not all of those people - were there to sing for marginalized, disenfranchised and
underrepresented populations so their hearts were there. They believed that the work that was
needed to be done was important. But I recall singing a song about fighting with tools. It’s one of
the justice choir songs and I remember her singing that song one time and people are really
hyped about it. They were ready and there was a little chat at the end that said “we fight, we
fight, we fight with tools!” And we had a chance to sing and people were turning up, standing
up. They were in there clapping. I mean, the energy in the room was crazy electric and
everybody was clapping at the end of the song and then the leader says, “I am so empowered to
see a lot of these white folks talk about fighting with tools and using their privilege and platform
to do so.” She brought up a term and phrase that I had heard before but to hear it in that context
after saying fight with tools... She said, “White silence is violence.” And whew, you could hear a
pin drop after she that!

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Ha! Right.

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. Whew child. And I looked around and wanted to read the
nonverbal in the room. People weren’t turned off and it’s a part of me that believes that the
choral space, that choral context, creates that safety where people can hear a phrase like “white
silence is violence” and actually absorb it, process it, synthesize the statement, make a
transference into something that can actionable in their lives in their daily existence. And that’s
pretty much where I think my work revolves around is having that conversation, those
conversations as much as I can, wherever I can, whenever I can.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Right. That’s beautiful. I guess my last question is working
with Shawn Kirchner, are there particular characteristics about his music that you appreciate?

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. When I think about “Unclouded Day”, when I think about the
songs that Conspirare did, the Neruda set… Shawn writes honest music. It’s not pretentious. For
that dude to be as “heady” as he is, you know what I mean? Like Shawn is a thinker, a big
thinker. You have a conversation with Shawn and Shawn’s a heady dude but his music is... There
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is so much that nuance and craft. Straight up, it’s hard to write a song like Shawn does with the
craft that he has in his compositions. Right?

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. It’s true. It’s “heady” but it sounds so natural.

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU: It sounds so natural. So I am always intrigued by that gift. It
really is a gift because, you know, for that music to be as aurally and emotionally accessible as it
is, you know, you could totally lack craft and it is full of craft, full of creativity. When I think
about that arrangement of “Unclouded Day,” every time I hear it... You know, we’ve heard
arrangements of “Unclouded Day” before but what he does with that climax. It’s like, “OK, I see
you catching the Holy Spirit right there”! It took me back to my Baptist roots in Memphis. But it
was done in a way that I would have never have experienced with that type of joyful celebration
in my church that way. But it would transfer in some other way. I can imagine that being in a tent
when it’s ninety degrees with an all-white congregation and they’re sitting out there is a tent and
all of them are singing “Unclouded Day” with that nice bright sound. And they get the point and
everyone’s standing up on their feet and they get to the climax and the Holy Spirit is moving
through that tent. I imagine that every time I think about that piece of music, like he was able to
create this relevant context that people can buy into right away. It’s like, dude, it’s that simple
arrangement of a simple folk song. Are you for real? How do you do that? Anyway, I talk too
much.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. No, everything you said was amazing. Actually, I remember
the first time I met Shawn Kirchner when I moved out from North Carolina and my Baptist
church. And I said, “Frankly, you’re the first White composer that I would say does not make me
feel awkward about singing Gospel style choral music.”

TESFA WONDEMAGEGNEHU. Yeah. And I was say I know that people probably give him a
hard time that worry about him. I’m sure he’s gotten accused of appropriation many times
before and I’m sure he’s going to be accused again. But when you know the person behind the
pen and paper you know that the research has been done. You know that his heart is right. You
know that the endgame is not to make money but it really is to share his love of music through
song. And that really is genuine. That’s the vibe I get from him. You know, I just celebrate him. I
hope people understand that and that people get that his is an important voice.

