Virga Jesse Floruit
Item #: 005834 Status: Available
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Vocal Forces: SATB a cappella
Accompaniment: None
Text Source: Graduale Romanum
Series: Music for the Seasons
Description:
The striking choral writing will instantly touch you in this succinct and moving interpretation of "Virga Jesse Floruit" ("The rod of Jesse has blossomed") by Kentucky composer Brett Ballard. The haunting opening choral statement in E-minor seamlessly leads to an unmetered unison chant section in G mixolydian mode. An ingenious two-subject canon follows in a musical dialogue between the higher voices and the lower voices in B-flat minor. The two choral closing statements bring us back to the original tonality and musically paint the phrase ima summis . . . ("reconciling in himself the lowest with the highest"). The work concludes as calmly as it began. Quite a journey in thirty measures!
Liturgical: Advent 4 A
Topical: Feast, Peace, Mother of God, Mary, Incarnation, Holy Family, Epiphany, Christmas, Advent
Number of Pages: 4
Language: Latin
Format: Octavo