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Notes
for SATB chorus, telescope images and electronic sound
by Reginald Bain
Launched on December 25, 2021 and located in space about one million miles away from earth, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided humanity with a new set of eyes on the universe. Inspired by this historic scientific and technological achievement, the composer wrote Lift Up Your Eyes (2024) for SATB chorus, telescope images, and electronic sound. The telescope images combine data obtained from: the JWST, Hubble Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory. The text was adapted by the composer from passages in the King James Bible that describe the heavens. This multimedia work was commissioned by the Southern Exposure New Music Series in celebration of the University of South Carolina School of Music’s 100th anniversary.
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The world premiere of Lift Up Your Eyes was given by the USC Chamber Choir, under the direction of Alicia W. Walker, at the November 15, 2024 Southern Exposure New Music Series Exposed Wiring concert (University of South Carolina, School of Music, Recital Hall, Columbia, SC, 7:30 pm).
Lift up your eyes,
Look to the heavens,
Who created all these?
Who brings the starry host out one by one,
and calls forth each of them by name.
Who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns the shadow of death into dawn,
and darkens the day into night,
and calls forth the waters of the sea,
and pours them over the face of the earth?
Blessed be the name of the LORD.
Praise ye the LORD.
Praise, O ye servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
from this time forth and for evermore.
From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same
the LORD’s name is to be praised.
The LORD is high above all nations,
and the LORD’s glory above the heavens.
Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens,
and those who provide justice for the many,
like the stars, they will shine for ever and ever.
Blessed be the LORD.
– Text adapted by the composer from the King James Bible (Isaiah 40:26 & 51; Amos 5:8; Psalm 113:1-4; Daniel 12:3; Luke 1:68)
Web Space Telescope – https://webbtelescope.org
Hubble Space Telescope – https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/
Chandra X-ray Observatory – https://www.nasa.gov/mission/chandra-x-ray-observatory/
Updated: November 16, 2024