Choral Ave Regina caelorum

Here my new piece for SATB and Organ. I love singing and religious music, so I decided to write that. Hopelly I can perform it life one day 🙂

Lyrics are not mine, it's and old christian song dedicated to the Virgin Mary, that many composers from the renaissance and later on used in their works. Orlandus Lassus, Palestrina, Michael and Joseph Haydn among many others have compositions on that lyrics. 

The structure is AB (x2) - C (x2) 

A and B are 8bar phases with a half cadence in the middle and a perfect cadence at the end. C is a non-regular 7bar phrase ending with a perfect cadence. 

Here the lyrics with translation: I appreciate your comments. 

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Ave, Regina caelorum,

Ave, Domina Angelorum:

Salve, radix, salve, porta

Ex qua mundo lux est orta:

Gaude, Virgo gloriosa,

Super omnes speciosa,

Vale, o valde decora,

Et pro nobis Christum exora.

Hail, O Queen of Heaven.

Hail, O Lady of Angels

Hail! thou root, hail! thou gate

From whom unto the world a light has arisen:

Rejoice, O glorious Virgin,

Lovely beyond all others,

Farewell, most beautiful maiden,

And pray for us to Christ.

mm. 13-14's a/t interaction stands out to me. Maybe the voice crossing, the insistence of a dissonant passing tone or the direct fifth the tenor makes with the soprano (which isn't a rule-based problem), but something about the area still feels off to me. Simple, but pleasant otherwise.

Pretty music, I loved the 2:01 harmony. Perfect for a church day. 

As always, a beautiful piece! ☺️ 

I loved the proportion, the repetition, to me it sounded perfect!

13 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

mm. 13-14's a/t interaction stands out to me. Maybe the voice crossing, the insistence of a dissonant passing tone or the direct fifth the tenor makes with the soprano (which isn't a rule-based problem), but something about the area still feels off to me. Simple, but pleasant otherwise.

 

Thanks for you observation Monacheon. 

I was unsure about the interaction you mention. My first option was the tenor going to D before F natural instead high G (like in the screenshot). I changed it to prepare the disonance with the root of the chord, like I felt the movement to be more natural and giving as well a climax on the tenor line, so I switched the voicing Alto-Tenor to avoid a direct unison.  

But I think you are right, going to tenor to the high G instead of D the line looks somehow unbalanced with 2 steps followed by a fifth leap in the same direction and the line stands out to much, so I think I'll keep my first option there 🙂

12 hours ago, Ivan1791 said:

Pretty music, I loved the 2:01 harmony. Perfect for a church day. 

 

Thanks Ivan, I'm happy you like that. 2:01 is the climax, with the bass descending chromatically from tonic to dominant and the melody rising in contrary motion with the basse. I used the augmented 6th chord there to create some tension before the final resolution. 

3 hours ago, Hendrik Meniere said:

As always, a beautiful piece! ☺️ 

I loved the proportion, the repetition, to me it sounded perfect!

 

Thanks a lot Hendrik!

2 hours ago, Guillem82 said:

Thanks Ivan, I'm happy you like that. 2:01 is the climax, with the bass descending chromatically from tonic to dominant and the melody rising in contrary motion with the basse. I used the augmented 6th chord there to create some tension before the final resolution. 

 

Yeah, I know.

16 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

mm. 13-14's a/t interaction stands out to me. Maybe the voice crossing, the insistence of a dissonant passing tone or the direct fifth the tenor makes with the soprano (which isn't a rule-based problem), but something about the area still feels off to me. Simple, but pleasant otherwise.

 

I have corrected that on the score and recording...It feels much better now. Thanks again for your observation!