The Celestial Sphere

Instrumentation

SATB,3(3picc)33(bcl)3 4331 t,p(4),Pf,hp,str,tape(ca.1 minute in Part 2, optional)

Year

1980

Duration

60:00

Dedication

Handel Oratorio Society in gratitude for one hundred years of faithful song to God

Commission

Augustana College in observance of the 100th anniversary of the Handel Oratorio Society

"THE CELESTIAL SPHERE is a monumental work, a sacred oratorio that scales the heights of religious emotionalism ... There was a standing ovation for the performance."

- Daily Dispatch

"THE CELESTIAL SPHERE is an exciting piece - convincing in its rapture, marvelously thunderous at its climaxes, striking in its confident integration of chorus and orchestra.  At every turn one senses, as one does in all choral masterpieces, the composer's delight at being allowed to work on a grand scale ... In short, THE CELESTIAL SPHERE excites and fascinates in all sorts of ways.  In this majestic choral/orchestral tapestry, Wuorinen has made a powerful statement and added to a repertory badly in need of replenishing,"

- Musical America