40 2014 Program Notes, Book 6
Thursday, July 17 and Sunday, July 21, 2014
DATA EST MIHI OMNIS POTESTAS
(“
ALL
POWER HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME
”) (2007)
AND
IN SPLENDORIBUS SANCTORUM
(“
AMID THE SPLENDORS OF THE HEAVENLY
SANCTUARY
”) (2006)
James MacMillan (born in 1959)
Many of MacMillan’s compositions incorporate traditional
Scottish elements and bear some stamp of either his religion
(Catholicism) or his politics (socialism).
Data Est Mihi Omnis Potestas
(“
All Power
Has Been Given to Me
”) is one of the four
Strathclyde Motets
MacMillan composed
in 2007 for Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde Chamber Choir; the Latin texts are
associated with Communion.
Data Est Mihi
is based on the verses from St. Matthew
for Ascension Day enjoining Jesus’ disciples to “Go therefore and teach all nations.”
Data est mihi omnis potestas
All power has been given to me
in caelo et in terra, alleluia.
in heaven and on earth, alleluia.
Euntes, docete omnes gentes,
Go therefore and teach all nations,
baptizantes eos in nomine Patris
baptizing them in the name of the Father
et Filii et Spiritus Sancti,
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
alleluia, alleluia.
alleluia, alleluia.
In Splendoribus Sanctorum
(“
Amid the Splendors of the Heavenly Sanctuary
”),
another of the
Strathclyde Motets
, is based on the Communion text and chant
melody for Midnight Mass of Christmas (Vulgate Psalm 109:3) and was first performed
on Christmas Eve 2006 at Glasgow’s St. Columba’s Church.
In splendoribus sanctorum,
Amidst the splendors of the heavenly sanctuary,
ex utero ante luciferum genuite.
from the womb, before the morning star,
I have begotten you.
THE LAMB
(1982)
John Tavener
“I wrote
The Lamb
in 1982,” Tavener explained, “while being driven by my mother
from South Devon to London. It came to me fully grown, so to speak, so all I had to do
was write it down. It was inspired by Blake and by my three-year-old nephew, Simon.”
Tavener derived the text for
The Lamb
from the first section of William Blake’s
Songs
of Innocence and Experience
, published in 1789; in 1984 he wrote a companion
setting of Blake’s
The Tyger
for the 65th birthday of the poet and theologian Philip
Sherrard, who introduced him to 20th-century Greek poetry. Tavener’s haunting
The
Lamb
, frequently associated with the Christmas season, has proven to be among the
most popular contemporary choral works.
Little lamb, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
