for mixed voice choir (SSAATTB) a cappella
Text: Latin (Marian Hymn)
Duration: 3'00''
Difficulty: 3/5
Use: Marian Feast Days, General


Composer's note
In 2010 I was invited to be composer-in-residence at the Exon Singers Festival. As part of my residency I was commissioned by the festival’s director Matthew Owens to compose a new setting of the Salve Regina (a Marian hymn popular with composers from Vittoria to Schubert and beyond) for Radio 3’s broadcast of Choral Evensong from Buckfast Abbey. The resulting piece takes the opening four notes of the original plainchant (solemn tone) as its starting point, these then being elaborated through the course of the work and returning at key points.


Joseph Phibbs
Joseph Phibbs was born in London and studied at The Purcell School, King’s College London, and Cornell University. His teachers have included Param Vir, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and Steven Stucky and his works have been performed by leading ensembles and orchestras including the London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra (Last Night of the Proms), London Symphony Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra (under Esa-Pekka Salonen). His music appears regularly at festivals in the UK and beyond, including Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Three Choirs, and Presteigne. He has composed much for choir, including Tenebrae (St Albans Bach Choir, 2006), Salve Regina (Exon Singers, 2010), Shadows of Sleep (Suffolk schools, Snape Maltings 2010) and Choral Songs of Homage (Aldeburgh Music Club’s 60th Anniversary, 2013). A short mass for upper voices (SSA) is due to be completed later this year. Future commissions include a Concerto for Orchestra (BBC Symphony Orchestra, 2015) and a string quartet (Navarra Quartet, 2013). Joseph Phibbs is now published exclusively by Ricordi London, a Universal Music Publishing Classical company.