Canticle for String Orchestra

• Beal composed his Canticle for String Orchestra in 2017.

“It could be heard as a short story or prayer, perhaps regarding longing or a great loss. A loss carries beautiful memories, paired with the ache of absence.”

Jeff Beal, on Canticle for String Orchestra

“The simple seven-note motif serves as the work’s central theme: a totem, starting and ending on the same D. It’s as if we start where we began, coming into life and leaving life, as helpless, precious creatures.”

Jeff Beal, on Canticle for String Orchestra ¹

1. Joan Sapiro and Jeff Beal, liner notes to House of Cards Symphony, Flute Concerto, Six Sixteen, Canticle, Sharon Bezaly, Jason Vieaux, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, BIS 2299, CD, 2018