Composer

Richard Rice

Program Notes

These most ubiquitous of devotional texts in honor of the blessed Virgin Mary have traditionally been sung in monastic choirs and cathedral chapters as the final antiphon following the office of Compline, the last prayer of the day. Each of the four Marian antiphons is assigned a particular season: Salve Regina for the time after Pentecost, Alma Redemptoris Mater for the seasons of Advent and Christmas until Candlemas, Ave Regina Cælorum following Candlemas through Lent, and Regina Cæli Lætare during the Easter season. A millennium’s worth of composers has set these same texts in an exceptionally wide variety of ways to produce some of the finest choral music ever written. It is enough to make a modern composer question the need for his own settings. Nevertheless, the inspirational attraction of these texts remains as strong today as ever.

For my settings, I have chosen a texture that is reminiscent of late Medieval and early Renaissance polyphony, such as that found in the Old Hall Manuscript. The use of well-spaced yet similar voices lends a simplicity and clarity to the texture that enhances the devotional nature of the texts, which, though part of the Church’s official liturgy, remain outside the official liturgical genres, and more resemble private prayers. (During Mass, though never officially prescribed, the antiphons are frequently used incidentally, often as a recessional.)

The four Marian antiphons provide a comprehensive summation of the role of Mary in Christian theology, from its earliest formulations through the centuries. With a mother’s tenderness, she leads her children always to her Child. With a mother’s grief, she stands with her children beneath the Cross. With a mother’s insight, she presents her children’s petitions with her own before the Throne. And as the perfect icon of the Church glorified, she reigns with her Son, the King, preparing her children for the fullness of his kingdom at the consummation of our age. A loving, merciful Mother!