FULL GARDENS: A Sacred Oratorio (David Squires) Surrey BC 2023 Alison Nystrom
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: GARDENS: A Sacred Oratorio
- Composer: Squires David
- Libretto: David Squires, Colette Squires
- Venue & Opera Company: Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church, Surrey, BC, Canada, Trinity Western University
- Recorded: April 15, 2023
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Alison Nystrom
- Conductor: Joel Tranquilla
- Orchestra:
- Chorus: TWU Choirs, Vancouver Oratorio Society, Gloria Dei Chorale
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: David Squires
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
In 2019 I finished this nine-movement work for soprano, choir, and chamber orchestra. Commissioned by Dr. Joel Tranquilla and Trinity Western University, its April 2020 premiere was delayed due to the pandemic – spring 2023 is the new plan. The central movement, Garden of the Shepherd, an a cappella setting of Psalm 23, has been performed by Tranquilla and the TWU Chamber Choir (November 2019), as well as Steven Hamilton and the Cathedral Choir at John Brown University in Arkansas (May 2021).
The entire work follows the biblical arc from that first garden in the opening of the book of Genesis to the ultimate and longed for garden-in-the-city described at the end of the Revelation to St. John. Its movements bring together varied and sometimes divergent biblical passages, illustrating and amplifying the journey from the life, glory and peace of the created order, through the lament of the exiled wanderers, to the Good Shepherd who is our peace, and his suffering to accomplish that peace, and to our final promised dwelling place in the Garden of Joy yet to come.
00:00 opening credits
00:44 mvmt 1: Garden of Life
08:42 mvmt 2: Song of Exile
12:20 mvmt 3: Garden of Lament
20:39 mvmt 4: Song of Hope
23:26 mvmt 5: Garden of the Shepherd (Psalm 23)
27:56 mvmt 6: Song of Love
31:00 mvmt 7: Garden of Suffering
38:48 mvmt 8: Song of Peace
40:13 mvmt 9: Garden of Joy
Composer David Squires is a long-time university professor and worship curator. He has taught on music, the arts, worship, and leadership in North America, Europe and Asia. An inspiring speaker and charismatic leader, he has a particular passion for mentoring emerging leaders.
He is Professor of Music in the School of the Arts, Media + Culture (SAMC) at Trinity Western University in Langley BC, Canada, where he was also Dean of SAMC for 15 years. He holds a B.Mus. (Hons. Performance) from Western University in London, a M.Mus. (Composition) from University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. (Composition) from State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.
David is deeply influenced by Celtic spirituality, and has twice spent time on the island of Iona in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, whose Celtic Christian roots go back to the sixth century.