To clarify the commissions performed at the Diocese of California's 150th anniversary service on July 17, 1999 [TLC, Aug 8]:

There were two commissions performed, both by California composer Conrad Susa. The first, the hymn-tune Eureka, to words by Brian Wren, was first performed last October at the diocesan convention, and again in July at the anniversary service.

The second, Psalm 150, a musical setting of the New Zealand prayer book translation, was premiered July 17 to a full cathedral with 180 singers from parish choirs. Susa's Psalm 150 is scored for brass, percussion, harp, guitar, organ, choirs and congregation. Each of the elements is quite simple. However, the combining of them was complex. At one point there is an aleatoric section during which one choir chants repeatedly (with instruments) "Praise the Lord" in a quick 5/8 rhythm, while other singers improvise on a chant-like melody. Simultaneously, the congregation is invited to chant the psalm in their own language (the eight principal languages of the diocese were printed out). At the conclusion of that section, all is silent, while a signer signs the psalm. A boisterous series of Amens ends the work.

John Fenstermaker

San Francisco, Calif.