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APPENDIX F: INTERVIEW WITH DAVID HODGKINS
Conducted by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following is a transcript of a series of questions posed by the author to Dr. David Hodgkins,
founder and Artistic Director of Coro Allegro, on November 29, 2018. The purpose of the
interview was to collect research on the commission of the revised version of Songs of Ascent
and its premiere by Coro Allegro.
ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What was your first interaction with Shawn Kirchner’s music?
DAVID HODGKINS. I had heard smatterings of his music here and there at various concerts, but
the first time I really “heard” his music was when Miguel Felipe brought his University of Hawaii
group to do a concert in Cambridge MA. They performed Shawn’s Three American Songs. It was
a great performance (they were interspersed throughout the program very effectively) and I was
quite taken by the different colors and superb craftsmanship of the pieces.
Not long after – maybe a year or so, Lorelei Ensemble gave a concert in Boston of all premieres
and Shawn had a piece on the program. We were asked if we would house one of the composers,
and Shawn ended up staying with us. During the stay, he played through the Songs of Ascent for
me. I was intrigued by the work – it is very beautiful. In fact, I thought it was almost too beautiful,
and didn’t have enough of a dramatic arch. LA Master Chorale had already done it, but after our
discussion Shawn decided to add two interior movements and I programmed the work. (It was very
well received.)
ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What about his music and musical language do you find the
most distinguishable and inspiring?
DAVID HODGKINS. In a world where I marvel how people can still create fresh, inventive
music in tonality (hasn’t it all been written before?) Shawn manages to do just that. His music is
unabashedly beautiful without being cloying or formulaic. He also has a very keen sense of
balance and color. I am particularly impressed that he write for both voices and orchestra with
equal authority. When I listen to some composers, you know it is there work. Shawn is a
chameleon of styles, colors, genres. You listen to Songs of Ascent and you are transported by the
waves of beauty. Then you go sit in your car and listen to his CD based on the story of
Brokeback Mountain, and the bluegrass sounds just as genuine and home grown as the
“classical”. He has an affinity and ear for detail which keeps his music fresh. Performing his
Songs of Ascent was incredibly satisfying. We programmed that concert with a world premiere
by Kareem Roustom called Rage against the tyrants. This opened the program and was dark
texts, lots of mixed meter, and a very narrative about the Syrian refugee crisis – about 30 minutes
in length. Shawn’s work was the second half and all of the worry and heartache of the first half
just melted away. His work is so beautifully crafted –not easy to sing, but accessible and
engaging to both experienced and novice listeners. There were still many virtuosic challenges for
the performers. It is not easy music, but in the end it is incredibly rewarding to perform.
ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Do you believe the expansion of Songs of Ascent strengthened
the overall compositional set?
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DAVID HODGKINS. Absolutely. Without the expansion I thought it was a pretty 30-35 minute
piece. Beautiful, but without real contrast and a little light. The expansion – to my mind -creates
a much more interesting dramatic arch, and creates a work of 45 minutes or so that is substantial
in contrast and content. Particularly the women’s movement and the tenor/bass duet add more
layers of richness and conflict that gives the final movements a chance to soar by contrast,
something that the work really couldn’t do without them. The key is the contrast that they
provide.
DAVID HODGKINS. What did you want the Songs of Ascent set of movements to say within
your concert?
I wanted Shawn’s piece to be a release – - an affirmation - an exultation after the turmoil and
drama of the first half. With the addition of the extra movements, I felt that Shawn’s piece
matched the gravitas of the other work in a weighty, expansive, manner while uplifting the entire
audience. It was what I hoped it would be.
As a side note – years ago when I was in graduate school I went to hear the Philly orchestra quite
often. Riccardo Muti was the conductor at the time and was a brilliant programmer.
One Friday I went to the hear their concert and the program was the Hindemith Viola concerto
and Beethoven Symphony #1. If you don’t know the Hindemith, it was written in 1935 and you
can hear the anguish throughout the work as Hindemith engages in his struggles with Nazi
Germany. It has a haunting, dark work, though very moving.
The second half was the Beethoven. Until that time in my 20’s, I had always thought of
Beethoven as a “serious” composer. That performance by Muti was a revelation to me. It was
light, playful, full of whimsy and fun! Maybe it would have the same effect if there had been a
different work on the first half, but I felt that Muti was making a statement with that concert- no
so much about the Hindemith but about the Beethoven. It opened my eyes as to how a conductor
can take a piece of music that has been around for a long time, and bring a fresh new perspective
to it. The effervescence of the playing and the attention to detail had me on the edge of my seat
the entire time I was practically giddy after that performance. It was a profound lesson on how
use contrast in programming to bring out the best aspects of all the music while ultimately
complementing one another.
That was what I was aiming to do when I programmed Shawn’s piece. While it certainly can
stand on its own, it was the contrast within itself and with the first half that brought out the best
in both works.
ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Why do you feel that social justice messaging within choral
music is particularly moving?
DAVID HODGKINS. First of all, I’m not sure it is just within choral music, but within all music
(witness the Hindemith mentioned above).
That being said, while I do think it is important to present issues that are not necessarily on
people’s radar screen, I don’t think it is only the messaging that makes a work particularly
moving. I have heard plenty of music that is trite or shallow or cloying that attempts to bring
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forth “a message”, but in fact hurts the message with bad context. While we as choral musicians
do have the distinct advantage of text, for me it is the quality of the music that not only allows
the message to come through, but illuminates those messages in perspectives in unique ways that
perhaps weren’t apparent through the text alone. Ultimately we as artists want to move the
listener in profound and unusual ways. Sometimes the Star Spangled Banner can be formulaic,
but a moving performance of it to celebrate the legalization of Gay marriage will move people to
tears, and instill an enormous sense of pride and patriotism - even in the most cynical
Shawn’s music does just that. It somehow reaches deep inside you and affects you in ways that
are honest and good. I hope to work with him again. It was a real pleasure performing his music.

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APPENDIX G: INTERVIEW WITH SUZI DIGBY
Conducted by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following is a transcript of a series of questions posed by the author to Suzi Digby, founder
and Artistic Director of the Golden Bridge Choir, on November 23, 2018. The purpose of the
interview was to collect research on the commission of A Sign Opposed and its premiere by the
Golden Bridge Choir.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. How did you come to commission Kirchner’s “A Sign
Opposed?”

SUZI DIGBY. We wish to fortify our links with the U.S. This relationship in the choral context
is hugely important. Kirshner: His work is superb. It is fresh, original and is backed by a deep
knowledge of choral writing. I commission many composers but few have his level of
imagination and skill. He also enjoys a flawless reputation amongst his peers. Several colleges
recommended his work to me.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. What were the guidelines you gave Kirchner to compose this
work?

