RAHAB

Performed by:

• The East Texas Baptist University Symphonic Band; Mark Crim, conducting; Laurie Lee Cosby as Rahab
• Valparaiso University Chamber Concert Band; Jeffrey Scott Doebler, conducting; Cynthia Wohlschlager as Rahab
• The Windiana Concert Band; Jeffrey Scott Doebler, conducting; Beth Ray Westlund as Rahab
• PREMIERE: The Luther Summer Music Honors Band; Jeffrey Scott Doebler, conducting; Beth Ray Westlund as Rahab

Program Notes

The story of Rahab of Jericho is found in the Old Testament in Joshua 2: 1-21 and Joshua 6: 25.  On the eve of the destruction of Jericho, Rahab, a harlot whose house is on the great, impregnable city wall, providentially encounters two Israelite spies sent by Joshua to spy out the land.  She hides them from her King’s soldiers, saving their lives, and in exchange, she is spared when the city is destroyed.  Rahab is an important Old Testament figure because her story, fascinating as it is, does not end with her exodus from the doomed city.  Her name surfaces not once, but three times in the New Testament. (Matthew 1: 5; Hebrews 11: 31; and James 2: 25.)  
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Rahab was begun September 2010 during an artist residency at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, continued at a lakeside cottage in rural Maine belonging to the composer’s colleague and friend, visual artist Barb Drennan, and completed in December 2010 at the composer’s home in Canton, Ohio.   

The composer is most appreciative of the generous support for this project by Malone University, the MacDowell Colony, and Barb Drennan.  He also wishes to thank playwright Justin Sherrin, wordsmith Alexandra Gomez-Robbins , and fellow composer William Vollinger for their valuable suggestions about the libretto.