“We Should Be Gentle” is about gentleness, the eighth fruit of the Spirit. The accompaniment centers around a four-measure mezzo piano ostinato of four chords. An ostinato felt right to help depict gentleness because through hearing an ostinato, we find stability, delicacy, and restraint. Jarring atonality, for example, would be a complete contrast of musical gentleness, as would robust fortissimo music. Therefore, the piece rarely goes above mezzo piano, grounded in gentle seventh and ninth chords. Imagine a gentle brook that steadily ripples; the ostinato aims to create that same effect musically. The piece lists several examples of situational characters exhibiting gentleness that set a good example for us to follow. The sole harmonic deviation from the ostinato encourages listeners to be gentle not just in actions, but in words as well. As the examples continue to be listed in the return of the ostinato following this section, slight textural changes are made in the accompaniment over the same sequence of four chords before eventually returning to its original form. The Scriptures used in this movement are Titus 3:2 and Proverbs 15:1.
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Austin-Sinclair Harris 