DIGITAL SAMPLE

Love Bade me Welcome

Choral setting of the exquisite poem by Welsh born XVII century English poet George Herbert. The verses of this Anglican priest who was a contemporary of John Donne describe beautifully a dialog between 'Love’ (the Divine) and the human being. The score attempts to illustrate the dramatic progression of this spiritual dialogue in which the eternal ´Love´ gives himself up to welcome the human being with merciful insistence as a privileged guest at a mystical meal. To make this dialogue clear while the choir takes the voice of the human nature -full of shame and guilt- while the Trebles assume the voice of the Divine Love -full of mercy and compassion-. Neither the choosing of trebles nor the number 3 is casual: Childhood evokes naturally ideas of love and purity which are attributes of God himself, thus trebles seemed to me an appropriate choice to represent the voice of “Love” and the fact that there are three, is an intended reference to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

More Info

Availability
Genre
Voicing
Accompaniment
Language
Lyrics
Durata Circa
Year of Composition
Number of Pages
Number o Measures

Digital Only (PDF)

Sacred

SATB (Divisis) $ Soloists

Organ

English

George Herbert

5'30

2011