for mixed voices (SATB with divisi) a cappella
Text: Latin (Psalm 42 (43))
Duration: 4 minutes
Difficulty: 3/5
Use: General


Commissioned by the Schola Cantorum of The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School to mark the School’s centenary. First performed on 19 September 2014 in Westminster Cathedral, London by the Choir of Cardinal Vaughan School.


A setting of verses from Psalm 42 (43) with Gloria Patri, commissioned by the Schola Cantorum of The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, London, to mark the School’s centenary in 2014 (Latin text): ‘Send out your light and your truth; these themselves led me forth, and they brought me to your holy mountain and to your holy place …’ Although composed for a school choir this is a significant addition to the corpus of Latin motets for mature performers by this composer. Predominantly homophonic in texture, there is a range of moods, tempi and dynamics over the work’s 4-minute duration, exemplifying the youthful affirmation of the text. Suitable for intermediate standard performers.


Text
Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam; ipsa me deduxerunt, et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua. Et introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui lætificat juventutem meam. Confitebor tibi in cithara, Deus, Deus meus.


Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto; sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.


Send out your light and your truth; these themselves led me forth, and they brought me to your holy mountain and to your holy place. And I will come to the altar of God, to God who gives delight to my youthfulness. I will give thanks to you upon the harp, O God, my God.


Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.


Psalm 42 (43): 3–5a & doxology
Translation: Edward Tambling


James MacMillan
Born in Scotland in 1959, James MacMillan studied at Edinburgh and Durham Universities and now lives in Glasgow. His early successes as a composer in the 1990s included The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, premiered at the BBC Proms, and the percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel written for Evelyn Glennie. MacMillan has a special interest in choral composition, ranging from simple liturgical settings for use in church services, to major works for choir and orchestra including Seven Last Words from the Cross, Quickening and St John Passion. His music has been championed and recorded by leading choirs and vocal groups including Cappella Nova, Polyphony, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Sixteen, Westminster Cathedral Choir and the Netherlands Chamber Choir. With their Gaelic inflections and characteristic mixing of ancient and modern, his works have also proved popular with amateur chamber choirs around the world.