Rorate coeli
(1978)
Duration: ca. 11'
for unaccompanied chorus
Commissioned by the National Federation of Music Societies

World Premiere:  26 September 1976, St Alfege's Church, Greenwich, UK
Thomas Tallis Society
Philip Simms, conductor

Publisher:  Novello & Co Ltd

Composer's Note:

Rorate Coeli for unaccompanied chorus, was written in 1973 in response to a commission from the National Federation of Music Societies in Great Britain. It was first performed by the Thomas Tallis choir in Greenwich, London.

The work is built on TWO poems of the famous Scottish poet William Dunbar (written circa 1500). One poem is the nativity poem of the title, the other is the poem about the Resurrection, Done is a battle on the dragon black.

The motet is framed by the rich chords of the opening line where the full chorus is echoed by soloists. This setting of both poems simultaneously, reminiscent of medieval polytextual techniques, shows the future victory of the Resurrection along with the present joy of the Nativity. The chords of the opening return at the end combined with an exultant Gloria.

Programme note by Anne-Marie Bouché

Thea Musgrave's Rorate Coeli is a setting of two poems by William Dunbar. Dunbar, a sometime Franciscian friar turned court poet of James IV of Scotland (reigned 1488-1513) is best known for his courtly and satyric verse. In these these two poems, however, Rorate coeli desuper, on the Nativity, and Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro, on the Resurrection, he offers a moving meditation on these two great events.

The first is an awe-inspiring vision of the homage paid by all creation to the coming of its Creator, cast in the elevated and noble language of an accomplished rhetorician. The second, in contrast, is a startlingly vivid account of the victory of Christ over Satan, with Christ cast as a medieval warrior, a heroic champion engaged in an epic struggle with his, and our, ancient enemy, described in terrifying terms as "the dragon black / tremulous with hideous voice / The deidly dragon, Lucifer, / The cruel serpent with the mortal sting / The old, keen tiger, with his teeth onchar (ajar)..." who "...in a wait has lain for us so long / Thinking to grip us with his clawis strong...."

Dunbar's language in the second poem is distinctly colloquial, filled with colorful words taken from the local Scots dialect. Although the difference may not be apparent to a modern listener, it would have been very obvious to Dunbar's audience. This association of high rhetoric with God and Heaven, and colloquial speech with Hell and the Devil has a long tradition in European literature; it is found for example in The Play of Adam, a twelfth-century mystery play on the Fall of Man.

In Musgrave's setting, the struggle becomes a musical one. The work begins with the Nativity poem, but hardly have the celestial hierarchies, the firmament and elements begun their hymn of praise when, suddenly, the second poem enters, and from that point on there is, as it were, a battle between the two forces until the end, when Christ emerges triumphant over sin and death. Musgrave uses many of the devices of musical modernism, including approximate pitch-designations, elements of improvisation, and vocalizations other than singing, such as whispers and pitched speech, to bring the ancient text to life for a modern audience. Yet for all that, respectful of the nature of Dunbar's text, the piece rests solidly on the foundation of Western choral composition. The composer has done more than set an historical text, however; she has interwoven and juxtaposed two separate texts in a way that causes us to recognize the relationship between the two themes, to see that the Incarnation and Redemption are inseparably linked. This evocation of meaning through juxtaposition is exactly the way that the liturgy itself works; the Old Testament texts used in Advent are not explained in the liturgy, but are used in liturgical contexts, in association with other passages, that allow us to deduce how they are to be construed. This is also the original idea behind the service of "lessons and carols" on which the format of this performance is based; Advent is a season which gives serious attention to the meaning of texts.

Recordings:

Rorate Coeli
Ionian Singers
Timothy Salter, conductor
Usk Recordings USK 1216CD
———
BBC Northern Singers
Stephen Wilkinson, conductor
LP Libra LRS 150
———
Florilegium Chamber Choir
JoAnn Rice, conductor
LP Leonarda LE 328

Top of Page   |   Home   |   Compositions   |   Chester Novello   |   G. Schirmer

Webmaster