SUZI DIGBY. Very few guidelines. Only that his piece should, in some way ‘reflect’ or
‘reimagine’ the Renaissance original that we provided for him. He knows the professional group
he’s writing for (many of whom sang for him), so, from a technical perspective, he was very
aware of his potential scope. This is vital.

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APPENDIX H: INTERVIEW WITH KATY GRAY BROWN
Conducted by Alexander Lloyd Blake

The following transcript documents a phone interview between the interviewee and Dr. Katy
Gray Brown, Professor and Chair of the Peace Studies Program at Manchester University on
September 12, 2015. The questions were asked to gain research history on the Peace Studies
program and information regarding the Brethren Volunteer Service.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE: Thank for speaking with me. Could you please talk with me
about the history of the Peace Studies major at Manchester University?

KATY GRAY BROWN: I would be happy to. Manchester University, previously known as
Manchester College, is affiliated with the Church of the Brethren, which is a historic peace
denomination with a steady opposition all war and renounces violence. In the 1930s the general
officials of the Church of the Brethren instructed colleges to associate specific themes connected
to church, and peace was given to Manchester. In the 1940s after the World War Two began the
university renewed their commitment to figure out how to avoid violence of all forms. Dan West
who developed called Heifer Project, which is a sustainable development model, volunteered to
teach a class on enduring peace. He was really engaging and charismatic and people paid
attention. One of the persons who was drawn was Gladdys Muir. She visited with West and
became inspired to develop a proposal for the way that Church of the Brethren schools could
spear on their education of development of peacemakers. The president then of Manchester
University, Vernon Schwalm, invited Dr. Muir to leave southern California and come to Indiana
to start the Peace Studies program and she did that in 1948. So it was entirely because of the
Church of the Brethren connection that the entire field was born because the church had an
interest in figuring out how to end violence, not just war but poverty and racial. For twenty-three
years this was the only peace studies program in the world. The second was at Manhattan
College and then Kent State University. That’s how Peace Studies started.

Now there are 300 programs all across the worlds, from undergraduate certificate programs to
PHDs and they started from this program here.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. That is exciting to hear.

KATY GRAY BROWN. Yes it is. Manchester university is a small liberal arts school about
1200 undergraduate school. Through 1962 it was predominately Church of the Brethren
students, but now 3% COB because the denomination is very small. Maybe 120,000 people are
affiliated with the Church, but the university maintains this commitment to nonviolence.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Can you speak to me about the Brethren Volunteer Service?
200

KATY GRAY BROWN. Yes. The Brethren Volunteer Service started at the same time as Peace
Studies program, also at urging of Dan West, who was a central figure in 20th-Century Church
of the Brethren. That came out of a desire of Brethren young people to go into the field to be
peace workers and humanitarian aid that wasn’t militarized that promotes human growth and
connection. Peace Studies graduates in general will do Brethren Volunteer Service project after
finishing school.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Thank you. And you studied and travelled abroad with
Shawn?

KATY GRAY BROWN. Yes I did. Shawn was one year behind me. We were students together
and we spent a year with Brethren College Abroad and we were both in China. One thing that
any foreigner going to China would say - we were there in 1990 not long after Tiananmen
Square massacre and it was still politically intense time - we were travelling many places where
people have not seen someone who was not Chinese... This was the era before the internet,
before cell phones and parts of the world were still quite remote. Here was Shawn, this white kid
from Iowa head full of blond hair and so obviously not Chinese, and constantly singing. So we
attracted attention everywhere we went because one of us was singing all the time. It was also
was such an example of Shawn’s capacity to connect across cultures and language with his
music. He picked up erhu and his ear made him a great linguist. It was such a remarkable asset
to travel with him and for our school to have him connect with people who did not share the
same language and culture. Music does that in general, but Shawn in particular understands the
power of that for peacebuilding. Although sometimes you wish you could walk down the street
without someone singing.

ALEXANDER LLOYD BLAKE. Are there any events or particular highlights of the Peace
Studies program I should mention?

KATY GRAY BROWN. It’s a really interesting history, the Church of the Brethren, because it’s
a peculiar faith tradition, a nonconformist faith tradition. COB fundamentally influenced
Manchester University and the Peace studies. Shawn is extremely shaped by this experience.

Well a distinctive element is the emphasis on community building. Every Monday night since
1960s there has been a weekly meeting discussion group that has met in a professor’s home and
there is popcorn coffee and tea and usually a dog around. Group of students and community
members and staff and interested in social justice and peace issues. Not only a place to learn
about what is going on and think about ways to act but generates a really supportive community.
Shawn was an integral part of that. Kenopocomoco Coalition - it is named after the river that
runs by campus - is a Peace Studies discussion group and still goes on today. Shawn was part of
the group and when he graduated he was the first person to be hired to support the community
building efforts from 92-93. The position included being a mentor to undergrads and helping to
build their capacity and nurturing their internal resources to sustain yourself as a peacemaker. He
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worked with the director of the Peace Studies, Ken Brown and they travelled together and took
students on these trips and also participated in different activities and trainings. He (Shawn)
organized a Peace Choir. They made an album and they performed at different places and it
helped to bring together people from across campus who aren’t peace studies majors but were
also drawn to music. And Shawn and the Peace Choir both performed at Ken Brown’s funeral in
November 2010. Kirchner flew back and a number of former graduates who were in the Peace
Choir came back.

