For SATB choir a capella
Premiere: Trinity College Choir of Cambridge, Stephen Layton, cond. 9/20/2015.
Other performances: University of North Texas Acapella Choir, John Irving, cond., 04/12/2016,
Pacific Lutheran University Choral Union, Richard Nance, cond., July 2017 Tour in France: Arles, Alixan, Colmar, Troyes, Bayeux, and Paris, France
Pacific Lutheran University Choral Union, Richard Nance, cond., Lagerquist Concert Hall, Parkland, WA, 07/11/2017
Pacific Lutheran University Choral Union, Richard Nance, cond., Lagerquist Concert Hall, Parkland, WA, 05/07/2017
Interlochen Choral Conducting Workshop, 06/09/2018
National Pastoral Musicians Conference, Baltimore, MD, 07/11/2018
Durata: ca. 4 min
Listen to the premiere of Blessed Are Those Who Mourn by Trinity College Choir, Stephen Layton, cond. below:
Program Notes: This is one of the two motets I chose to compose in a contemporary response to Zarlino’s treatise Le Istitutioni Harmoniche (1558). Caritas Dei diffusa est takes a more historical approach whereas Blessed are Those Who Mourn engages a more modern interpretation.
The words are taken from the Communion Antiphon (5th Sunday Ordinary Time) but given the subject matter, this motet may be sung throughout the year for diverse occasions.
–DJK
Text: From the Communion Antiphon, 5th Sunday Ordinary Time – Mt 5: 4
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be consoled.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall have their fill.