Christ Church Meditation

Gary Bachlund (b. 1947) has been a guest artist at many significant opera companies.

A native of Los Angeles, Bachlund has also studied composition, theory, aesthetics and music education in parallel with his performing career, and served as composer-in-residence at All Saints Church, Pasadena, since 1992, and created many choral works, almost all with ecumenical themes drawn from biblical sources; he has written liturgical music for the synagogue as well, also serving several synagogues as well as churches as Cantor.

Earning his Masters Degree (1991) and Ph.D. (1993) in composition from University of California, Los Angeles, he composed both poetic texts and the musical setting for an ecumenical Requiem for the Victims of AIDS (1991) which has been performed from Los Angeles to New York, and a large scale organ symphony titled The Jerusalem Windows (1993) on Jewish and art themes found in Marc Chagall's stained glass of the same name (the stained glass may be seen in the Hadassah Synagogue in Jerusalem). These works were debuted at All Saints Church by Timothy Howard and James Walker, as well as a double Concerto grosso in B major for harpsichord, organ and chamber orchestra (1997) which was debuted by them jointly for the American Guild of Organists and is dedicated to them both.

"Christ Church Meditation" was written in 2001 after attending evensong at Christ Church, Oxford. A bit "new-agey" in style, it nevertheless shows a fine flow in its constantly changing time signatures and subtle crescendo and diminuendo.

I'm just discovering Bachlund's music, and I can say that it is VERY varied in style and format. I hope to do more of his music over the next few weeks.

http://www.bachlund.org