Holy the Firm was written for soprano Dawn Upshaw, on a commission from BYU, and - fittingly - premiered by Ms. Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish in Provo, Utah in 1999. Cleveland-born composer James Primosch drew texts from the writings of three 20th-century American women and a seventh century Sinai desert monk for his luminous songs, Holy the Firm. The poetic words are sensitively matched to music that evokes images of fire, Jacob's ladder, an everyday god and deathbed sensations. Wilma Salis...