For the Lamb Will Be Their Shepherd

Voicing: SATB Chorus unaccompanied
By Frank Ferko

"For the Lamb Will Be Their Shepherd" was commissioned to be performed as a companion piece to Bach's Cantata 112 (based on Psalm 23). The motet was first performed at a Bach Cantata Vesper Service at St. James Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon by the St. James Bach Choir conducted by Nancy LeRoi Nickel. The text is the NIV translation of Rev. 7:17 and is set for unaccompanied SATB choir. Based on Renaissance motet models, this motet begins with the entire text sung to an originally composed chant melody which then becomes the basis for the rest of the work. The chant melody is repeated in long note values, as a cantus firmus, sung alternately by the tenors and the sopranos, while the other voices provide exuberant counterpoint. The duration of the motet is approximately 3'45".