“O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” So begins Psalm 98, a triumphant summons to praise that forms the spiritual and structural foundation of Make a Joyful Noise. This brass quintet composition explores the layered emotional terrain of worship—outwardly exuberant, inwardly reverent—through two contrasting yet complementary themes.

The work opens with a glorious fanfare, a musical invocation that echoes the psalm’s call to “make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.” This bold, harmonically rich gesture foreshadows the first primary theme: an effervescent, rhythmically buoyant motif that dances with vitality and forward motion. It embodies the spirit of verses 4 and 5—“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm”—capturing the uncontainable joy of communal celebration, though absent of the harp in this musical iteration of the Psalm.

In contrast, a second theme emerges with a more solemn character—lyrical, noble, and imbued with a sense of holy awe. This theme reflects the psalm’s deeper undercurrent of remembrance and righteousness: “The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel.” Rather than opposing the first theme, this material offers a contemplative counterbalance, inviting listeners into the sacred stillness that often accompanies true praise.

As the piece unfolds, these two themes interweave in profound dialogue, mirroring the psalm’s vision of a world in harmony before its Creator. The brass quintet, with its capacity for both brilliance and depth, becomes the ideal vessel for this sacred interplay. The work culminates in a radiant uptick in tempo, a final affirmation of the psalm’s closing charge: “With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.”

Make a Joyful Noise is not merely a musical setting of scripture—it is a celebration of the full spectrum of praise: from the exuberant to the reverent, from the communal to the personal, from the earthly to the divine.