Searching for Charles Paterson - 7 results.
Virtue (Sweet day) was written in 2014 in response to a commission from Fr Simon Lumby (concert singer, organist, and conductor as well as parish priest) for his choir 8ctave, whose singers are all serving priests in the Diocese of Leicester, with the occasional addition of spouses. The choice of words was left to me and, for once, I had no difficulty choosing, as this poem by George Herbert had long been at the back of my mind. Its imagery of the cool day, the bright rose, and spring with its promise of sweetness offer opportunities for contrast, while all come to the same end: only virtue is everlasting. These features I have tried to capture in my setting, and they should be reflected in performance.
Matins is one of three settings of George Herbert written in May 2020, intended to form a group of four with Virtue (Sweet Day), written in 2014. This is perhaps a less familiar poem than Virtue, in which the poet muses on his, and thus all humanity's, relationship with God, and his redemption: there is a typical wordplay near the end, where "sunbeam" could be heard as "Son beam", in other words the cross of Christ.
The music in the main part of this setting reflects the sequence of thoughts, and so in performance should seem not too smooth in the joins between sections. With the final prayer, though, there is a recapitulation of the music from the beginning, and this should build to the exultant conclusion.
Heaven is one of three settings of George Herbert written in May 2020, intended to form a group of four with Virtue (Sweet Day), written in 2014.
This is a poem unusual in form, where each question about the nature of heaven is answered by an echo, so that the question really answers itself. Naturally the setting is intended to reflect this idea, with the lower voices as the questioner and the upper voices as the echo, which should be as hushed as possible: as the questions become more urgent, the lower voices are split in counterpoint, until with the resolution they sing for the first time in harmony. The final question then leads to a triumphant echo from all voices, the loudest section of the piece, which gradually diminishes to a single note which fades (as it were) into eternity.
Antiphon is one of three settings of George Herbert written in May 2020, intended to form a group of four with Virtue (Sweet Day), written in 2014. This poem is much the most familiar of the four, being found in most hymn books, and in settings by other composers. Here the refrain is in the style of a fanfare, and it continues as a background to the similarly energetic verses, except for the section 'But above all, the heart Must play the longest part': this is hushed to start with and more lyrical, until the fanfare refrain returns to end the piece.
Written for a service in Leicester Cathedral to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Central Composers' Alliance in 2020, which in the event had to be cancelled because of the covid-19 epidemic, this setting of the evensong canticles has, for the most part, a deliberately spare and understated organ accompaniment, allowing the voices room for clarity and expression. The vocal part is mostly a single line, but splits into two antiphonal parts at significant moments in the text.
This setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis was written for Cantus Vesperi, a choir of sixteen or so voices who, by invitation, sing choral evensong in churches throughout the Isle of Wight. As the availability of an organist and/or a suitable organ is often a problem, and the choir is a small one, the setting had to be without accompaniment, and for SATB without divisi. It is also meant to be fairly straightforward to learn and to perform, though care over tuning is essential, especially in the Nunc Dimittis.
This setting of the commonly sung parts of the Common Worship Order One Holy Communion service was written at the request of Andrew Kirk for the lower voices of his choir at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. The brief was to provide a fairly straightforward unaccompanied setting that could be learnt without too much difficulty, but providing some interest in the part writing.
A motif, the first four notes of the Kyrie, and its inversion provide a link between the different movements.