Gerard Manley Hopkins
makes a companion piece to Pied Beauty
, the first Gerard Manley Hopkins poem on ecstatic themes that I’ve set for choir. While Pied Beauty
seemed a quiet hymn to me, God's Grandeur
read like a scene from awe to despair to an ecstasy of gratitude in one taut sonnet. That's why this piece seemed to need its own substantial, quasi-orchestral piano part, as opposed to unaccompanied motet style of Pied Beauty
; and why God's Grandeur's
vocalism ranges from fiery fanfare to desolate recitative to conclude, at last, in bright chorale.