Writing Music Based Off a Psalm Every Day - Psalm 3

Welcome to the series where I write a piece of music based off of a Psalm every day until I make it through all 150 Psalms. Today is Psalm 3. ---------- In contemplating how to represent this Psalm musically, I decided to focus on the imagery of God being a shield against our foes. I chose to portray this in an almost visual manner by creating a sort of safe space in the middle of the piece where the followers of God are. This is demonstrated through a recapitulation of the tree theme from Psalm 1 which represents those who are rooted in the Lord. Surrounding this theme on either side are the chords played by the entire orchestra that were found in the piece for Psalm 2, representing God’s power as he keeps our enemies at bay. This is God acting as a shield around us, keeping us safe from those who would seek to harm us. On the outside of this shield are our enemies. I chose to represent them with a warlike ostinato string pattern in 15/8. This meter is one sixteenth off from 4/4, giving it a rushed and off balanced feel. Hearing it you can tell that there is something off about it. The warlike ostinato shows how they try to fight against the people of God, with the horns, woodwind runs, and timpani all adding to that effect. As they approach God’s people though, they are met with the unmovable, unstoppable force of God’s power. Against this force there is nothing they can do, and they slowly fade away in the end. -------------- Made in Muscore 4