I am still catching up on posting compositions from 2021. This one had to wait for the results of the 2022 Basilica Schola composition contest at the Univeristy of Notre Dame. It didn’t win, but that makes it easy for me to distribute it through the usual Creative Commons license. The PDF is freely available at the bottom of the post.
This piece sets the hymn Lucis Creator Optime from vespers to four parts. The odd verses take a polyphonic theme, while the even verses are set to a more homophonic texture. For the competition, the entire score had to fit within 4 minutes 30 seconds, which it did, but with a bit less of an Amen than I might have composed otherwise.
The even verses should move with an alternating faster tempo and rallantando. For simplicity, I did not write that into the score for the competition, but I have added it here.
Score and Playback
Discussion
The first verse and theme open dramatically, calling to mind the creation of light out of nothing. The second theme paints the onset of night, with its fears and terrors, punctuated by a tritone interval in the Soprano on the word chaos. The remaining verses fit these two themes spiritually, to draw the minds of men from error to the heavenly light. The final doxology takes the original theme less heavily (leggiero) out of reverence and supplication. The reuse of the theme on Pater piisime reflects nicely the earlier Creator optime. A gradual crescendo back to the normal volume could be appropriate after the first system of the final verse.
About the Featured Image
The featured image is the Creation of Animals by Tintoretto. It is in the public domain in the United States.