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APPENDIX I: CATALOGUE OF SHAWN KIRCHNER CHORAL WORKS
(through January 2019)

C O N C E R T W O R K S (S U I T E S)

HEAVENLY HOME: THREE AMERICAN SONGS
1. Unclouded Day
2. Angel Band
3. Hallelujah

Text: Nineteenth-century spiritual songs
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATBB a cappella
Timing: Thirteen minutes
Notes on style: Choral bluegrass setting
Commission/ Premiere: Los Angeles Master Chorale, May 2010

INSCAPES
1. The Windhover
2. Inversnaid
3. Binsey Poplars
4. ‘As kingfishers catch fire’

Text: Gerard Manley Hopkins
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: Double choir a cappella
Timing: Eighteen minutes
Notes: A “choral sonata” that opens and closes grandly, with a scherzo (mvmt. 2) and a touching adagio (mvmt. 3)
in between.
Commission/ Premiere: Los Angeles Master Chorale, June 2014

PLATH SONGS Morning Song
1. Mirror
2. Lady Lazarus
3. Tulips
4. Poppies in October
5. Child
6. Blackberrying

Text: Sylvia Plath
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus and percussion
Timing: Forty minutes
Notes: Ambitious choral settings of Sylvia Plath’s famous late poems. Multi-faceted harmonic language and vibrant
rhythm reflect the expressive power of Plath’s texts.
Commission/ Premiere: Los Angeles Master Chorale, June 2013

203

ROSE/RIDDLE/RAINBOW
1. Little Rose
2. Riddle: Can you see me?
3. I’ve Got a Rainbow

Text: Kirchner, with quotes from African-American spirituals
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSS/MMM/AAA a cappella
Timing: Thirteen minutes
Notes: A revisioning of the Spiritual for the 21
st
century
Commission/ Premiere: Lorelei Ensemble, June 2017

SONGS OF ASCENT
1. Ps. 132 “Lord, remember David”
2. Ps. 122 “I was glad”
3. Ps. 131 “Lord, my heart is not haughty
4. Ps. 127 “Except the Lord build the house” /
Ps. 128 “Blessed is every one”
5. Ps. 126 “If it had not been the Lord”
6. Ps. 120 “In my distress I cried”
7. Ps. 129 “Many a time”
8. Ps. 130 “Out of the depths”
9. Ps. 121 “I will lift up mine eyes”
10. Ps. 133 “Behold, how good, how pleasant” / Ps. 134 “Behold, bless ye the Lord”

Text: Psalm cycle
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, strings, harp
Timing: Fifty minutes
Notes: A joyous cycle of “pilgrimage” songs with themes of reconciliation and inner/outer peace.
Commission/ Premiere: Los Angeles Master Chorale, March 2015

SONGS OF INNOCENCE (William Blake)
1. Piping Down the Valleys Wild
2. Little Lamb
3. On Another’s Sorrow

Text: William Blake
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB/SSATTB a cappella
Timing: Eleven minutes
Notes: Settings of timeless poetry by Blake ranging in mood from light and joyous to an intense meditation on
suffering and sympathy
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

C O N C E R T W O R K S (octavos)

ALL SHALL BE WELL

Text: Julian of Norwich
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, children’s choir, piano, flute, oboe
Timing: Six minutes
Notes: A reverent and evocative setting of the 14
th
century English mystic’s timeless, comforting words.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A
204

CAGED BIRD

Text: Maya Angelou
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SAB chorus, piano
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: The setting evokes the emotions of the poet’s meditation on freedom and captivity, as contrasting melodies
express delight, frustration, and yearning
Commission/ Premiere: Written for Huntington Middle School

CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART

Text: Psalm 51:10
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB a cappella
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: An austere, reverent setting of the plaintive psalm text.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

I WILL ARISE AND GO

Text: William Butler Yeats
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, SSA, chorus, piano
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: A folk-like rendering of Yeats’ wistful poem of a beloved
childhood place, the Isle of Innisfree.
Commission/ Premiere: Mountainside Master Chorale

MAKE ME TO KNOW THE MEASURE OF MY DAYS

Text: Psalm 39
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB a cappella
Timing: 4 and a half minutes
Notes: Haunting melody in a dramatic setting. Impressive piece for advanced choirs.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

MAN OF TRUTH

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: TBB chorus, piano
Timing: Five minutes
Notes: A strong declaration of integrity, with unison and two-part textures predominating.
Commission/ Premiere: California Choral Director’s Association’s High School Men’s Honor Choir, February 2018

205

MEMORARE

Text: Marian prayer
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATTB chorus a cappella
Timing: Six minutes
Notes: Setting of this Marian prayer with soaring lines and delicately nuanced harmonies.
Commission/ Premiere: Commissioned in honor of Ted McAniff by his family. Premiered by LAMC.

A MOTHER’S LAMENT

Text: Robert Burns
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: TTBB a cappella
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: A moving meditation on a mother’s love for her son
Commission/ Premiere: Young Men’s Ensemble of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus

NEVER MORE WILL THE WIND

Text: Hilda Doolittle
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSA or TTBB chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: The gorgeous memorial poem of American poet, H.D. is matched with haunting, tender lyricism buoyed by a
rippling accompaniment.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

NOW THE GREEN BLADE RISETH

Text: Traditional Easter carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, organ, brass quintet
Timing: Five minutes
Notes: A grand yet nuanced anthem with medieval-style lilting melody.
Commission/ Premiere: The Parish of Saint Matthew Episcopal Church

PSALM 139

Text: Psalm 139
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Five minutes
Notes: Heart-felt setting of the beloved psalm, “O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me….”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

206

A SIGN OPPOSED

Text: Luke 2: 34-35
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATB a cappella
Timing: Five minutes
Notes: A Nativity motet on the prophecy of Simeon, written as a companion piece to William Byrd’s “Lullabye My
Sweet Little Baby”
Commission/ Premiere: Golden Bridge choir, September 2017

SONG OF MYSELF

Text: Walt Whitman
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SABT chorus, piano
Timing: Six minutues
Notes: Opening with a soprano solo, the final stanzas of Walt Whitman’s poem come alive with an evocative piano
accompaniment and an expressive choral setting
Commission/ Premiere: Written in memory of Daniel Chaney and commissioned for the 5
th
Annual San Diego
Summer Choral Festival, premiere August 2017.

THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER

Text: Walt Whitman
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, organ, optional brass
Timing: Six minutes
Notes: The piece begins plaintively. After a virtuosic organ interlude that “channels” Whitman’s “mystic
trumpeter,” a great hymn of joy closes the piece.
Commission/ Premiere: Commissioned in honor of Dr. Richard Bloesch

TU SANGRE EN LA MIA

Text: Pablo Neruda
Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: This touching and passionate sonnet celebrates the daily domesticity that grounds an enduring love.
Commission/ Premiere: Adapted from a soprano/baritone version for Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare.

TU VOZ

Text: Pablo Neruda
Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: Lyrical melodies and a rich accompaniment evoke the many colors of this sensual sonnet, written in praise of
the lovely voice of the poet’s wife.
Commission/ Premiere: Commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale for its High School Choral Festival

207

A M E R I C A N A / G O S P E L /
S P I R I T U A L S

AMAZING GRACE

Text: Traditional Hymn
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB a cappella
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: A new but timeless melody – arcing toward a gorgeous peak -- provides a fresh experience of this beloved
old hymn.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

BRIGHT MORNING STARS

Text: Traditional Folk Song
Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB or SSAA or TTBB chorus, piano
Timing: Five and a half minutes
Notes: Soulful rendering of the gorgeous folk tune; an audience favorite.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

CORNERSTONE

Text: Shawn Kirchner (with help from Kindling)
Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, soloists, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: An inspirational Easter piece in contemporary gospel style, its “open” text makes it suitable in many settings.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

EZEKIEL SAW THE WHEEL

Text: Traditional Spiritual
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano, flute, string bass
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: Lively setting of the traditional spiritual.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

Text: Thomas Obediah Chisholm
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB or TTBB chorus, piano or piano, solo fiddle, strings
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: A crowd favorite, the rousing traditional tune packs a punch in a setting both accessible yet full of canon and
counterpoint.
Commission/ Premiere: alternate text for work commissioned for Junietta College

208

I BLESS THE DAY

Text: Traditional Shaker song
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano, violin
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: A lovely lesser-known Shaker tune about a deeply cherished spiritual “turning point.”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

I’LL BE ON MY WAY

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, soloists, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: Inspirational memorial song that moves from sorrow to great joy; an audience favorite.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

I’LL FLY AWAY

Text: Albert Brumley
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATTB a cappella
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: The beloved gospel classic opens with a newly-composed introduction, which can also close the piece in an
optional coda. The song itself comes to life with counterpoint and intricate bluegrass rhythms.
Commission/ Premiere: La Canada High School

I’VE JUST COME FROM THE FOUNTAIN

Text: Traditional Spiritual
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB, mezzo soprano solo, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: This delightful spiritual was popularized by the Kathleen Battle/Jessye Norman spirituals recording. A very
enjoyable sing for the choir.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

LORD, DON’T MOVE THE MOUNTAIN

Text: Doris Akers
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SA(T)B chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: A simple but very effective setting of the Doris Akers classic, and a favorite of choral singers.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

209

MY FEET ARE TIRED (BUT MY SOUL IS RESTED)

Text: Francis Smith Thomas
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, soprano solo
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: Civil right song premiered by Coretta Scott King
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

O LET ME SHINE

Text: Tradional American folk song
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SA chorus a cappella
Timing: Two minutes
Notes: Can be used as a game song, interchanging students’ names in the lyric.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

O, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CITY

Text: Traditional folk song
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSAATTBB chorus, piano
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: A hypnotic choral ostinato lends power to this dramatic spiritual setting, with antiphonal textures and a great
climax. Concert-closer or festival piece.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

RAIN COME DOWN

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB or SSA chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: Resembles a South African song in the harmonization, especially the use of minor ii chord in first inversion.
Commission/ Premiere: Written in response to the Columbine school shooting, the piece was a winner in the U. of
Oregon’s “Waging Peace Through Singing” choral composition contest.

