With PRAYER, the young composer Valentin Gasser has published his first work for symphonic wind orchestra.
While he was previously more at home composing jazz, in this very spiritual work he transforms an intimate and catchy melody into a chorale that can be wonderfully embedded in a sacred context without being too religious.

As the title suggests, it is a quiet, prayer-like work in which a short introduction with solo elements is followed by a slow, devotional chorale played by the woodwinds.
After an initial peak in the tutti, the character and instrumentation changes; the theme is now presented in a more striding manner by the brass.
Finally, the woodwinds and percussion join in again to build towards the hymn-like culmination of the work.
Like the introduction, the coda of PRAYER is again reduced to emphasise the intimate character of this “prayer”.

An approximately three-minute work that is very suitable for masses, church concerts or as a calm piece in a concert.