It's taken nearly seven years - from the time the melodies first started rambling around in composer Bryce Neubert's mind until just a few months ago, when Neubert and lyricist Michael McLean had some profoundly moving experiences visiting the sacred Garden of Gethsemane in the Holy Land and began working with composer/arranger Merrill Jenson to complete what has become a 73-minute "allegorical oratorio" about the atonement of Jesus Christ.
"The Garden," which will have its world premiere live performance on Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Kingsbury Hall, is nearly as theatrical as it is choral.McLean, renowned for creating such works as "The Forgotten Carols" and "Celebrating the Light," a long-running summer production at Promised Valley Playhouse, said during an interview from his home in Heber City that "The Garden" could eventually be fully staged with costumes and scenery.
For now, it's a Deseret Book compact disc and is being performed as a choral work. (It was being performed this weekend at the Utah State University Institute of Religion by the USU Institute Chorale backed up by tape-recorded orchestrations.)
The upcoming Kingsbury Hall performances will mark the first time "The Garden" has been performed with a full orchestra, the 130-voice Choral Arts Society of Utah (directed by Jenson) and all but one of the original soloists from the recording.
Natalie Hill, who sings the role of the Seedling on the CD, is busy with a new production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in Provo. She'll be replaced by Sarah Gibbons at the concert.
The premise for "The Garden" is: What if various nonhuman elements in the Garden of Gethsemane were able to speak to us? These include a seedling that believes it cannot grow and a ram entrapped in a nearby thicket.
There is also conflict.
Satan is depicted as the Landlord, determined to evict all hope from what has become a place of peace. The Landlord's hatred is directed especially at the kind and compassionate Gardener.
"We hear from the barren olive tree and the millstone and the ram who got caught in the thicket because he strayed too far from the fold . . . these nonhuman things singing about the most human of all endeavors," said McLean.
"This is not a `casual listen,' " said McLean. "It's a spiritual investment. It helps if you're prepared before you come. People who have been most moved by it and who have been calling us have said they've just turned off the telephone and followed along with the lyrics - just letting themselves be taken from beginning to end."
McLean has also received requests from all over, including "an extraordinary group from Princeton," and other orchestras and oratorio societies seeking permission to perform the work.
Neubert, who has worked with McLean for several years, including handling technical work on his "Forgotten Carols" tours, first began playing some of the melodies for McLean three or four years ago.
"I knew that I wanted this to be Christ-centered," said Neubert, explaining how "The Garden" eventually came togther.
"These melodies Bryce was playing for me were deeply spiritual and very moving," added McLean.
About a year and a half ago the two began seriously considering how to craft them into a cohesive work.
"One year ago this very month, Bryce and I were in the Holy Land together, partly because I was performing there and partly because we wanted to continue the research. We had a profoundly spiritual experience there in the Garden of Gethsemane. Daniel Rona, who had been our guide, just opened up some extraordinary things."
For Neubert, his first visit to the Holy Land was incredibly moving. "I wasn't even off the plane and I was almost sobbing - it felt like home. We were hiking around the Dan River above Galilee and the music was running through our heads."
Neubert is also involved in both the concert and recording as a soloist, singing the role of the Ram.
When Neubert and McLean returned from Israel, the project shifted into high gear.
"The lyrics flowed in an incredibly short period of time," said McLean.
They approached Merrill Jenson, who not only scored and arranged the pieces, but added some cinematic themes of his own which tie the entire oratorio together.
"Deseret Book felt that the project needed a `big orchestral' treatment - not something with a pop, New Age-ish sound," noted Jenson. "My charge was to create a new dimension and try to enhance what Mike and Bryce had envisioned . . . give it the dignity and importance that this subject needed."
Tickets for "The Garden" are priced at $15. They're available at Deseret Book stores and ArtTix outlets, including the Capitol Theatre box office and selected Albertson's stores. Tickets can also be obtained by calling 355-2787. Seating is not reserved. Patrons are encouraged to allow ample time to park in the University of Utah stadium parking lot and catch the free shuttle buses to Kingsbury Hall.