For Matthew (Lament & Prayer)

In the pre-dawn hours of October 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old son of Judy and Dennis Shepard, was kidnapped, tortured, beaten, and left to die in a frost-covered field near the University of Wyoming. According to courtroom testimony, the two murderers, following a plan made before ever meeting their victim, randomly selected the slightly-built college student from among the patrons at a gay-friendly pub and lured him with the promise of a safe ride home. Mistaking him for a scarecrow, an early morning jogger discovered the comatose youth tied cross-like to a fence, his battered head covered in blood except for streaks washed clean by tears.

Oboe substitutes for soprano (or tenor) in this recording:

Here, cello substitutes for baritone (or mezzo):

It was from this horror that the text of the Lament arose. During the days following that cowardly and brutal attack, while young Matthew lay in a coma, I was haunted by Samuel Barber's song, The Crucifixion, as witnessed in my allusion to its moving verse, by W.H. Auden. The appended Prayer was directly inspired by the reflections of the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston on October 12, 1998, the day that Matthew Shepard died. Bishop Charleston, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, former Bishop of Alaska, and now President and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School, observed that, "Crimes of hate may live in shouts of rage, but they are born in silence," referring to fears that prevent many within the Christian community from actively supporting unpopular but just causes, despite "the words of a savior whose only comment on human relationships was to call us to never judge but only to love." Still, the U.S. Congress maintained until October, 2009, that Federal protection against violent hate crimes was unwarranted when the hatred and violence were motivated by homophobia.

The poem was written in 1998, during the week Matthew Shepard died. The musical setting, originally for tenor and string quartet, was composed in 2000, and soon adapted for chorus with flute and organ accompaniment. The preferred CHORAL VERSION, using piano and flute (or violin) instead of organ, was prepared in July 2006, at the request of Dr. Carole Clifford for the Orange Park Chorale (Orange Park, Florida).

The following is a rather crude recording of the solo version with a synthesized accompaniment. I'm afraid it was made well after I retired from singing, so please pardon the rough edges--and that it is transposed down from the original!

For Matthew

Lament

Wyoming stars in silent horror cried

as Satan's fists struck hard again,

then crucified God's gentle child.

And there the weeping night in disbelief beheld

a broken boy's despair: chilled bones, alone,

barefoot and bleeding, swaddled in an icy shroud

distilled and crystallized from autumn's tears.

O hear the first bird's cry

and feel the breaking of his heart

to realize his mother's grief.

Prayer

Why own this fear? Our silence multiplies,

condemning us complicit in his pain,

complacency our guilty wile.

Now pray his suffering might our apathy dispel;

let hopeful deeds amend and help atone.

No hateful shouts of rage--but let us call aloud

for justice, truth, and love, through sorrow's haze.

O hear the first bird's cry

and heed the waking in our hearts

lest death be vain. Rest, Matthew. Peace.

CLICK the thumbnails (below) for the complete vocal part:

In 2009 I made a purely orchestral arrangement of the song: