for upper voices (SSA) & organ
Text: English (The Venerable Cornelia Connelly)
Duration: c6 minutes
Difficulty: 3/5
Use: General, Easter, weddings, thanksgiving

Setting of a prayer by Mother Cornelia Connelly, foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in 1846 and latterly Mayfield School. In 1863 she was inspired to transform the ruins of the Old Palace of Mayfield into a girls’ school embodying the ethos of the Society; this was accomplished in 1872. The Cornelian ethos of the text make this piece suitable for a wide range of occasions, such as Easter, weddings and general thanksgiving. The choral writing is expressively scored in response to the poem; the organ part, for manuals throughout, is supportive and provides musical punctuation, with a short decorative postlude.

Text
Let us love one another and pray;
Let us love one another and be faithful;
Let us love one another and be humble,
be filled with the charity of God;
Let us love one another with God,
in God,
and for God;
And we shall thus be one with Him for all eternity.

The Venerable Cornelia Connelly (1809–1879)

James MacMillan
Born in Scotland in 1959, James MacMillan studied at Edinburgh and Durham Universities and now lives in Largs. 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.