SWEET RIVERS

Text: John A. Granade
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: A timeless original melody is melded to a rolling, intricate banjo-like accompaniment. The choral textures
alternate between strong homophonic statements and many-layered counterpoint.
Commission/ Premiere: Commissioned by the Atlanta Master Chorale for their 2017 National ACDA appearance.

210

THREE SHAKER SONGS

Text: Tradional Shaker Songs
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: ST chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: 2-part vocal textures predominate in this accessible but inspirational setting of three Shaker tunes: O
Brethren Ain’t Ye Happy, Love is Little, and Simple Gifts.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

WEAVER’S MEDLEY

Text: Pete Seeger
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATB chorus a cappella, optional guitar or banjo
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: A medley of some of the greatest hits of Pete Seeger’s folk group, the Weaver’s, including “O When the
Saints” and ending with the electric “Wimoweh.”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

WEEVILY WHEAT

Text: Traditional American Folk song
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: SA chorus a cappella, optional hand percussion
Timing: Two minutes
Notes: Super fun! A sophisticated but easily singable setting of the delightful American folksong.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

ZION

Text: Psalm 46:4 and Revelations 22:1-2
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, tenor or baritone solo, piano
Timing: Four and a half minutes
Notes: A beautifully unfolding melody depicts a vision the River of Life, and the Holy City: “Zion, beautiful,
beautiful, Zion.” Gentle gospel swing.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

I N T E R N A T I O N A L F O L K

CA’ THE YOWES TO THE KNOWES

Text: Robert Burns
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: TTBB chorus a cappella
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: setting of the beloved traditional Scottish song.
Commission/ Premiere: Written for the Young Men’s Ensemble of the LA Children’s Chorus.

211

LESHANA HABA’AH BEYERUSHALAYIM

Text: Traditional Hebrew song
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSA chorus, two soloists, hand percussion
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: The setting juxtaposes a lament in exile and a lively chant of hope. Sung in Hebrew, but there are only 3
words to learn!
Commission/ Premiere: Commissioned by the ACDA consortium for women’s choirs

WANA BARAKA

Text: Traditional Kenyan song
Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATTB, SSA, TTTBBB chorus a cappella
Timing: Two and a half minutes
Notes: Appealing setting of a tuneful Kenyan traditional song. Polyrhythms, ostinatos, descants, and antiphonal
textures create a rich choral tapestry and a powerful mood of joy.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

V O C A L J A Z Z

THE LAND WHERE THE GOOD SONGS GO

Text: PG Wodehouse
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATBB a cappella
Timing: Four and a half minutes
Notes: A Kern classic.
Commission/ Premiere: Commissioned by Dr. Paul Neal of Valdosta State University

HUMMINGBIRD

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB a cappella
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: Nature-lovers of all ages will resonate with this timeless meditation on a feathered friend. Instant audience
favorite.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

ONLY THE MOON WILL DO

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATBB a cappella
Timing: Three and a half
Notes: A sweeping melody patterned after the great songs of the Golden Age of jazz is swathed in now-dusky, now-
shimmering harmonies.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

212

ON ANOTHER’S SORROW /
IF YOUR SKY TURNS GRAY

Text: William Blake
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, tenor solo
Timing: Two and a half minutes
Notes: In 5/4, this William Blake setting is charged with rhythmic intensity. A Swingle Singer-esque crowd-pleaser.
Alternate text available: “If Your Sky Turns Gray.”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

A N T H E M S

ALL MY HOPE ON GOD IS FOUNDED

Text: Joachim Neander
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano, flute
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: A soaring setting of Herbert Howell’s beautiful hymn tune “MICHAEL.” The hymn’s classic, inspired text
invokes a sense of the sacredness of life.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

HOLY WORLD

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano, two soloists
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: A powerful and moving anthem of loss, acceptance, and renewal. “Holy world – where sorrows are turning
with joy.”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

IN THE WILDERNESS

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: A melodious setting of quietly unfolding power, invoking a sense of gratitude for sustenance “in the
wilderness.”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

INTIMATION OF IMMORTALITY

Text: William Wordsworth
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Three and three quarters minutes
Notes: The piece opens with folk-like simplicity but builds in both verses to an outpouring refrain. A meditation on
the eternal soul, coming from and returning to “God, who is our home.”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

213

JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL

Text: Charles Wesley
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB double choir a cappella
Timing: Four and a half minutes
Notes: The beautiful hymn-tune “Martyn” arches atop inner parts that are filled with life. After two verses, the choir
divides into two for a transcendent final verse – harmonies interpose to ravishing effect.
Commission/ Premiere: Premiered at the Ascending Voice Conference, 2016

JOY IS LIKE THE RAIN

Text: Sr. Miriam Therese Winter
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSA chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: An expressive setting of the beloved, classic song by Sr. Miriam Therese Winter.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

LET THE HUNGRY COME TO ME

Text: Traditional hymn text, translated from Latin plainchant
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: Communion anthem on the beautiful ancient plainsong “Adoro te devote.”
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

MORNING HAS BROKEN

Text: Eleanor Farjeon
Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, soprano soloist, piano
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: A “Morning Has Broken” for people who aren’t “morning people.” The piece (with original music set to
Eleanor Farjeon’s traditional text) unfolds out of a quiet stillness into a glorious sunrise, as the soprano soars in
a descant over the choir in the final verse. A church choir favorite.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

