Singing a psalm

Young Chang

Andrew Carter might be the most pleasant composer in the history of

composers.

He’s positively jolly. He speaks with a springy British accent that

makes every optimistic word sound extra delightful, and he beams when

someone sings his song.

There isn’t a hint of the brooding, complicated composer stereotype

about him. Not even on the day after he’s flown in from England. Not even

while he’s jet-lagged.

While mezzo-soprano soloist Laura Harrison sings part of his “Laudate

Dominum,” receiving its United States premiere Sunday at the Newport

Harbor Lutheran Church, the 62-year-old Carter pretends to waltz in his

seat.

“Do you get the dance feeling about it?” he asks, lighting up the room

with his smile.

The “dance feeling” is gotten.

The choirs of Newport Harbor Lutheran and Tustin Presbyterian Church

will combine to perform a program that includes Carter’s work and two

large Masses by Beethoven.

For a piece that was inspired by and based on a psalm -- Psalm 148, to

be exact -- Carter’s music is quite fun. For a psalm that’s all about

rejoicing, it’s appropriately jubilant.

“It’s a psalm of praise, a joyful one,” Carter said. “I wanted, in

this one, to invite something very accessible and tuneful.’

The congregants of Newport Harbor Lutheran consider it a good time to

be thankful. Pastor David Monge, who had been diagnosed with a brain

tumor and underwent surgery six weeks ago, returned to the pulpit last

week and received a standing ovation.

“It’s been a difficult time for the congregants during his very

serious illness,” said William Wells, minister of music and organist at

the church. “It’s a great time for the congregation to give thanks and

offer praise.”

The experience of listening to a chorus sing Carter’s work also

provides a different way of worship. Instead of just reading words of

praise, congregants get to listen to them sung.

“It gives the reader another way to praise the Lord and all of God’s

creation from the stars in the sky to the creatures of the ocean depths,”

said Wells, who is co-directing the concert.

It isn’t Carter’s first time working with an American church. More

than 10 years ago, Tustin Presbyterian had commissioned the

then-struggling-for-work composer to write an anthem to celebrate 15

years of service by Robert T. Volbrecht -- their minister of music and

co-conductor for Sunday’s concert.

As a Christian, it is easy for Carter to find spiritual relevance

behind the verses that speak of the heavens and earth praising God.

“I don’t think I could ever write anything I didn’t really believe,”

said Carter, whose prolific writings have been published for decades by

Oxford University Press. “The same for conducting. I can never conduct a

piece I don’t have sympathy with.”

The Leicester, England, native, who was brought up in the church,

converted to Quakerism after he met his wife, Sylvia, in his 30s. The

silent meeting style of the Religious Society of Friends appealed to

Carter. As a professional musician, he had a tendency to get caught up in

choral performances in churches -- whether the soprano was flat, whether

the tempo was on.

“And at that point I was rather dissatisfied with the church in

England, and Quakerism spoke to me,” Carter said.

In the section of the composition based on the words “Praise him, sun

and moon, praise him, all you shining stars,” Harrison sang a swaying,

dreamy tune that really was reminiscent of what Carter was going for.

“I tried to get the feeling of standing outside on a starry night,” he

said.

Words inspire this composer to hear music. Like any human being, he

says, he has a serious side and a fun side, and he often likes to write

pieces based on “fun words.”

Poetry by Walt Whitman, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Emily Dickinson and

English poet John Clare inspire him. Shakespeare is wonderful, he said,

but there’s too much meaning in his words, which makes it difficult for a

composer to set them to music.

And scriptural words, such as psalms, pop tunes into his head.

“I don’t see why the sacred and holy shouldn’t be fun as well,” Carter

said.

FYI

WHAT: U.S. premiere of Andrew Carter’s “Laudate Dominum”

WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, 798 Dover Drive, Newport Beach

COST: Suggested donation is $15

CALL: (949) 548-8004