There Was a Man Sent From God premieres in December, a highlight of BP Marionettes’ production of A Christmas Jubilee. It is an original piece written by Dr Roger Henry, the Marionettes Chorale’s own composer, conductor and assistant musical director. The show runs from December 5–8 at Queen’s Hall.
There Was a Man Sent From God, just under six minutes long, is a contemplative choral rendering of 13 verses from the Book of John (“In the beginning was the Word…”). The piece is set for a six-part choir, with soprano and baritone soloists. The layers of the work weave around each other in an extensive tapestry of overlapping phrases. The clusters become richer and more complex as the piece builds to its climax at the text, “To them gave He power to become the sons of God.”
Composer Dr Roger Henry joins an illustrious group of local composers and arrangers who have dedicated work specifically for the BP Marionettes. The group includes Desmond Waithe, the late Dr John Havelock Nelson, Stewart Hylton Edwards and Alma Pierre.
Long viewed as part of the Marionettes’ succession planning by artistic and musical director Gretta Taylor, Henry returned to Trinidad last year after completing his doctorate in choral conducting in the US, and has served as the Marionettes’ assistant musical director ever since. Henry made history last year, alongside Richard Tang Yuk, as being the first local adjudicators of the T&T Music Festival.
BP Marionettes’ 50th anniversary celebrations began last July with the sold-out production of Landmarks. The Marionettes look back as well as forward: through their new Children’s Choir; a new multi-generational executive team; and the tradition of commissioning original local works (while introducing well-established international ones), they express this mission.
The group of local composers will premiere another of Henry’s compositions next year: I To the Hills (a piece Henry dedicated to the choir for its 50th anniversary).
Tickets officially go on sale for There Was a Man Sent From God from Marionettes members from November 24 (orders@marionetteschorale.com or 790-1751), and at the Queen’s Hall Box Office from November 25 (624-1284, 10 am–6 pm Monday to Saturday) at $150 open and $200 reserved. There is an early bird special of ten per cent off the opening night performance, December 5, on tickets bought by December 1.