Orbis patrator optime

Vocal score

Forces or Category: SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied

New Horizons

for SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied
Setting of a text by St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), a Hymn for Lauds on the feast of the Guardian ...

Orbis patrator optime

Vocal score

Description

for SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied
Setting of a text by St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), a Hymn for Lauds on the feast of the Guardian Angels.

Programme Notes:

IOrbis patrator optime was commissioned to mark the 30th Anniversary of Edward Higginbottom's appointment as Director of Music at New College, Oxford, in memory of Robert Beazer, M.A., old member of New College. It was first performed by New College Choir, directed by Edward Higginbottom, on 7 October 2006. The text is by St Robert Bellarmine, and is the Hymn for Lauds on the feast of the Guardian Angels.

I am particularly attracted to Latin hymns for while full of arresting and inspiring imagery they don't seem to require the same detailed responses that a text in English might demand. For the most part, the piece's structure and manner are governed by purely musical considerations, though the Angel host of the final line is celebrated by the sopranos and altos gradually wending their way heavenward.'
Copyright Gabriel Jackson

Orbis patrator optime

Vocal score

Gabriel Jackson

New Horizons

Composer Information

Gabriel Jackson (b.1962)

One of Britain's foremost composers, after three years as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral, Gabriel Jackson went on to study composition with Richard Blackford and John Lambert at the Royal College of Music. Particularly acclaimed for his choral works, his liturgical pieces are in the repertoires of most of Britain's cathedral and collegiate choirs and he is a frequent collaborator with the leading professional groups of the world. From 2010-2013 he was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers. In 2014 his hour-long The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, commissioned for the 750th anniversary of Merton College, Oxford, was premiered in its chapel. May 2015 saw the premiere at the Latvian National Opera of Spring Rounds for soprano, choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Riga-based youth choir Kamer for their 25th anniversary. He was recently commissioned by The Marian Consort to write Stabat Mater to mark their 10th anniversary.

Gabriel Jackson's website