Pacem—A Hymn for Peace
Grade 3
© 2012, GIA Publications, Inc
Item #: B-B06317 Status: Available
ZIP for $6.28
Description:
This bundle includes:
1. A digital PDF of the Teacher Resource Guide from the Teaching Music textbook
2. An mp3 recording of the work
The composer states: “Pacem is a musical expression of humankind’s desire for universal peace among all people, as well as the personal peace that comes from within.” Pacem is the Latin word for “peace.”
The choice of Latin is significant for two reasons: 1) as a kind of tribute to the Franco-Flemish Renaissance composers, whose music strongly influenced this work and 2) as a symbol of the universality of humankind’s desire for peace—a collective desire that cuts across geographic, religious, ethnic, historical, or other boundaries.
The reflective, more peaceful moments in the work represent our hope for personal peace. The stronger, maestoso statements of the main theme convey a hopeful optimism for the realization of peace among all people.
Other statements are more conflicted and ambiguous and remind us that achieving universal peace requires persistence and struggle and that it remains an unrealized challenge in this world.
Format: ZIP