VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers; Marimba Nandayapa; featured marimba soloists; Macalester African Music Ensemble; University of Minnesota Marimba Ensemble

Visions is the work that was commissioned for VocalEssence at the invitation of Philip Brunelle. I decided to use the hymn “Be Thou My Vision” — a personal favorite of mine, and create a work out of the various verses with some slightly different harmonies to balance off of the traditional ones. It was written with the space of the Cathedral in mind. I decided to divide the choir into four parts and place each choir in a corner of the sanctuary space. Accompanying each choir is a marimba. This hymn is comprised of a very strong melody which lies well in the voice and a couple of verses are in unison. It works in layers with both voices and marimbas covering a wide range and overlapping with each other as well. The piece was designed so that it works well to have some harmonies and melodic ideas linger at their finishing while others are just beginning.
—Stephen Paulus