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| Composer J. A. C. Redford and poet Scott Cairns discuss their commission from First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, to compose an oratorio on the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp, a bishop of Smyrna during the first century; the work had its premiere performance in April 2004 at the church. Polycarp, who knew Saint John and other eye-witnesses to the life of Christ, was martyred when he was in his late 80s. His friend Marcion (not the heretic associated with gnosticism) wrote a letter about the martyr's death to the church at Smyrna, and it is this letter on which Redford and Cairns's "The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp" is based. Both Redford and Cairns studied Marcion's letter and various other letters about and by Polycarp for the commission, and both said that composing the music and libretto for the oratorio stretched and deepened their faith. Redford talked of meditating on the balance of evil and good as he struggled with how to depict it rightly in the work, and Cairns discussed how the sweetness of the letters infused his life as he dwelt with them. |
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| For more information about Mr. Redford, Welcome All Wonders, and his other music, click on www.jacredford.com. |
Music, Sacred
Music--Composers
Polycarp, Saint
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