Return to Gwyneth Walker Music Catalog
Download an an MP3 file of a performance of this work by Sounding Joy!, Marjorie Drysdale, conductor.
(a CD recording is available from Sounding Joy!)
(Photograph of the "Sounding Joy! Singers" of Randolph, Vermont.)
Sounding Joy is based on a fuging tune by 18th-century composer and horse breeder, Justin Morgan, a resident of Randolph, Vermont. This new version starts with the original song, to be sung in rousing (perhaps four-square) early New England style. The music then evolves into more contemporary and joyous language, with syncopated rhythms and a bouncing bass. The energy builds into a final chord of mixed tonalities, perhaps an homage to New England composer Charles Ives.
Sounding Joy was created especially for the "Sounding Joy! Singers," a small chorus from Randolph, Vermont -- neighbors and friends of the composer.
Notes by the composer