From the zenith of my now cooling love affair with Mozart comes this motet, recently re-discovered during my project to catalogue all my works (during which I have discovered, to my chagrin and dismay, that not only have I not been as prolific as I thought I had, but most of what I have written isn’t nearly as good as I thought it was…but that’s another post entirely).
To me, this was one of the better surprises.
It was written on May 23, 1990 as I prepared to go on my first concert tour abroad – a singing pilgrimage to Italy with my church choir, which was to have included an audience with His Late Holiness Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. The original idea in my callow 28-year-old mind was to have the choir perform this motet – a prayer for the Pope – in His Holiness’ presence, and then to present a copy of it to him. Somewhere along the line I realised that even if I could talk the director and the choir into it, this was possibly the proudest, most arrogant thing I could do on an occasion that called for humility and prayerfulness, besides being more than a little impractical. A few years later I dug it up again, made a few revisions and corrections, and tried to get some colleagues of mine to give it a reading, but the result was less than stellar and perfunctory at best. I put the piece away and all but forgot about it. I have never heard a decent performance anywhere outside my head before today, when Finale played it back for me (it’s a pretty sad day when a machine gives a more accurate and expressive reading than a group of professional musicians being asked a favour, but that too is another post entirely).
I’m attaching a PDF score and a link to the mp3 on Soundclick. Since I detest General MIDI choral sounds, I used GPO winds (clarinets and bassoons) for this rendition.
The Latin text , taken from the Votive Mass for the Pope, translates:
“O God, the shepherd and guide of all the faithful, look with favour on your servant John Paul the Second, whom you have been pleased to place as pastor over your church. Grant him, we entreat you, to help by word and example those over whom he rules, so that, together with the flock entrusted to him, he may reach eternal life. Amen.”
I hope it brings you a peaceful and enjoyable moment.
Soli Deo Gloria.
SoundClick artist: J Lee Graham - page with MP3 music downloads