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Agapê (2001) |
solo organ - 11'
Commissioned
by John Roberts to celebrate his retirement after 55 years as a church organist,
1 June 2002.
World premiere: by John Roberts, 16 June 2002, Royster Presbyterian Church,
Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
He poured himself
out, dew and bracing rain,
Upon Mary, that earth thirsting for Him.
Grain of wheat, he descended into earth;
He rose again from it sheaf and new Bread.
Saint Ephrem, Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Agapê is a liturgical suite of three movements - prelude, communion and postlude - based on gregorian chants for the Feast of Corpus Christi. The opening movement, Lauda Sion salvatorem, paraphrases the first verse of the Corpus Christi Sequence in a series of symphonic variations. The middle movement, Bone pastor, panis vere, comments on verses 23 and 24 of the same Sequence in a varied lied-form. The finale, Tantum ergo sacramentum, is a joyful rondo on the last verse of the hymn Pange lingua.