NGA YUNG CHAN: Diabelli-Contest 2016

This piece is inspired by the Wessobrunner Gebet that written by Carl Orff-- for example the use of repeated notes in the melody and starting the piece with the male voice. And as like as Carl Orff's work, this piece also carries some spiritual messages.
This piece is divided into 2 sections—in the first section, it is sung in English, the music is in Dorian mode, which intends to create a feeling of ages ago that God created the world alone.

The phrases at the start are monophonic and singing slower than any part of the rest of the piece, it acts as a prelude to lead the audience to feel the time that everything was in a chaos state and God used His power and His word to create the universe and the world we see. Later on, more voices joined in to tell there was no sun, no moon, no sea, etc., until the lyrics “when there’s nothing”, only the Bass remained, it is to create a feeling that there was really “nothing”.

And then there are several melismata for “no ending”, “no limits” and “grace”, it is to emphasis that God’s grace is no ending and no limits. The last part of the first section was filled with the praise of “God is holy”.
The second section is gradually moving from Dorian mode to F major and it is sung in German.

The mood and colour is going to be brighter and warmer. Some melismata are used in when it's singing "nicht war" and "noch nicht" in order to emphasis that there was nothing at that time. The brighter mood afterwards is to imply that as God has created the world with love, the world is overflowing with His love. The last section of the music is the climax of this piece. All voices join together to praise God is holy.

Finally, the spiritual message is at the end of the piece. When you look at the score, you'll see that this piece doesn't end in tonic, it is to imply that God's love and grace are endless. As F major is the dominant of B flat major (the key signature), it has the meaning that God is dominating the universe, we don't have to be afraid or discouraged by any negative things that happened around us, always remember that anything happens has its meaning-- and the ultimate meaning is always "Love".

As there was nothing at the start of the world, God created the world with love. What happened in this world (even it's negative) is intended to bring us back to the state of Love. Therefore, may this piece light up everyone of you and bring you all back to your original state that God has created you for-- Love!