Delighted that the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music commissioned this work, when I actually sat down to start writing it I panicked. It was only 2 years since I had last set the same text and was finding it impossible to avoid hearing the music of my first setting when looking at the text again. A combination of advice from my ever-helpful Facebook friends and the fact that this was a cappella and in Latin (whereas the first one had been accompanied by organ and set mostly in English) helped and soon I was flying. A change of mood also helped – previously, I had focused on the nervous anticipation and awe of the Virgin Mary but this time there is unabashed excitement! Fanfare-like homophonic declarations are combined with loving, gently flowing polyphonic passages.
In the Nunc Dimittis, Simoen’s joyous words on the fulfilment of his prophecy of Jesus’s arrival are shared through the various voice parts, starting quietly and stately and becoming more passionate.
This work was commissioned by Robin Gardner and Chris & Kate Batchelor – Deo Gratias – first performed on 14 May 2014, by the Choir of St Pancras Church directed by Christopher Batchelor, and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 as part of the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. I would like to thank my Facebook friends and Canon Michael Hampel again, for helping me leave the music my first Mag & Nunc behind, LFCCM and those mentioned above for commissioning the work.
RP 23rd April, 2014