Classical Music | Piano Music

William Phemister

Agnus Dei  Play

Brian Lee Piano

Recorded on 10/19/2011, uploaded on 01/19/2012

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

 

Agnus Dei is taken from the Mass for Piano Solo by William Phemister, a renowned pianist and church musician in the Chicago area. He writes the following note: “A musical mass is always a sung setting of the traditional text. However, I wanted to write an instrumental impression of the text, like a ‘song without words’, combining contemporary sounds with the ancient melodies of Gregorian Chant, sounding mystical and spiritual, full of awe and wonder. As I wrote the Agnus Dei, my friend David Oliphant lay dying of cancer. I finished it just in time for his funeral in 1994.“    Brian Lee