Ave Verum Corpus

This is a small piece for SABr chorus; words are from the ancient prayer.

Ave Verum Corpus

Hi there, just wanted to give this a quick review since it seems to not be getting a lot of attention.

Very nice work! If I may, I have a few minor suggestions just based on opinion and instinct.

Firstly, I think the tempo is too fast. I hear a prayer as a slow, flowing, beautiful piece. If it were performed live, I would assume you'd slow down the tempo just a bit. But that's just me.

Second, there are some chords that I think are just lacking and colorless; I can't remember every single bar that this occurs in but there are a few that could use a bit of attention. Maybe think about splitting one of the parts to make it a four-part chord once in a while?

Lastly, I find the last chord to be, forgive the pun, unresolving. Like, it just doesn't feel like an "amen" to me; it doesn't sound like the end of the prayer. There's a large chance that this is just weird for me and nobody else, but I'd try playing with that last chord so it feels like 'Yeah! That was an amen!' Ya know?? ...Probably not.

Just suggestions, I'm no expert. Great piece :) I'd enjoy hearing a live performance.

-Keegan

Hi kfconnolly, many thanks for your comment!

This piece has been wrote for a small chorus, I don't have so many singers for 4 voices, so I cannot split a section to have the 4th voice.

The tempo on the audio file is "just for example": there are no indication on score, as you surely saw: I think the conductor and the singers can enjoy to pray singing this piece in the best way they think.

I wanted the amen as I wrote it: I like to think that the center of this piece is the sentence Cujus latus perforatum unda fuxit et sanguine, before and after this should be a crescendo and decrescendo of emotions until a mysterious amen.

But obviously my opinion can be different from the one of the executer!

Finally, I hope to perform it during the Masses on Easter this year

Bye