MORNING LIKE THIS

Text: Jim Croegaert
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a quarter minutes
Notes: A choral setting of Jim Croegaert’s uplifting Easter song, expressing heartfelt praise rather than bombastic
triumph. A choir and congregation favorite.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

214

NEW WAYS TO PRAISE

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SAB chorus, soloist, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: A new look at prayer and praise, beginning with self-acceptance.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

NOW LET THE FIRE OF HEAVEN COME DOWN

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: A jubilant song for Pentecost, with text that combines the invocation of the Holy Spirit with the celebration
of the individual fruits of the Spirit. Great 6/8 groove.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

O GREAT SPIRIT

Text: Traditional Lakota Indian text, attributed to Chief Yellow Lark
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB or SAA chorus, piano, flute
Timing: Four and a half minutes
Notes: A beautiful Lakota prayer of reverence and humility in a very accessible setting.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

O MAKE ME AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE

Text: St. Francis of Assisi
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: A graceful setting of the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. With a Renaissance-like clarity and lilt.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

SPRING SONG

Text: Lucille Clifton
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, soloist, piano
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: Lucille Clifton’s brilliant, earthy Easter poem receives fresh gospel treatment in this showpiece for a gifted
male soloist, with the choir in a supporting role.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

215

THE AVOWAL

Text: Denise Levertov
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Three and a quarter minutes
Notes: An extremely accessible arrangement of the beautiful Tom Kinzie song set to Denise Levertov’s timeless,
inspirational poem. An instant favorite.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

THEN LET THESE INSTRUMENTS

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, optional solo
Timing: Two and a half minutes
Notes: A touching song of consecration, celebrating the gifts and worth of every person.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

S O N G S F O R W O R S H I P

AH, GOLGOTHA

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Two and a half minutes
Notes: A lament for Christ’s passion, inspired by Rudolph Steiner. Haunting refrain rises after a simple verse.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

CALLED OR NOT CALLED

Text: Erasmus
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SAB chorus
Timing: Three and a quarter minutes
Notes: Three-part gospel-style harmonies in a song inspired by Carl Jung’s famous hearth inscription: “Called or not
called, God is there.” Great groove that pulls you in.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB a cappella
Timing: Two minutes
Notes: Chant for Advent. “Light of the world, into our darkness come; Let heaven’s will on earth be done.”
Extremely effective as a processional.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

216

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB chorus, piano
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: A worship song with lyrics that point to the importance of inner character, and to the great life-long
adventure of discipleship.
Commission/ Premiere: Theme Song for Church of the Brethren National Youth Conference 2008.

PEACE PILGRIM’S PRAYER

Text: Mildred Lisette Norman (also known as “Peace Pilgrim”)
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: Round sung up to twelve parts
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: Inspired by the favorite prayer of the American peace worker “Peace Pilgrim” who walked for peace from
1953 until her death in 1981.
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

RIVER’S GONNA RISE UP

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: The lyrics of this sensitive, powerful plea focus on the notion that without justice, there can be no peace.
Commission/ Premiere: Written for the International Day of Prayer for Peace, 2010.

C O N C E R T S U I T E

BEHOLD NEW JOY:
ANCIENT CAROLS OF CHRISTMAS

1. PERSONENT HODIE (“On This Day Earth Shall Ring”)
2. IN DULCI JUBILO
3. ECCE NOVUM GAUDIUM (“Now Behold New Joy”)
4. CORDE NATUS EX PARENTIS (“Of a Father’s Love Begotten”)

Text: All carols in the set have roots in the ancient Latin carol-book Piae Cantiones (1582).
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Voicing and Instrumentation: Three versions, SATB chorus and organ, SATB chorus and orchestra, and SATB
chorus and organ/brass
Timing: Thirteen minutes
Notes: Exultant concert finale. May be performed in Latin or English. (In Dulci Jubilo also available as a single
movement for SATB, flute, oboe, horn, piano, and optional bells – SKPublishing)
Commission/ Premiere: Commissioned and premiered by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, December 2011.

217

C A R O L S R E - I M A G I N E D

JOY TO THE WORLD

Text: Traditional Christmas carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: Six versions:
SATB, piano
SATB, piano, brass quintet
SATB, piano, organ, brass quintet
SATB, treble choir, piano, organ, brass quintet
SATB, treble choir, bells, organ, brass quintet
SATB, treble choir, bells, piano, organ, brass quintet
Timing: Four and a half minutes
Notes: Rafter-raising jazz rendering of the traditional carol
Commission/ Premiere: Written for State College Choral Society

LO, HOW A ROSE E’ER BLOOMING

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano, solo alto saxophone
SATB, piano (intermediate version also available)
Instrumental-only version also available: piano, oboe, and flute
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: Gentle gospel re-telling of the traditional favorite
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

O R I G I N A L C A R O L S

AS I LOOKED OUT

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB a cappella
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: Winsome melody, reminiscent of a lilting English carol
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Text: Shawn Kirchner
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB a cappella
Timing: One and half minutes
Notes: Advent introit or prayer hymn, congregational favorite
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

218

ONE SWEET LITTLE BABY

Text: Original by W. Kinneson and G. McClure
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSAATTBB chorus, piano
Timing: Four and a half minutes
Notes: Audience favorite
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

WHO AM I, O CHILD OF WONDER?

