Jonathan Pitkin

CANTATE DOMINO for mixed voices (2003)


Duration: 4 mins

Although some might see it as a burden, it can also be quite liberating for a composer to tackle a text which is familiar from earlier musical settings, since by working against the audience’s expectations, the composer can encourage them to approach the words afresh. This version, then, is predominantly hushed and awestruck in tone rather than jubilatory. Most of the words appear several times in a number of different settings (or ‘new songs’), over the course of which the initial bare, somewhat apprehensive passages eventually find a way through to the richer, more affirmatory music towards the end.
 
This piece is published by Oxford University Press as part of the collection ‘Cantica Nova’ - click here for more details