The "I AM" Sayings of Jesus

a series of 8 motets for one to eight voices by Antony Pitts - duration: c.37'00

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The “I AM...” Sayings of Jesus – the words
Anyone who reads through the Gospel of John should be shocked by the statements of identity uttered continually and uncompromisingly by the young rabbi from Nazareth almost two thousand years ago.  Certainly contemporaries of Jesus (or Yeshua) – learned scribes and elders on the lookout for the Messiah – were shocked both to the core of their understanding of God, and to the point of demanding execution for blasphemy.  The idea that Jesus ‘was just a good man’ makes no sense next to the evidence recorded in John’s Gospel: clearly this man was utterly delusional – mad, bad, and dangerous to know – unless, of course, it was truth that was being told.  “Before Abraham was, I AM” is the clearest statement of all, and comes at the end of a long dialogue in John chapter 8; the reaction to it brings the dialogue to an end, as words are replaced by stones in the hands of an angry crowd.  Jesus is specifically referring to the sacred Name of God revealed to Moses at the Burning Bush: “I AM who I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

There are seven variations on this theme, scattered throughout John’s Gospel, and summed up with “I AM Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End” which comes several times in the Book of Revelation (traditionally also ascribed to John).  The seven statements, known as the Great “I AM” sayings of Jesus, are: “I AM the bread of life” (John 6:35,48,51), “I AM the light of the world” (John 8:12, 9:5, 12:46), “I AM the door” (John 10:7,9) “I AM the good shepherd” (John 10:11,14), “I AM the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I AM the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and “I AM the true vine” (John 15:1,5).  In addition, there are two abnormal occurrences in John’s Gospel linked directly to the words “I AM”: when Jesus walks to the disciples in their boat out on the Sea of Galilee (John 6:20), and in Gethsemane when those who have come to arrest Jesus fall backwards to the ground (John 18:5).

The “I AM...” Sayings of Jesus – the music
In attempting to set these sayings to music – at different times and for different occasions over the past decade – I wanted to convey something of the essence of each statement, and, across the whole series, to trace the identity of the Person making these extraordinary statements.  Each of the eight motets is for a different number of voices (between 1 and 8), and each focuses on a different melodic interval; while at the same time, there is a common harmonic core and an exploration of related rhythmic and structural ratios.  Although each piece was written quite separately, when combining them into a whole I discovered significant musical relationships of which I had not been consciously aware (such is the mystery of the creative process), and which have made it a surprisingly natural procedure.  I have mostly made notational changes to make it easier to perform the motets together, although in a couple of the more recent settings I have found it necessary to rework the material in more depth. Although each piece can be performed separately, or any number of them in any order, I have settled upon a particular formal order for the cycle which is primarily a musical one, following the expansion of the intervals (from unison, through seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, and sevenths, to octaves) and making sense of the inherent tempo relationships.  It is not simply the order in which they appear in John’s Gospel (the first four and the second three statements are interleaved), nor is it the order in which the settings were composed (although apart from the final motet to be written, which appropriately stands at the head of the cycle, it is pretty close).  The series is framed by Before Abraham was, I AM and I AM Alpha and Omega, and in-between are the seven ‘variations’ (the numbers in brackets refer to the order in John’s Gospel):

[M = Mezzo/Mean or upper voices in general; Bar = Baritone or lower (male) voices]

Amen, amen, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.
(Exodus 3:14; John 6:20; 8:25b,18,24b,28,31-32,51,56,58)

2. I AM the Bread of Life
I AM the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.  I will raise him up at the last day.  I AM the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.  Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

4. I AM the Light of the World
I AM the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

8. I AM Alpha and Omega
I AM Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Alleluia)
I AM the first and the last. What thou seeest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches. It is done. (Alleluia)
I AM the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  And behold, I come quickly.
I AM Alpha and Omega. (Alleluia)
Amen.
(John 18:5; Revelation 1:8,11; 21:6; 22:12,13,20)