As difficult as February is with the death of three of my diaconal family, March is equally difficult with the death of two of my diaconal family.
This Psalm Offering was composed as an ordination present for Dominic and Helen Ehrmantraut. Dominic and Helen were very good people. Helen’s demeanor or perhaps the way she prayed reminded me of my mother. Dominic and Helen were totally devoted to one another. They prayed together, and worked hard as they raised a large family. They had all the concerns and troubles that most families had. Dominic has a gentle way about him. While he was not afraid to confront someone, he always did it quietly and in a very respectful way. These two people were very much bone of one bone and flesh of one flesh. Helen died on May 27th, 2005. It is the only funeral of our classmates that Ruthie and I did not attend for the reason that we didn’t know about Helen’s death until six months following her funeral. Both Ruthie and I were devastated by the news and the fact that we were not there for Dominic. After having lost contact with Dom for a number of years, we found he was in a nursing home. He died on March 9th, 2017. I will always remember Dominic and Helen as loving and caring people. I recall that Dominic used to make and serve a very potent cherry liqueur.
This Psalm Offering is written in the key of C major. It is in 3 part, ABA form. Of all the melodies in Opus 5, melody A is the one that has many characteristics of an Irish melody. Melody A is stated gently and quietly. It segues to melody B, which is at a quicker tempo, borrowing and building on a motif from melody A. Melody A returns to conclude the music. Though Dominic and Helen were as German as can be, the melody has an Irish Air quality about it, hence the title of the song.
Just a reminder that all my music is downloadable from CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon. It can also be heard on YouTube and Spotify.
