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Programme Note

Composer note:

Gospel Shout for John Boros is a commemorative piece for a buoyant and gifted composer-friend who died in an automobile accident when he was just thirty-one years old. John was deeply involved with gospel music, playing it professionally (and marvelously), and integrating it into his own work.

Unlike ragtime, which can be ‘sensitive’ and Schumannesque in inflection, gospel needs rock steady rhythm, massiveness of texture, and a relentlessly firm touch.

--John Harbison