Written for piano (or guitar), alto soloist, and oboe.
One day in the early 1980s, while puttering around on the piano, I began to hammer out a tune I liked. To ensure that I did not forget it before writing it down, I played it again and again.
I played it so many times, in fact, that words began to form in my wonderful (and smart and sensitive) wife’s mind. She pictured Mary, the mother of Jesus, gazing in amazement at her newborn babe. My wife first entitled it “Who Will He Be? -A Mother’s Lullaby,” capturing the sentiment every mother feels while looking at her newborn and wondering what would become of her child. Would he or she become famous, wealthy, etc? So many questions. For years we referred to it as “Who Will He Be?” Finally, however, we realized we needed to change the words – though we loved them — because Mary, according to scripture, had already been told by an angel who Jesus would be.
My wife sang it around the house but asked a particular alto to sing it at The Community United Methodist Church of Virginia Beach where we were attending. The lady did a beautiful job, and, if I recall correctly, my wife played the flute descant to the number.
We are still trying to get the piece published, and so, this past year we enlisted the help of Russell Ronnebaum, a professional musician, in changing a word or two, altering some of the interludes, and notating the chords, so that the piece could also have a guitar accompaniment if someone so desired.
We have since sent it to a relative in Nashville, hoping that through his connections it might be published and sung.
Listen to a soulless, computer generated, MIDI recording of this piece:
