James Whitbourn

A Prayer For Desmond Tutu

Contemporary British composer and conductor James Whitbourn, an award-winning creator of Choral music, film and television scores and works for the concert hall, scored this simple, profound poem for Djembe drum, trebleVoices, Organ, and speaker. The African drum lifts A Prayer of Desmond Tutu from a chordal, evocative prayer setting and places it in history. Archbishop of South Africa Desmond Tutu was in office at the end of apartheid and thereleaseof Nelson Mandela from prison. His leadership to truth and reconciliation in South Africa has been instrumental in that country's development since 1994. He is the winner of the Nobel Prize. This poem is characteristic of his optimism and faith.