Tapestry of Fire is a concert piece for organ. I imagined it as musical tapestry of hymns for the season of Pentecost, woven on the warp and woof of the Gregorian chant Veni Creator Spiritus. Veni Creator Spiritus has deep meaning in my life. I learned it when I was five years old, from Sister Helen Marie, CSA, along with all the first grade students at Christ the King Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I invoke it daily and I've quoted and/or alluded to it in many of my compositions.

The piece is in three sections: Invocation, Weaving and Coda/Joy. Invocation calls the Holy Spirit to us. In the presence of the Holy Spirit, Weaving entwines four hymns*, “Come, God of Heaven and Earth”, “O Christ, Our Light, O Radiance True”, “Come, Thou Font of Every Blessing” and ”O Holy Spirit, Enter In” with “Veni Creator Spiritus” to weave the substance of my imagined tapestry. The third section, Coda/Joy, is an exuberant celebration of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

*Come, God of Heaven and Earth – “Hymn to the Trinity” Anonymous, English, c1757

O Christ, Our Light, O Radiance True – Gesang-Buch, Nürnberg, 1676

Come, Thou Font of Every Blessing – Robert Robinson, 17599, alt

O Holy Spirit, Enter In – Philipp Nicolai, 1556-1608 Section