In a way that has never been done before, Dan Forrest highlights the exquisite wording of Psalm 100 with musical his artistry. Each movement is bursting with lovely components that captivate listeners and speak directly to their hearts. Inspirational melodies and harmonies combine to produce a compositional masterpiece that will live on in the collective memory of choirs for generations.

Henry Leck of the Indianapolis Children’s Choirs commissioned Jubilate Deo in April 2016. The music is written for a full choir and orchestra, with various opportunities for soli and tutti portions, as well as a treble choir part that the conductor may choose to use.

The opening movement sets the ancient liturgical Latin translation of the Psalm in a rather American musical idiom, reflecting various influences from the composer’s native country and introducing key musical motives for the work.

The second movement sets the “from age to age” portion of the text in Hebrew and Arabic, evoking ancient cultures from the Middle East. The music intentionally intertwines the two languages in a symbolic gesture of unity between these cultures.

Movement three uses Mandarin Chinese in a tranquil setting of the shepherd-sheep metaphor from the traditional text and quotes “the Lord is my shepherd” from Psalm 23, while the orchestra evokes the sounds of traditional Asian instruments.

The fourth movement shifts to Africa, setting celebratory portions of the text in Zulu and drawing from African vocal and drumming traditions.

Movement five represents Latin America, setting Spanish text to a folk-song style melody and blending traditional folk instrumental sounds with polyphonic textures from the classical choral tradition.

The sixth movement, “Song of the Earth,” portrays the Earth itself singing—first wordlessly, but eventually finding its own voice—and leads seamlessly into the final movement.

The finale unites many of the key themes and cultures from previous movements with other material, both old and new, as all the earth sings as one, “omnis terra, jubilate!”

Full choir and orchestra, as well as chamber and expanded chamber groups of “Jubilate Deo” are available for rental through our parent company, Fred Bock Publishing Group. Please submit your rentals request using the online form on our FBPG website.