Sanctus, for unaccompanied SATB chorus and tenor soloist (2000)
Duration: 4’
MP3 Player
Score excerpt
Awards Received:
Second Prize (Secondary Division), 2001 Vancouver Chamber Choir Young Composers' Competition
Selected for reading and recording, 2001 Baltimore Choral Arts Society Student Composer Project
Premiere:
Abington Friends School Upper School Chorus; Leandra Merea Strope, conductor / Michael Nesson, tenor soloist
Abington Friends School, Jenkintown, PA
Spring 2001
Performers in audio recording:
Recording from premiere
Text:
Traditional Latin Mass
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Program Notes:
I was very interested in the “Sanctus” section of the traditional Latin Mass, as I saw significant and obvious parallels between this unfamiliar (to me) ritual text and the more familiar text of the “Kedushah” in the traditional Jewish liturgy. These two texts translate to almost exactly the same thing in English: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; The heavens are full of His glory; Praises to the highest; Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” I’m sure in retrospect that my having taken Latin academically for four or five years by the time I wrote this song didn’t hurt my interest level, either.
The form of my setting is in three large sections. The main melody is sung in full by the tenor soloist, unaccompanied, at the beginning of the song, and that same melody (or nearly so) is repeated twice, with each repeat adding layers of harmony and complexity of voice leading. The first full repetition features only the lower voices (tenor and bass), to enhance the chant-like feel of the music, and the final repetition utilizes all the voice parts. I was striving for a sound that echoed the sound world of Gregorian chant without “borrowing” too literally from that repertoire.
I am grateful to Leandra Strope, my Chorus director at the time, for always encouraging me to stretch myself and compose new works for the choral groups at the school.
— August 2010