Unchanging Love
1. Prelude
2. Offertory
3. Postlude
Cambridge Symphonic Brass Ensemble, September 2007, Memorial Church at Harvard University
Unchanging Love, op. 88, for brass quintet and organ, was commissioned in 2007 by Memorial Church at Harvard University to celebrate its 75th anniversary year, 1932–2007. In three movements–Prelude, Offertory, and Postlude–my work was designed for liturgical purposes. Each of the movements is based on a hymn I wrote called “Unchanging Love,” my setting of a text Romulus Linney used in his play Holy Ghosts. (Linney also wrote a play named Unchanging Love.) This hymn, with its text sung, serves as the conclusion of my opera Holy Ghosts, based on Linney’s play.
(recording) “Scored for organ and brass quintet, Unchanging Love, Op. 88 (2007), is given a sensitive reading here by the Cambridge Symphonic Brass Ensemble and organist Harrylyn Huff. Bell’s compositional style is suave, personal, inventive, and intriguing. Mildly contemporary harmonies add warmth, color, and zest. The music surrounds the listener with a sense of spirituality and joy. Superbly performed on this disc, Bell’s music possesses a unique beauty that has direct appeal. It is definitely worth hearing. –The American Organist
More Chamber Music Works
String Quartet no. 4, Epiphany, Opus 196
Clearing the Clouds from Our Minds, Opus 157
Serenade No. 4, Walk That Lonesome Valley, Opus 112
Serenade No. 2 for alto recorder, cello, and harpsichord, Opus 98
Poems for Trumpet and Piano, Opus 85
Two Encores: 1, Canon; 2, Lament, Opus 78 no. 2
Two Encores: 1, Canon; 2, Lament, Opus 78 No. 1
String Quartet no. 3 (Homage to Beethoven), Opus 71
Harmonium: Eight Poems for Brass Quintet after Wallace Stevens, Opus 48
Four Pieces in Familiar Style, Opus 41
What Goes Around Comes Around, Opus 38
Concerto for Oboe and Five Instruments, Opus 32
The Book of Moonlight, Opus 31
“Sleep Song” a children’s piece for violin and piano, Opus 18
Fantasia on an Imaginary Hymn, Opus 17