Clay Whittington

Judith Lang Zaimont

Biography

Oeuvre

  • 13 orchestral works
  • 38 chamber Works
  • 27 keyboard works
  • 4 wind ensemble works
  • 1 children’s Opera
  • 19 vocal piano/chamber
  • 19 choral works

Compositional Style

  • Centrifugal Tonality: Rather than traditional tonal centers, Zaimont favors a more expansive approach to tonality—moving outward from a tonal core, giving her music both coherence and unpredictability.
  • Harmonic Language: She frequently employs 5- and 6-note sonorities, creating dense yet clear harmonic textures. This lends her music a shimmering, often impressionistic quality.
  • Rhythmic Drive: Her works are known for propulsive rhythms and strong forward motion. Even in slow or lyrical sections, there is an underlying sense of momentum.
  • Textural Complexity: While never gratuitously complex, her music often features layered textures, carefully calibrated to suit the expressive needs of each piece.
  • Formal Clarity: Zaimont maintains clear formal structures, giving her music a sense of architectural solidity, even when the harmonic language is richly chromatic or atmospheric.
  • Motivic Concentration: Particularly in her later works, she focuses on developing small motivic ideas, allowing for organic growth and thematic unity.
  • Color and Timbre: A gifted orchestrator, Zaimont has a keen ear for instrumental color, using unusual combinations and effects (e.g., finger snapping, clock ticking) for expressive impact.
  • Stylistic Range: While rooted in classical tradition, her work sometimes incorporates ragtime, jazz, or folk-like elements, as in Judy’s Rag or Hidden Heritage.
  • Literary and Spiritual Influences: Many works are inspired by texts, spiritual themes, or extra-musical concepts, which she brings to life through careful text setting and evocative musical imagery.

www.judithzaimont.com

Sacred Service
for the Sabbath Evening

Commissioned by the Great Neck Choral Society in 1976 for the Bicentennial of the USA (Great Neck Gardens, Long Island, New York)

Sacred Service for the Sabbath Evening has yet to be recorded in its entirety. There are also no known performances of the work in its entirety.

Duration: 72 minutes

Score

PART I
I. The Lord Reigneth (Psalm 97) | PDF Perusal Score | Excerpted Choral Octavo
II. Meditation and Aria: God and Father | PDF Perusal Score
III. I rejoiced when they said unto me | PDF Perusal Score
IV. Why do we deal treacherously? | PDF Perusal Score | Excerpted Choral Octavo
V. Let justice well up as the waters, like a mighty stream | PDF Perusal Score

PART II
VI. Aria: O Lord, how can we know Thee? | PDF Perusal Score
VII. Sh’ma yisra’el | PDF Perusal Score
VIII. Thou shalt love the Lord | PDF Perusal Score | Excerpted Choral Octavo
IX. Responsive Reading: May the righteous of all nations rejoice | PDF Perusal Score
X. Chorus: Who is like unto Thee, O Lord? | PDF Perusal Score

PART III
XI. Recitative (Baritone and Chorus): As Thou hast redeemed Israel | PDF Perusal Score
XII. Aria (Baritone): Praised be Thou, O Lord, God of our fathers | PDF Perusal Score
XIII. Aria (Baritone): Eternal is Thy power, O Lord | PDF Perusal Score
XIV. Reader and Chorus: Praised be Thou, O Lord | PDF Perusal Score
XV. Meditation and Chorus: May the works of my mouth | PDF Perusal Score
XVI. Epilogue: Aria (Baritone) and Chorus: May the time not be distant, O God | PDF Perusal Score

Performing Forces

Flutes 1 and 2 (Piccolo)
Oboes 1 and 2 (English Horn)
Clarinets 1 and 2 (both in B♭ and A)
Bassoons 1 and 2
French Horns 1 and 2
Trumpets in B♭ 1 and 2
Trombones 1 (tenor) and 2 (tenor-bass)
Piano
Tympani
Clashed cymbals, suspended cymbal, triangle, chimes, slapstick, glockenspiel
Violins 1 and 2
Violas
‘Celli
Basses
Baritone solo
Chorus (S. A. T. B.)

Highlighted Movements

I. The Lord Reigneth (Psalm 97) | PDF Perusal Score | Excerpted Choral Octavo

The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
let the multitudes of isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are around Him;
righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne.
The heavens declare His righteousness,
let the earth rejoice, and all the peoples behold His glory.
Zion heareth and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice;
because of Thy judgments, O Lord.
O ye that love the Lord, hate evil.
He preserveth the souls of His saints;
He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown for the righteous,
and gladness for the upright in heart.
Be glad in the Lord, ye righteous;
and give thanks to His holy Name.

IV. Why do we deal treacherously? | PDF Perusal Score | Excerpted Choral Octavo

Why do we deal treacherously brother against brother?
Why do we deal treacherously—why do we, why?
Seek good, not evil, that ye may live.

VIII. Thou shalt love the Lord | PDF Perusal Score | Excerpted Choral Octavo

Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart. Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt speak of them when thou sittest  in thy house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart. Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thy house and upon thy gates. That ye may remember and Do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
Eternal truth it is that Thou alone art God and there is none else.
– Deuteronomy 6:4-5,6

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