A Christmas Cantata for Mixed Choir, SATB Vocal Soloists, and Brass Quintet
Written in 1985 for Richard Sparks and the Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West.
Duration: 19min.
NOTES
Officum Pastorum (The Office of the Shepherds) was written in homage
to J.S. Bach during his 300th birthday year. The text is drawn from an 11th century
liturgical play which was spoken and sung on Christmas morning at the Cathedral of Rouen.
In keeping with the Lutheran tradition of lay understanding, the text is set both in the
original Latin and in English translation.
The music is based almost entirely upon the chorale tune "Vom Himmel hoch," fragments
and phrases of the tune forming the material of the first nine sections. In the tradition
of Bach's cantatas, the audience is invited to sing the chorale as it is presented in its
entirety during the last movement.
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