Motet: Deus, omnium fidelium

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

That's a very beautiful piece. I understand the Mozart reference, but for me it also sounds close to Schubert or Mendelssohn. And the plagal cadence at the end reminds of Brahms of course I love plagal ends.

Not to say it's merely a copy of other composers. It's a beautiful piece that works for itself, even if the style isn't very "special". It's still a joy to listen to it. It's also a piece that I think would be very enjoyable to sing.

Predictably rather lovely. I hope you get a decent live recording of this at some point, although prior to that, you might be persuaded to fix those few collisions in the score.

Very nice work, thanks for sharing it!

Thanks, guys! Yeah, sprucing up scores gets tedious for me - I try to avoid such things from the onset, and find it annoying that Finale will display things one way and print them another.

I guess we're all influenced by everything we've ever heard, no matter what idiom predominates. I hadn't considered that the plagal cadence at the end felt like Brahms, but I agree, it does. And if some Schubert and Mendelssohn influence crept into my work that early in my life, so much the better.

You obviously are a pro! Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece. I have a few questions though:

1. Would this fall under 'incidental music'?
2. The half-diminished seventh chord in bar 19 sounds a bit 'daring' to my amateur's ears. Don't listen to me though!
3. Is the tenor part transposed up an octave (it's in the treble clef)?. Some parts end up crossing over the soprano's line.
4. The soprano and tenor parts are pretty high in register. You must have a professional choir in mind? Or is this commonplace?

I'd love to write choral music as well, but as you said, the realization is tricky; mock-ups usually end up being instrumental music. BUT have you seen this?

East West Samples - Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs

It costs a great deal of dough but boy what an empowerment it would be! If you ever decide to shell out for it, please do post the results!

Thanks! Glad you liked it. To answer your questions.

1. Would this fall under 'incidental music'?

No, I think I see what you're saying (the piece was for a specific occasion), but I think Incidental Music refers more to music specifically as background music for film, theatre, television or gaming - at least I think that's the wisdom around here as I understand it.

2. The half-diminished seventh chord in bar 19 sounds a bit 'daring' to my amateur's ears. Don't listen to me though!

Heh...that is a bit wicked, isn't it. The middle section of Mozart's "Ave verum corpus," after which this is rather obviously patterned, has similar dissonance at unda fluxit et sanguine, though not quite as adventurous. Maybe that's the Schubert influence creeping in. Someone in the church might have dropped their rosary, but I probably wouldn't have been flogged for it back in the day.

3. Is the tenor part transposed up an octave (it's in the treble clef)?. Some parts end up crossing over the soprano's line.

This is standard procedure. When choral music is written with each voice on its own staff, as in this case, the treble clef is used for the tenor line and the music is sung an octave lower than written. When choral music is written on two staves, as it often is nowadays to save space, the soprano and alto are written in treble cleff on the top staff, and the tenor and bass in bass clef on the bottom staff.

4. The soprano and tenor parts are pretty high in register. You must have a professional choir in mind? Or is this commonplace?

I did have a semi-professional church choir in mind, with professional section leaders and talented amateurs. The tenor does go rather high; the style dictates that the high G-sharp not be sung full voice, and a well-trained choir would know this - being a tenor, I know that I can get away with this here and there, but it's best not to sustain it or use it too often. The soprano never goes above an F-sharp and is well within the singable range.

As for the "East West Samples - Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs " - thanks for the link! Sheesh! it's $600 bucks! I just might have to do it someday, though...I've written a lot of choral music, much of which I haven't processed because I hate GM choral sounds.

Cheers!

Cygnusdei, I failed to notice that you were talking about a different measure (measure 19) than I thought you meant (measure 33). At any rate, your comment prompted me to examine measure 19 more closely.

You have splendid ears. Unusual progressions are fine as long as they're stylistic; but parallel fifths are never acceptable in this style! An error - hidden parallel fifths between soprano and bass from beat 3 to beat 4 - easily fixed. I assume this is what you meant by the half-diminished seventh chord, which no longer exists.

Thanks for your help! This is one of the many reasons I've posted on this forum since day one...I don't make too many errors of this type, but more than once people have helped me find them when I do.

I'm glad you ironed out a wrinkle, but I didn't know that! I was really talking about the D# F# A C# chord (I believe it's half-diminished seventh?) on the first beat.

Well, I think it goes to show that a composer is his own toughest critic.

Thank you for posting this nice work. I love vocal music and enjoyed the simple yet deep melody and the occasional contrapuntal effects. I cannot compare this to any classical composers simply because my interests tend towards the Baroque and Renaissance, but vocal music has always remained close to its Renaissance roots and your voice leading seems very nicely done. I am sorry you never got a good performance; Finale might outperform your friends but I'm sure a more interested choir would add even more life to the notes; vocal music reeeaaaly needs the words and expression.

Have you been composing very much during your temporary absence? I joined slightly before you left. I too am very interested in earlier musics, although, as I mentioned, I am more focused on the Baroque and Renaissance myself. I notice you are interested in the principles of historical performance! Naturally I am as well, being a harpsichordist. I have recently been in contact with Vox Saeculorum and noticed that you are a member; that is awesome. I wish I had enough time to more consistently study and write my music .

Thank you once again for this music and welcome back to Young Composers; be sure to post more!

I was really talking about the D# F# A C# chord (I believe it's half-diminished seventh?) on the first beat.

Oh! THAT half-diminished seventh chord. I don't know for certain whether that would have gotten me horsewhipped or not, but I use it from time to time.

echurchill: good to make your acquaintance, and thanks for your generous comments and warm welcome. It appears your entrance and my exit did overlap a bit, but my presence here was rather sporadic at the beginning of 2007, so it doesn’t surprise me that we didn’t really get to know one another. I grew curious about your work and went to listen to some, including a lovely Allemande and a marvelous Passacaglia, both posted just before I left – what a pity not to have heard them sooner. My compliments! I especially enjoyed the Passacaglia; what imagination and inventiveness, all perfectly in the style.

Have you been composing very much during your temporary absence?

Yes, I have composed a good deal while I was away – mostly chamber music – but as is often the case, I’m good at starting things, but not so good at finishing them. Among completed works are an art song, and a Credo added to my Missa Brevis in C, which I'll likely post in its entirety when I'm done revising and processing it. I also have a fourth symphony waiting in the wings when I get the guts up.

Who have you contacted at Vox Saeculorum, may I ask? Have you shown Grant Colburn any of your keyboard pieces? He’s one of the founding members, and writes great keyboard music in the English style. I think he’d be very interested. I may say a word to him on your behalf if you’re interested in admission to the society. I considered my own admission a particularly great honour, particularly since I believe I’m the only “part-time” baroque composer yet to have been accepted.

Thanks again!