Ave Regina caelorum - T.L. de Victoria, John Rutter, The Cambridge Singers
Ave Regina caelorum
From ‘Lighten our Darkness’
Music for the close of day
Composer T. L. de Victoria
Conductor John Rutter
Choir The Cambridge Singers
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The four antiphons of the Virgin Mary – Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina caelorum, Regina caeli laetare and Salve Regina– have been described as ‘among the most beautiful creations of the late Middle Ages’ (Apel, Gregorian Chant, p. 404). They were probably written (both the texts and their chants) between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, the anonymous work of monks or nuns in whose communities they adorned the daily worship and marked out the times and seasons. Despite being called antiphons, these four unusually extended and melodious chants were not sung in conjunction with psalms or canticles but were used to bring the nightly offices of Vespers and Compline to a close. The Alma was sung from Advent to Candlemas, the Ave Regina caelorum from Candlemas to Holy Week,Regina caeli laetare from the Eve of Easter Day to the week after after Pentecost, and the Salve Regina from then till Advent.
LYRICS:
Ave Regina caelorum,
Ave Domina angelorum:
Salve Radix, salve porta,
Ex qua mundo lux est orta:
Gaude, gaude gloriosa,
Super omnes speciosa:
Vale, valde decora,
Et pro nobis Christum exora.
(Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
(Hail, Queen of heaven,
Hail, Empress of the angels:
Hail, root and gateway
From which the light of the world came forth:
Rejoice, glorious Virgin,
Fair above all other:
Farewell, O most lovely one,
And pray for us to Christ.)
Lighten our Darkness
The service of Compline has inspired many incredibly beautiful compositions and this collection gathers together 18 of the many lovely a cappella choral motets written to adorn the evening worship of the church. Composers include Byrd, Guerrero, Rachmaninov and Sheppard, alongside such less well-known masterworks as Rheinberger’s Abendlied and the four great Marian motets of Victoria.
John Rutter, English composer and conductor, is associated with choral music throughout the world. His recordings with the Cambridge Singers (the professional chamber choir he set up in 1981) have reached a wide global audience, many of them featuring his own music in definitive versions. Among John’s best-known choral works are Gloria, Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, and Visions, together with many church anthems, choral songs and Christmas carols.
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