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Vis Aeternitatis was written with the organ and choir of St. James' Church, Los Angeles, in mind - for their annual service of "Advent Lessons and Carols." It is dedicated to then Rector of the church, the Rev. Paul J. Kowalewski and his wife, Karen. Specifically, I was intent on writing a piece that might be effectively sung "in the round" with the choir encircling the congregation in the nave of the church. In my search for an appropriate text, this powerful poem on the subject of creation, Adam and the Word made flesh by Hildegard of Bingen immediately resonated with me. The form and style of the piece emanates from the vivid poetry: a mysterious opening drone in the organ and basses under a plainsong-like melody for the lower voices in a minor mode as the introduction; an hypnotic repetitive sequence in the tenors and altos evoking the word "eternity" under a variation of the opening chant in the sopranos; a transitory section where block harmonies and snippets of the chant express the phrase "the Word calls forth flesh in the shape that was drawn from Adam." The central section of the piece expresses the explosive "Power of Eternity", the title phrase of the piece, in a toccata-like cascade of organ figurations that outline a motive from the celebrated "Dies Irae" requiem chant ("Day of Wrath") intermixed with the choir outbursts of "Vis Aeternitatis" in a circle of 5ths harmonic progression, all of which expresses the various themes of "eternity", "power", "flesh", and "mortality." This rapturous section finally calms itself into a repetitive progression by the lower voices on the words "Vis Aeternitatis" which underlays the opening chant melody sung by the upper voices, transformed into a major mode, making a peaceful conclusion with a lone soprano soloist, hovering like a bird, whispering the final words "in the shape that was drawn from Adam." The work has been recorded on the Raven label (OAR-966) by Jeremy Filsell conducting the Choir of the Church of the Epiphany, Washington, DC.