SATB a cappella choir
“The choir of Trinity College, Melbourne, opens its recital with a setting of O Vos Omnes by the early 16th century French composer, Jacquet de Mantua. As it stands, this is not a particularly noteworthy performance, and being the only non-20th/21st century work in the programme, it seems, on paper at least, a little incongruous. But it is what follows which makes this fine recording so memorable and noteworthy.
American composer, Daniel Knaggs, was commissioned to write a “response” to Jacquet’s setting, and has come up with a beautiful piece of writing which shows off the amazing ability of this choir to produce an absolutely perfect pianissimo tone, at one point seeming almost to fade down to nothing.”
Music Web International
Commissioned by: the Yale Norfolk Festival Choral Workshop, Simon Carrington, director
Durata: ca. 4:00
Premiere: 08/17/2019 at the Yale Norfolk Festival Choral Workshop, Gloria Yin, cond.
Listen below to the premiere of O Vos Omnes (after Jacquet de Mantua):
Listen below to a recording of O Vos Omnes (after Jacquet de Mantua) by the Choir of Trinity College Melbourne, Christopher Watson, cond.:
Program notes:
O vos omnes (after Jacquet de Mantua)was written in response to a motet composed by the French-born Italian Renaissance composer, Jacquet de Mantua (1483-1559). This new motet subtly reflects on aspects of Mantua’s motet, echoing certain melodic figures and harmonic progressions in a related but distant sound world.
The short and poignant text taken from the book of Lamentations expresses a sorrow that seeks compassion and empathy from passersby. In O vos omnes (after Jacquet de Mantua)disjointed utterances of “attendite et videte”evoke a sense of fatigue or being out of breath, weary from suffering, while humming represents an unsuccessful struggle for adequate words in the face of anguish. The ending is left somewhat open-ended, signifying resignation without total resolution…
Text (from Lamentations 1:12):
O vos omnes,
Qui transitis per viam
Attendite et videte
Si est dolor similis dolori meo.
Translation:
All you,
who pass along this way
Consider and see
If there is any sorrow like my sorrow.