Ave Maria No. 16 – Regina Peregrinum (2020) for SATB choir unaccompanied
Commissioned by: Chorus Angelorum of Our Lady of Walsingham Cathedral and Shrine, Edmund Murray, conductor.
Durata: ca. 6 minutes
Premiere: Chorus Angelorum of Our Lady of Walsingham Cathedral and Shrine, Edmund Murray, conductor., September 27, 2020
Hear a sample of the premiere of Ave Maria No. 16 below:
Program notes:
Ave Maria No. 16 – Regina Peregrinum is the sixteenth Ave Maria in my 50-year Ave Maria Project (composing a new Ave annually from 2005-2054). It was composed to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Chorus Angelorum – a choir that has remained deeply committed to the cause of Beauty. As a composer, I feel fortunate to have heard many services and performances by this excellent ensemble.
This Ave Maria takes its title “Regina Peregrinum” from a hymn text written by St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) called “Pilgrim Queen”. Portions of this English hymn text are set in alternation with lines from the Ave Maria prayer in Latin.
Text (by John Henry Newman):
There sat a Lady
all on the ground,
Rays of the morning
circled her round,
Ave Maria, gratia plena…
Dominus tecum…
She raised up her head
and smiled, as a Queen
On the day of her crowning,
so bland and serene.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus…
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus …
“A moment,” she said,
“and the dead shall revive;
The giants are failing,
and the Saints are alive;
I am coming to rescue
my home and my reign,
And Peter and Philip
are close in my train.”
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus…
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen…