Description
Sound file and score preview here: The Hope Within (grade 3) - BENJAMIN DEAN TAYLOR, composer (benjamintaylormusic.com)
Program Note
The Hope Within was commissioned by the University of the Incarnate Word Wind Ensemble, Brett A. Richardson, Conductor, in memory of the conductor’s mother, Becky Bailey Richardson (1952-2016) who lost her life after a tragic battle with depression. The composer writes, "While sitting at the piano one day sketching material for this piece, I found myself in tears as I reflected upon the difficulties and hardships in my own life and the lives of family members and friends close to me. Addiction, abuse, the unexpected death of a young child, financial stress, depression, infidelity -- all of us are going through hard things, real things, things that seem impossibly hard to get through on our own. I offer this composition as my testimony that the Master Healer can and will "bind up the brokenhearted" (Isaiah 61:1). My hope rests on His power, grace and love. I pray that each of us can find peace and solace, even in hard times, as "partaker[s] of his hope" (1 Corinthians 9:10)."