Full score for this work for Guitar and Small Ensemble. Ruders writes: The word has its origin in ancient Greek: Psalmoidia i.e. singing to the harp and we find the word again in Psalter derived from Psallein playing the strings with the fingers . 'Psalmodies' written for and dedicated to David Starobin has no specific religious content or aim; the collection of eleven pieces forms a concert-suite displaying a wide range of emotions; from the jubilant to the dismal the guitar playing the natural leading part inside a chorus of woodwinds and strings. The title and each movement mirrors the variety of moods from the secular feast of A Fanfare for All to the sacredintroversion of A Prayer with Halo. 'Psalmodies' opens with a guitar-solo and closes down with one: the rejoicing Entrance for One and the hushed melancholy Exit for One thus exemplifying the emotional compass which I in an essay on my first symphony; Himmelhoch Jauchsend-zum Tode betrübt entitle: Of Joy and Grief. Of Worship and Oblivion.
