Catholic Living

I am excited to share a composition I completed just a few days ago.  A free PDF download is at the bottom of this post (creative commons).

This setting of Ave Maris Stella introduces a polyphonic theme interleaved with chanted verses.  The composition sets the final verse, Sit Laus Deo, to a more homophonic texture:

There are a few minor playback issues.  For example, I’d prefer that the ritard at the end of the polyphonic verses be considerably more pronounced, but I have to make do with what the tool will let me do in a reasonable amount of time.

Motivation

When I publish a composition, I tend to become insecure.  I wonder how well the composition will be received.  What will others with greater musical prowess, education, and experience think of my work?  Is it a good piece, or is it sophomoric and unsophisticated?  Am I even being humble by sharing it?  An analogy recently impressed itself on my mind, and I think I have a better perspective for it.

Consider a child who takes up a crayon and a piece of construction paper to draw his mom a picture.  Often the picture is little more than a purposeful set of circles, lines, and scribbles which together produce something hardly recognizable.  Yet in the child’s mind, it is a portrait of Mom and Dad, a self portrait, or perhaps a representation of a favorite family activity.  The child’s picture will never hang in the Louvre, but that isn’t the point.

Rather, the child is saying, “This is for you, Mom!  I’m thinking of you!  See, I have done my best.  I love you so much that I drew a picture of you … oh, and that’s me down there in the corner … with a watermelon.”

With this setting of Ave Maris Stella, I am saying the same thing.  “Mom, look, this is how I think of the angel Gabriel coming to you and saying, ‘Ave.’  This is how it strikes me as wonderful that his greeting reverses the name of Eve.   Over here, is your Immaculate Conception.  Throughout, I think of the waves and turmoil of our pilgrim journey, with you, the Star of the Sea, guiding the way home.  See, Mom, I have done my best to draw this picture of you for you to have.”

Ave Maris Stella!  Hail, Star of the Sea!

Exposition

This setting has a total of four chanted verses and three choral verses.  I think the parts are approachable for most choirs, and the range is not very broad.  The lowest note in the Bass is A, and the Soprano does not exceed D, which should be comfortable for baritones and mezzos respectively.

For the polyphonic sections, I chose the two verses that speak of the Annunciation and the Immaculate Conception (and Mary’s virgin motherhood)–Sumens illud and Virgo singularis.  The first, third, fourth, and sixth verses are the familiar chant, with the fourth verse a bit softer than the others (Mostra te esse matrem).  The final verse is quite different, a doxology invoking the Trinity.  This verse, I have tried my best to set to a solemn homophonic texture.

An interesting (though not terribly important) aspect of the piece is the use of key signature.  The mode one chant is set in A, but as mode 1 ends on Re (B in this case), the choral verses are set in B minor.  The exception is the final verse which keeps the same key signature in the relative minor (F# minor).

While not truly a cantus firmus line, the final phrase of the chant makes its appearance, with a slight variation, at the end of each choral verse, either in the Alto or the Soprano, leading back to the next chanted verse.

About the Featured Image

The featured image is The Annunciation by Frederico Barocci.  It is in the public domain in the United States.