Program Notes

O Clavis David or "O Key of David" was a natural choice of Antiphon for me for the Choral Arts Philadelphia's Holiday "O Antiphon" commissioning project. On top of the namesake bit, the key of David is mentioned in Revelation 3:17 at the church of Philadelphia (but in Turkey, not Pennsylvania).

The words of O Clavis David resonate today as much as they have in the previous millennia:

"O Key of David, and the scepter of the House of Israel
Who open, and no one shuts
Who shut, and cannot be opened
Come, and lead those in bondage out of prison,
Who stay in darkness, and the shadow of death"

It is a call to the Messiah; an inextinguishable light in the darkest
times, who leads us from the suffering of war into the bounty of peace.

Press

"David Ludwig, always a good judge of human response to evolving harmonies, appropriately mourned in the shadow of death in O Clavis David (O Key of David)." - Philadelphia Inquirer