Messiah in America
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Messiah in America is a 34-movement, 7-part oratorio composed by Brett Stewart. Its subject is Christ's visitation to the Americas, as depicted in the Book of Mormon. It is written for a choir, a children's chorus, Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass soloists, full orchestra and organ. The libretto was compiled by Brett Stewart and Bruce Richardson from the Book of Mormon and the Bible with no poetic insertions, in order to maintain scriptural integrity.
It debuted in concert on March 31, 2010, at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California by the Orange County group of the Millennial Choirs and Orchestras. The oratorio was recorded in Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah, by all of Millennial Choirs and Orchestras. It was released as an album on December 13, 2011, and debuted as No. 1 on Billboard's Traditional Classical Album list.[1]
Brett Stewart's brother, Brandon Stewart describes him as a Neo-Romantic Contemporary. The great majority of the work is written in a Romantic style. However, it draws from every Western Music style period. Many elements, passages, and even whole movements are written in Baroque or Classical styles. Contemporary elements are throughout the work, most notably in the percussive tenth movement "There Arose a Great Storm". Movement fourteen has significant melismatic passages. The final movement "Amen" contains a fugal section.[2]