Scored for
mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Duration
7 min
Short description
The Woman with the Alabaster Box for a cappella mixed choir was composed with another a cappella choir piece, Tribute to Caesar for the 350th anniversary of the Karlstad Episcopacy in Sweden and premiered by the Eric Westberg Vocal Ensemble.
A narrative prose text from the Gospel of Matthew is figuratively shaped as music, expressing the content of the biblical scene. Female voices dominate the story of the woman who poured precious ointment on Jesus’ head. The displeasure of the disciples is conveyed through a duet of male voices; Jesus’ direct speech is communicated through the bass voices, and his prediction by the full sound of the choir.
World premiere
18.10.1997
Karlstad Cathedral, Karlstad, Sweden
Concert: Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble
Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble
Completion year
1997
Commissioned by
Karlstad Diocese for their 350th anniversary
Scored for
mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Duration
7 min
Publishers
Universal Edition
Language
English
Vocal text
Matthew 26, 6–13
Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the
leper,
There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of
very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he
sat at meat.
But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying,
To what purpose is this waste?
For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given
to the poor.
When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble
ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon
me.
For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not
always.
For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she
did it for my burial.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be
preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that
this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the
leper,
There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of
very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he
sat at meat.
But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying,
To what purpose is this waste?
For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given
to the poor.
When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble
ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon
me.
For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not
always.
For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she
did it for my burial.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be
preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that
this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.