“Magnificat In Blue” Oratorio World Premiere
Composed and Performed by Scott Detweiler
Composer Scott Detweiler will premiere his “Magnificat In Blue” at Our Lady of Grace Church. “Magnificat In Blue” is an oratorio in one act, based on the Gospel of Luke from the New Testament of the Bible. Arranged for solo voice and guitar, the intimate work tells the story of The Annunciation of the birth of Jesus, from Angel Gabriel’s visit to Zachariah and then Mary, to Mary’s journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth, with the message that she, too, will bear a child. Detweiler sings the part of each of the characters against the backdrop of his original jazz based score, reminiscent of the music of Leonard Bernstein and Andrew Lloyd Weber. ...
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“Magnificat In Blue” Oratorio World Premiere
Composed and Performed by Scott Detweiler
Composer Scott Detweiler will premiere his “Magnificat In Blue” at Our Lady of Grace Church. “Magnificat In Blue” is an oratorio in one act, based on the Gospel of Luke from the New Testament of the Bible. Arranged for solo voice and guitar, the intimate work tells the story of The Annunciation of the birth of Jesus, from Angel Gabriel’s visit to Zachariah and then Mary, to Mary’s journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth, with the message that she, too, will bear a child. Detweiler sings the part of each of the characters against the backdrop of his original jazz based score, reminiscent of the music of Leonard Bernstein and Andrew Lloyd Weber.
“I first set the actual lyrics from the Magnificat (Luke 1:46 – 55) to music. Then I built the piece around it with original lyrics”, explains Detweiler. Wikipedia lists the names of over 200 (two hundred) composers who have composed works based on The Magnificat, including Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. Detweiler adds his name to the list with a score and libretto he hopes will touch and inspire listeners of all ages and of all genres of music.
One of the unique aspects of the work, aside from being written for only guitar and voice, is that the lyrics tell the story from the perspective of Elizabeth. At the time Mary delivers the message to Elizabeth that she will bear a son named John, Elizabeth is beyond her child-bearing years. “My wife Elsa and I have very close friends who had great difficulty having children”, Detweiler says, “and it was this experience in witnessing their struggle that helped inspire me to write the lyrics from her perspective”.
The piece opens with, “Change”, sung by Elizabeth. She explains her own change, from being a young bride with the hope of bearing a child for her husband, Zechariah, to the disappointment in her later years, as a childless woman. (History tells us that in this ancient culture, childless couples bore a stigma and were ostracized by those who had children). By the end of the oratorio, after Elizabeth receives the message from Mary and actually feels the kick of her infant son in her womb, she is transformed. Once again she experiences yet another change when she realizes that she has not been forsaken by God. She feels beautiful, valuable and relevant.
Detweiler’s “Magnificat In Blue: A Sacred Oratorio One Act”, is a story of hope, faith and inspiration for all people.
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