Listen to Sarah Field (trumpet) and Martin Stacey (organ) performing Three Antiphons on 7th October 2006 at St Dominic's Priory, London NW5

Three Antiphons (2004)

Ave Regina - Ave Maria - Regina Caeli

The ‘Three Antiphons’ for trumpet and organ are adaptations of Latin motets for unaccompanied choir, commissioned originally by Janet and Douglas Mackay for the Canterbury Chamber Choir and first performed in Faversham, Kent, in April 2004. Regina Caeli, as a motet, was nominated for the Liturgical section in the British Composer Awards, December, 2005. The rescoring for this combination was made for Paul Archibald and Leslie Pearson and first performed at the Yoxford Festival in 2004. The three texts I chose for the choral motets address the Virgin Mary. The first movement, Ave Regina, is a gentle and lyrical response to the ‘Queen of the heavens... from whom the light came into the world.’ The Ave Maria, originally written for upper voices, is more intimate in expression with a plainchant-like muted opening. In contrast, the final movement, Regina Caeli, is robust and exultant. Each chordal passage (an Alleluia in the motet) punctuates the linear writing of the ‘verses’ which make use of the plainchant footprints of the Regina Caeli itself. The motets are published by OUP. Three Antiphons have been recorded by the International Celebrity Trumpet Ensemble, including players from the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, for the Brass Classics label; the CD was released in September 2006.

Duration: 9 minutes
Available from: Brass Wind Publications
Price: £8.50