Dayspring, an archaic word for sunrise, is an apt title for a piece that is concerned with openings and beginnings.   Many of the small-scale and large-scale musical elements of the piece are open-ended, with the goal of creating a satisfying yet fully unrealized musical experience.  Like its visual inspiration, I hope Dayspring implies limitless possibility and joyful expectation.  The intense quiet of the ending reminds me of the inifinitesimal moment just before the first ray of light appears over the horizon.

Because it is not entirely a peaceful composition, Dayspring also contains seeds of the reality that will inexorably encroach upon the earth once the day begins.  Thinking about how each sunrise brings the potential for both unbridled joy and unfathomable sorrow, I was led to considerations of what my faith could say about the hope of reconciliation for our world.  This was a natural path for me, since I was  composing Dayspring while serving on the faculty of the Csehy Summer School of Music, a festival for young Christian musicians. 

In this context, the word “dayspring” took on an additional layer of meaning, since it is the word used in several passages in the King James Bible as a symbol of Christ.   As one whose vocation on this earth was to spread the joy of reconciliation despite persecution and death, the identification of Christ with the sunrise took on additional, rich meanings for me.  In the same way that a sunrise re-introduces us to a world with  great potential for goodness and harm, so Christ calls his followers to work for justice and reconciliation in this fallen world in order to bring peace and joy to the earth. 

Dayspring was premiered by the virtuoso soprano saxophonist Marshall Taylor in 2002.  The version for clarinet was premiered Joshua and Brian Kovach at the Chamber Music NOW concert in Manhattan , October 2002. 

 2005: Margo McGowan, clarinet, Delvyn Case, piano; Margo McGowan clarinet recital, 
          Musica Eclectica Concert Series, Quincy, Mass

 2005: Margo McGowan, clarinet, Delvyn Case, piano; Delvyn Case, composition recital, 
          Musica Eclectica Concert Series, Quincy, Mass. 

 2003: Richard Mathias, clarinet, Herb Bielawa, piano, Sounds New concert, Berkeley, CA

 2003: Beth Wiemann, clarinet, Delvyn Case, piano, College Music Society Northeast Chapter Meeting, 
          Bowdoin College 

 2003:  Chip Hill, clarinet, Erin Miller, piano, MasterWorks Festival, Winona Lake, Indiana

 2003: Marshall Taylor, tenor saxophone, Samuel Hsu, piano, Tenth Presbyterian Church Concert Series, 
          Philadelphia

 2003:  Phillip Staeudlin, soprano saxophone, Delvyn Case, piano, Boston College Composers Showcase

 2003: Marshall Taylor, tenor saxophone, Samuel Hsu, piano, Philadelphia Biblical University, Langhorne, PA 

 2003: Beth Wiemann, clarinet, Delvyn Case, piano, Acton Congregational Church, Acton, MA

 2002: Joshua Kovach, clarinet, Brian Kovach, piano, Chamber Music NOW Concert, 
          Christ & St. Stephen’s Church, NYC 

 2002:  Marshall Taylor, soprano saxophone, Delvyn Case, piano, Csehy Summer School of Music Faculty Concert,
           Langhorne, PA