Glimpse of a Genius
Emil Soderstrom at his best . . .
Glimpse of a Genius
Emil Soderstrom at his best . . .
Click and load while you read . . .
I consider it among God’s greatest blessings that I have counted among my
dearest friends many musical giants. I will not name them here, save one, Emil
Soderstrom. For some he was a difficult man . . . not so for me. He was one of
my dearest and best friends in life. If he were here physically and heard me
refer to him as a genius he’d likely take a swing at me, verbally or otherwise.
However, I hold that he was and I will offer the listener but a small fragment
of one of his many great works as proof.
In the 1950’s he visited a Camp-Of-The-Woods
in NY and wrote a piece for concert band called Song Of
Israel. He did so without writing a score! He simply wrote out the parts for
sixty-plus musicians! He later decided to do the same for brass band and wrote
out parts from memory and visited The Salvation Army Chicago Staff Band to try
it out, again absent a full score! I know because I was there that night when it
was first played in the brass version under his baton. It is 163 bars and lasts
something over seven minutes and is very complex and extremely difficult. The
horn part that evening and for years thereafter was wondrously played by the
incomparable Howard Chesham, another treasured friend.
I recently called upon my good
friend, Bandmaster Ronald Waiksnoris of the New York Staff Band to provide me
with a copy of the score to study. Memories washed over me as I poured over the
score. When I got to the Andante Pastorale section I was totally overcome
and compelled to make it possible for others to sample the exquisite beauty of
the music of this humble man, my friend, the genius.
Song of Israel features the
hymn tune Leoni, an ancient Hebrew hymn named for the man who transcribed it for
western use. The words associated with it are “God of Abraham Praise”. In this
little pastorale Soderstrom tells of: “ . . . a scene of unbelievable beauty;
the land of milk and honey. David is tending his father’s sheep, and the young
poet-musician is deeply moved by the pastoral beauty around him. This may well
have been the kind of scene which inspired the twenty-third psalm. David takes a
self-made reed flute and plays “Song of Israel” in keeping with the tranquil
scene.”
As I looked upon this music I was
completely overcome and sobbed openly at the simple beauty of it.
Should I live to be a hundred I doubt I shall ever approach writing music of
such transcendent beauty. Listen to it in the brass band version by clicking the
link above. God bless you!
(Dr. Soderstrom's David's Pastorale is now in our organ catalog. See Brass Band, Piano, Other Ensembles and Vocal Catalogs for other music by Emil.)
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