Al Hawkins, the artistic director of Deo Cantamus, had been wanting to present Dan Forrest's Te Deum for a while when he saw a Facebook post by the composer that provided the perfect opportunity.
Forrest, who had been commissioned to write Te Deum a number of years ago by the Brehm Center for Worship in Pasadena, Calif., posted that he was planning a new version and was looking for a consortium of co-commissioners. The original work was written for a full orchestra and had been performed at Carnegie Hall and other large venues around the country. Forrest planned to write a new version for a smaller number of instruments, making it more accessible for mid-sized choirs and churches.
Deo Cantamus has performed Forrest's work in the past. "Anybody in the realm of choral literature has heard of Dan Forrest," said Hawkins. "He's very prolific." Hawkins considers Forrest a gifted composer who writes in a way that "hits the voice very well" and can relate to the audience.
Te Deum takes traditional text from the Common Book of Prayers, as well as some additional text. A song of praise, Te Deum is primarily a choral work, though it has a few short solos, Hawkins said.
Forrest set the work in English, not in Latin, "which is a blessing and a curse," Forrest said. It's a blessing because the choir already knows the language and the audience knows what is being said, but English is more difficult to work with. "With Latin you can do whatever you want," said Forrest. "You can manipulate words and switch accents and such. In English you can't do that."
About 25-30 people responded to Forrest's Facebook post, and eventually five groups emerged as co-commissioners of the new version. "It's a win-win," Forrest said. "I get commission money for doing it, and they get the rights to perform it as a regional premiere." Forrest said he would have charged at least $5,000 to one group to commission the new work. With the consortium, each group contributed $1,500, so Forrest earned more than he would have and each group pays much less.
Forrest described his style as existing in a place between church music and something you'd hear at a concert hall. "It's musical enough to be legitimate, but it's accessible as well," he said. While his work might not be "shockingly contemporary" and wouldn't be performed by a new music ensemble, he believes it to be timely.
Unlike chamber music, where "you really have to be cutting edge and be doing extraordinary things to get attention," in the choral world, "there's a lot of overlap between professional and amateur choirs," he said. "Professional choirs don't mind doing things that please the audience." Forrest likes that just fine, because he doesn't feel a lot of conflict between his own aesthetic and work that is marketable. "What I write is what I like," he said. "And there's a market that's interested in that."
Sometimes, people say to him, "Oh, you're a composer and you're still alive!" As a composer, Forrest is just happy that new music is still being written, and composers are "inhaling and exhaling and conductors are willing to try something new."
Te Deum will be presented as part of the spring concert My Praise, My All on March 28 at 7:00 p.m. and March 29 at 4 p.m. at Fourth Baptist Church, in Plymouth.
Sheila Regan is a Minneapolis-based writer. She writes frequently for the Twin Cities Daily Planet and City Pages, among other publications.
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