The Call of the Righteous - Score and Parts - Leslie Condon

Program NotesCall of the Righteous is a tone poem that uses the Gospel song melody "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" as its main theme. An unforgiving opening unison trumpet fanfare leads into the first statement of the tune, which then appears, either in its entirety or in fragments, throughout the piece alongside further thematic material derived from the opening fanfare theme. The reflective central section contains a beautiful original melody, introduced by the clarinet and developed elsewhere, before the music reverts to ideas derived from the opening section, introduced by a recapitulation of the opening fanfare figure, which is further developed to bring the music to a thrilling and dramatic conclusion.Although the music has its creative roots in religious doctrine, it has a lasting and popular appeal that makes it accessible and listenable at every level, with plenty to challenge on both technical and musical levels.