Evans Guthrie
Servant Song No. 4
Servant Song No. 4 (2024) for SATB and
piano
Duration: ca. 4’30”
Program notes
Recently—beginning particularly with my Agnus Dei (2024)—I have become fascinated with using the piano as more than an accompaniment, but as another character in the choral setting. I had done so in my more academic choral works and many of my art songs, but this has been a relatively new approach for me as far as my professional output. In this Servant Song No. 4, I seek to synthesize this approach to piano writing, coupled with my love for Renaissance counterpoint, and also written at an accessible level for high schools and advanced church choirs.
This piece was commissioned by the Calvary University Chorale (Kansas City, MO) for their Spring 2025 concert, which is to take place shortly after Easter. Nonetheless, choosing a text for this work proved difficult. I knew I wanted something sacred and for Good Friday, and I was initially hoping to set the Stabat Mater. However, I also wanted a text that could be more ecumenical, and something that still dealt with Holy Week. When I investigated both Catholic and Lutheran Good Friday liturgies, I found the passage known as the “Fourth Servant Song” from Isaiah to be a commonality. Thus, the text draws from the Hebrew book of Isaiah 52:13-15, using Young’s Literal Translation.
While it is indeed a sacred text, I find it is one that is rarely highlighted in sacred music today (especially the Contemporary Christian Music scene). Also, while it never mentions the titles of God, it is a highly comforting text for me, as well as for Jewish and Christian congregations for over two millennia. I hope you find it comforting to think about the example of servanthood in this passage, and how that can help change us, our friends, and our world.
Servant Song No. 4 Ian Evans Guthrie (b. 1992)
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