One work completed ... (post 1 of 2)
It was with mixed feelings that I completed Beati qui lugent, a piece intended to be for mourners what a Requiem mass is for the deceased, on what would have been my father's 65th birthday. We're even going to be performing part of it - the movement from which the work as a whole takes its name - at evensong on Sunday, 4th November, so that's something more to look forward to.
As I didn't really elaborate on the libretto I posted here last November (click on the link above to read it), the completion of the work seems an ideal opportunity to make up for it, so here we go ... (Note: the scoring in the numbered movements is different every time and the collects are all led by alto and tenor soloists, singing in unison throughout.)
I: O vos omnes (full choir)
"Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow" - a standard text, here given a different reading, with the mourner angrily dismissing others' pain as nothing compared to his/her own. This is borne out by unexpected modulations, cross-rhythms and frequent chromaticisms.
Collect for aid against all perils (full choir with soloists)
The one that begins "Lighten our darkness", the words also treated figuratively - if the sense of loss which follows the death of a loved one isn't darkness of a sort, I don't know what is.
II: Beati qui lugent (double female choir)
The second beatitude speaks directly to the bereaved, so its inclusion was more or less a foregone conclusion. There's something incredibly pure about female voices alone, even with trips into unexpected keys at key moments.
Collect for those in sorrow (full choir with soloists)
With the mood moving from a cri de coeur to the fervent hope of comfort, it's clear that it's going to take more than the preceding movement to restore calm, even when it closes in a more positive frame of mind.
III: Dominus reget me (full choir)
Psalm 23 has to be among the texts sure to provide comfort in difficult times - sung in Latin but to Anglican chant, which is somehow adds to the effect.
Collect for All Souls (full choir with soloists)
Finally a prayer for the deceased, suggesting the mourner is coming to terms with his/her loss. There's something almost ethereal about the words, the peace they refer to reflected in the music, finally freeing itself of dark modulations.
IV: Expecto resurrectionem (full choir, splitting into two choirs for a closing fugue)
The words say it all: resurrection and life eternal, a light at the end of an especially dark tunnel.
As I didn't really elaborate on the libretto I posted here last November (click on the link above to read it), the completion of the work seems an ideal opportunity to make up for it, so here we go ... (Note: the scoring in the numbered movements is different every time and the collects are all led by alto and tenor soloists, singing in unison throughout.)
I: O vos omnes (full choir)
"Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow" - a standard text, here given a different reading, with the mourner angrily dismissing others' pain as nothing compared to his/her own. This is borne out by unexpected modulations, cross-rhythms and frequent chromaticisms.
Collect for aid against all perils (full choir with soloists)
The one that begins "Lighten our darkness", the words also treated figuratively - if the sense of loss which follows the death of a loved one isn't darkness of a sort, I don't know what is.
II: Beati qui lugent (double female choir)
The second beatitude speaks directly to the bereaved, so its inclusion was more or less a foregone conclusion. There's something incredibly pure about female voices alone, even with trips into unexpected keys at key moments.
Collect for those in sorrow (full choir with soloists)
With the mood moving from a cri de coeur to the fervent hope of comfort, it's clear that it's going to take more than the preceding movement to restore calm, even when it closes in a more positive frame of mind.
III: Dominus reget me (full choir)
Psalm 23 has to be among the texts sure to provide comfort in difficult times - sung in Latin but to Anglican chant, which is somehow adds to the effect.
Collect for All Souls (full choir with soloists)
Finally a prayer for the deceased, suggesting the mourner is coming to terms with his/her loss. There's something almost ethereal about the words, the peace they refer to reflected in the music, finally freeing itself of dark modulations.
IV: Expecto resurrectionem (full choir, splitting into two choirs for a closing fugue)
The words say it all: resurrection and life eternal, a light at the end of an especially dark tunnel.
Labels: music
posted by Anthony at
22:15
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