Text: Shawn Kirchner/ Ryan Harrison
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano
SATB, piano with flute/oboe, flute/horn,
or solo horn
SATB, piano with flute/oboe and strings
SATB, piano with string orchestra and violin/viola soloists
SATB, piano, organ, brass quartet (2 trumpets, 2 trombones)
Timing: Four and a half minutes
Notes: Powerful and moving music by Welsh composer Michael J. Lewis
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

A SIGN OPPOSED

Text: Luke 2: 34-35
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SSATB chorus, a cappella
Timing: Five minutes
Notes: A new Christmas anthem on the sobering and little-known prophecy of Simeon on the future of the
Christchild: “Destined is he for the fall and the rise of many; he shall be a sign opposed, so that the secrets of
many hearts may be laid bare.”
Commission/ Premiere: Written for Golden Bridge Chorus

A R R A N G E M E N T S O F T R A D I T I O N A L C A R O L S

BEAUTIFUL STAR OF BETHLEHEM

Text: R. Fisher Boyce
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation: SATB, piano, solo fiddle (guitar may substitute for piano)
Timing: Three and a half minutes
Notes: Appalachian style crowd-pleaser, for choirs of any level
Commission/ Premiere: University of La Verne Choir, specifically for student who wanted to play fiddle song.

219

BRIGHTEST & BEST

Text: Reginald Heber
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes, SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
TTBB, piano
SATB, piano
SATB or TTBB with, piano, string orchestra, solo fiddle
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: Choir favorite
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

BRING A TORCH, JEANETTE, ISABELLA

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SSA, piano, flute, oboe, violin
SSA, piano, string orchestra, flute, oboe, violin
Timing: Three and three quarter minutes
Notes: Lovely setting with soaring instrumental descants
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

COVENTRY CAROL

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB a cappella
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: Haunting original tune complements the traditional text
Commission/ Premiere: N/A

GO, TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

Text: Traditional Spiritual
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano
Timing: Three and a quarter minutes
Notes: Good Christmas finale, audience can join on melody
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

220

I WONDER AS I WANDER

Text: Traditional text
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano (available in C minor or B flat minor)
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: Also effective for solo quartet, with haunting Arvo Pärt-like piano accompaniment.
Commission/ Premiere: Elissa Johnston and Adriana Manfredi’s tour of Japan

NOWELL, NOWELL (“Masters in this Hall”)

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano
SATB, string quartet, flute, oboe, horn
Timing: Three and a quarter minutes
Notes: Rousing processional with medieval harmonies
Commission/ Premiere: Church of the Brethren La Verne choir

O HOLY NIGHT

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano
Timing: Five and a half minutes
Notes: Moving (rather than bombastic) setting, features whole sections rather than soloists, new bridge breaks
monotony
Commission/ Premiere: Church of the Brethren La Verne choir

ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano, flute (or trumpet)
SATB, string quartet, flute
SATB, piano, organ
SATB, organ, brass
Timing: Three and three quarter minutes
Notes: Simple opening builds toward final flourish with soaring flute or trumpet descant
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

221

PAT-A-PAN

Text: Traditional French carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SSSAAA a cappella, SSATBB with piano
Timing: Three and a quarter minutes
Notes: Intricate choral textures build toward a powerful climax
Commission/ Premiere: Los Angeles Master Chorale women

ROCKING CAROL (Traditional Czech)

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
TTBB a cappella, baritone solo
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: ~Tender and beautiful men’s chorus~
Commission/ Premiere: Los Angeles Master Chorale men

SILENT NIGHT

Text: Traditional Christmas carol
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano
SATB, piano with flute/oboe or 2 flutes
SATB, piano, flute/oboe, violin/viola
SATB, piano, flute/oboe, string quartet
SATB, piano, string orchestra, solo violin & viola
SATB, piano, horn
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: Audience favorite
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

SWEET LITTLE JESUS BOY

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: Pending
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SSAATTBB a cappella
Timing: Four minutes
Notes: Earnest, moving setting of MacGimsey’s classic carol
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

222

THE HOLLY & THE IVY

Text: Traditional carol
Publisher: SKPublishing
Voicing and Instrumentation:
SATB, piano
SATB, piano, organ
SATB, string quartet (or string orchestra)
SATB, string quartet, organ
Timing: Three minutes
Notes: Rustic and lively, effective for intermediate choirs as well
Commission/ Premiere: Junietta College Concert Choir

Abstract (if available)

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

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Asset Metadata

Creator Blake, Alexander Lloyd (author)

Core Title Flowers must come out to the road: Shawn Kirchner and choral music of social justice

School Thornton School of Music

Degree Doctor of Musical Arts

Degree Program Choral Music

Publication Date 06/13/2019

Defense Date 06/12/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag choral arranging,Choral Music,composer,composing,music,OAI-PMH Harvest,Social Justice

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sparks, Tram (committee chair), Scheibe, Jo-Michael (committee member), Weiser, Mark (committee member)

Creator Email alexanderlblake@gmail.com,blakea@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-172944

Unique identifier UC11659995

Identifier etd-BlakeAlexa-7471.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-172944 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-BlakeAlexa-7471.pdf

Dmrecord 172944

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Blake, Alexander Lloyd

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA