I don’t think I could be more happy with how the performance turned out. Sarah Whittemore, the Basilica Choir, and orchestra all did a wonderful job with the psalm! Listen to the live performance below to hear for yourself.
Read about how this piece came to be here.
Written by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609), Vexilla Regis is one of the great chant hymns of the church. Appropriately sung at vespers from Passion Sunday until Holy Thursday, on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross and even on Good Friday, the hymn was originally written to celebrate the arrival of a large relic of the True Cross in Poitiers, France.
In the French Classical tradition when singing hymns, the organ alternated verses with the choir. Having always enjoyed the sounds of the French Classical organs, when I had the opportunity to play a recital at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany, NY on Palm Sunday, I decided to write a suite for organ on this great hymn of the cross. The suite contains six movements and uses traditional tonal language and registrations of the period.
Vexilla Regis
The Third Edition of the Roman Missal presented opportunities for composers to create new musical settings of the texts used for celebration of Mass. The National Association of Pastoral Musicians took advantage of the opportunity to sponsor a competition. All entries were to be judged initially by a panel of five judges. The final winner was determined by popular vote after presentation at the convention in Detroit. The entire competition was conducted blindly with even the finalists only being announced after the voting had taken place. The musical setting of the new translation of the Mass that I submitted was awarded third place.
You can here the Lamb of God with choir, strings, and flute below.
Regina caeli laetare, Alleluia,
Quia quem meruisti portare. Alleluia,
Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia.
Intended for use during the Easter Season, this is the second Marian antiphon I set for SSAATTBB choir. The traditional chant melody is cast in a modern tonal language. A piano reduction of the SSAATTBB piece provided in the score for rehearsals. The audio below was generated by the Finale music notation program.
Alma Redemptoris Mater,
Quae pervia caeli porta manes,
Et stella maris, succurre cadenti,
Surgere qui curat, populo:
Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante,
tuum sanctum Genitorem,
Virgo prius ac posterius,
Gabrielis ab ore, sumens illud Ave,
peccatorum miserere.
Intended for use during the season of Advent, this is the fourth Marian antiphon I set for SSAATTBB choir. The traditional chant melody is cast in a modern tonal language. A piano reduction of the SSAATTBB piece provided in the score for rehearsals. The audio below was generated by the Finale music notation program.
A Christmas carol for young voices (SAT) with lyrics by John Dalles. Based on the familiar tune HOLY MANNA. The audio below was generated by the Finale music notation program.
A simple anthem for SATB choir and organ for the First Sunday of Lent. Lyrics by J. Michael Thompson.