I had a privilege to speak with composer Kile Smith about his premiere of Two Laudate Psalms which he composed for Lyric Fest. Two Laudate Psalms will be performed at Lyric Fest’s upcoming concert entitled “Moving Heaven and Earth: World Spirituality in Song” on October 30th at 7:30 PM at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill and again on November 1st at 3 pm at The First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. For more information about this concert visit www.lyricfest.org.
The two-movement piece is set to Psalms 113 and 115 and is written for mezzo-soprano solo (Suzanne DuPlantis) and girls’ choir (Pennsylvania Girlchoir, Mark Anderson conductor).
Read more about Kile Smith.
INTERVIEW WITH KILE SMITH:
IH: Please tell us about your musical background and how you started writing music.
KS:
I came to music composition fairly late, as I didn’t get started until the end of high school. Even though I always had been involved in singing in choirs, and was good enough to get into the New Jersey All-State Chorus, I didn’t know how to read music. I had a pretty good ear but no idea what I was doing. And I didn’t know anything about classical music!
My older sister was in the same choir earlier and she sang in Nänie, a rarely done piece by Brahms. I fell in love with this piece and went to find a recording of it. But all I found by Brahms was his Requiem. So I got that recording instead and was thunderstruck from the first notes. I knew I had to do that. I wanted to write the Brahms Requiem again! But I couldn’t even read music, so I would get a blank paper and draw staff lines by hand, write the notes and plunk things on the piano.
From there, they took me in at Philadelphia Biblical University on probation since I didn’t know anything in music. Soon, I learned basics pretty quickly and found that I really enjoyed it. I ended up composing all the time while in college. I also did a lot of transposing and arranging at people’s requests. Eventually, I became a fairly good copyist. There were no computers yet, so all the music was copied by hand. That’s when I got hired at the Fleisher Collection where I’ve worked ever since, eventually becoming Curator.
I am the happiest when I am writing something. I got my B.Mus. in 1980 and M.Mus. from Temple in 1983, and I’ve worked at the Fleisher Collection full-time since 1983.
IH: What is the history of the Two Laudate Psalms creation?
KS:
“Laudate” means praise. These two particular psalms (113 and 150) are praise psalms. When Lyric Fest founders talked to me about commissioning a piece on the theme of spirituality throughout the world, psalms seemed to be perfect because they are a very ecumenical and broad way of praising in general.
Since the invitation came fairly late in the process, there was not much time. I asked if it would be OK to re-use and re-work an older piece for a part of it. I took the Psalm 113 movement from Vespers and rewrote it for this project. For the second movement, Psalm 150, I did a brand new setting.
Psalm 113 was not easy to transcribe from the original Vespers, as it was originally written for SATB choir, a harp and 2 sackbuts (early trombones). For the Lyric Fest piece, it is written for a mezzo-soprano (Suzanne DuPlantis), a girl choir (Pennsylvania Girlchoir, directed by Mark Anderson) and a piano (Laura Ward). It took quite a bit of work to get to the new version, but it was certainly a lot of fun.
Another attractive thing for me was the collaboration with Pennsylvania Girlchoir. I heard them in the past, but never wrote for a girl choir. The concert comes early in the season so I thought I’d write it in just two parts, since they wouldn’t have a lot of practice time. The total length of the piece is about 10 minutes.
Psalm 113 is a slow chant-like movement. So, I thought that the Psalm 150 part ought to be faster.
Fast music has its challenges, there are a lot of notes and lots of labor. This piece is very energetic and rhythmical, it moves along very fast.
Every ensemble is a little bit different working with music, and I like to go with what they like. I don’t mind changing things if something sounds too goofy or complicated. You want to create the best project with a certain effect. I love incorporating people’s suggestions.
IH: What is your experience working with Lyric Fest?
KS:
We worked together in the past. Last year Lyric Fest did a song of mine, performed by Timothy Bentch. I am fortunate to work with these nice people. They are amazingly talented, they created a wonderful ensemble of people who do different things very well. The performances are exciting, it is a unique offering in Philadelphia, and the audiences just love them. They are doing very important work on the highest level. This is a fantastic opportunity for me.
When working in music, you want to work with good musicians, and you want the musical experience to be on its highest level. But the most important thing is making music together and going into music with the idea that you are creating something with another person. That’s the greatest thrill for me in making music. Being on the same page with these people, working with those who love the same things as you do, being excited about communicating with fantastic people. Otherwise, music can be just a struggle.
IH: What would you say to the audiences about this upcoming premiere?
KS:
The psalms are some of the greatest literature ever written, they reflect the deepest emotions of people, they mean a whole lot to me. Wonderful text of praise, these psalms take us outside ourselves.
If the piece is successful, it is because it touches a real emotion in me. I hope it comes across and is communicated to the audience whose emotions will be also touched in the same way. I think it will be a tremendous experience.
THE END.
