Commissioned by Mississauga (Ontario) Children’s Choir, O Clap Your Hands is a setting of words from Psalm 47 as translated and adapted by the composer. Influenced by jazz and gospel music, this fast, energetic work surges forward with constant syncopation, rich pan-diatonic and chromatic harmony, and repeated melodic lines and text. The exciting initial melody in G minor, repeating the first line, balances the following melodic variation in D minor, repeating the second line with increasing intensity. The same melodic motive is then presented in E minor and developed with soprano solo or soli floating above the choir. The bright and challenging piano part, with its added-tone arpeggios and extended registers, highlights and punctuates the vocal lines. Through alternating keys, various homophonic and contrapuntal episodes, and the addition of “tutti” clapping, the work reaches a climactic, resounding ending.
Duration: c. 3:00