O Magnum Mysterium
Commissioned premiere performance at Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco) by the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
The explosive Lang work was appropriately contrasted by the excellent, gentle and more subtle O Magnum Mysterium by Kurt Erickson. This world premiere was commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Here the “mystery” part of the thematic trinity came beautifully to the fore. As resident composer at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, Mr. Erickson, it is hoped, will not have his efforts thrown to the birds, as has happened to so many contemporary composers, but will instead continue to receive acclimation such as was bestowed on him by the evening’s audience. Hands clapped enthusiastically; no feathers were ruffled.
Jeff Dunn, 21st Century Music Journal
| Descriptive Tags: | Liturgical text, Praise, Virgin Mary |
| Season or Event: | Advent, Christmas, Praise to Virgin Mary, Winter |
| Voicing: | SSAA |
| Instrumentation: | A Cappella |
| Language: | Latin |
| Duration: | 1-5 Minutes |
| Sacred or Secular: | Sacred |
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| SATB | 5' | English | This carol was first published in 1833 in a collection entitled “Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern”. William Sandys, a solicitor by day and music & manuscript collector by night, purportedly came across the tune in Devonshire, England. In this gentle setting from 1991 many colors of choral writing appear with sections for SATB, 3-part men, […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Based on traditional hymns and chants, these three brief anthems present the seasonal texts in a new and compelling way. “Savior of the nations, come!” and “Creator of the stars of night” are easy and very accessible. “Come thou redeemer of the world,” while more advanced, with close harmonies and disparate key changes, repays the […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Emily Dickinson’s short and quippy poem, “To make a prairie” has a great depth of meaning despite its brevity, in its portrayal of the power of imagination. This setting captures the broad sweep of the prairie landscape in its bright opening chords, and the dreamy state of imagnining in a shimmering but intensifying middle section, […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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