Three Latin Motets
(2004)
Text: Marian texts
SATB (with divisions) a cappella
duration: 9'
1. Ave Regina 2. Ave Maria 3. Regina Caeli
Oxford University Press
Commissioned by Janet and Douglas Mackay in memory of their parents for the City of Canterbury Chamber Choir
First performance 4 April 2004
Canterbury Chamber Choir/George Vass
St Mary of Charity, Faversham, Kent
| Each of the chosen texts for these Three Latin Motets for unaccompanied SSATB choir is addressed to the Virgin Mary; the first, Ave Regina, for full choir, is a serenely expressive response to the 'Queen of the Heavens', 'from whom the light came into the world.' The tranquil and distinctive opening phrase is alluded to in passages of greater intensity, and its final partial restatement lingers on after the voices have died away.
The more intimate Ave Maria is written for upper voices; this gentle supplication to the Virgin grows from its plainchant-like opening, embracing expressive dissonances and suspensions in a setting of great purity and directness.
Regina Caeli is more spirited, with dramatic changes of mood and texture. In this hymn to the 'Queen of the Heavens', each Alleluia points up the linear setting of the verses, which traces the plainchant of the Regina caeli. The composer's keen sensitivity to the text is much in evidence in all three motets, which were commissioned by Janet and Douglas Mackay and first performed in April 2004 at St Mary of Charity, Faversham, Kent, by the Canterbury Chamber Choir conducted by George Vass. |