Cantica de Sancto Benedicto : Saint Benedict Cantata

Cantica de Sancto Benedicto is a three-movement work for mixed choir, soprano solo, concert band and organ ad libitum - on Latin lyrics that relate to the life of Saint Benedict. It was commissioned by the city of Norcia in Italy, where Benedict was born. The holy Benedict (480-547) is considered the founder of monastic life within the Roman Catholic Church. His enormous influence is especially owing to his monastic rule, the Regula Benedicti.Jacob de Haan has named the movements of Cantica de Sancto Benedicto after the Holy Trinity: the Father (Gloria Patri), the Son (Gloria Filio) and the Holy Spirit (Gloria Spiritui Sancto). The lyrics of thehymn Gemma Caelestis, (which, like the other texts, were originally used in Gregorian chant) are voiced by the choir. To this purpose, Jacob de Haan composed new, choral-like, homophone music. The sequence Laeta Quies is rendered by the soprano; the verses (divided over the three movements) are alternated with those of Gemma Caelestis. The work closes with an impressive grand finale, in which texts are used from the proprium of the mass in honor of the saint’s day of the holy Benedict (11 July). Notes to the conductor: For this cantata, there are various possibilities for the performance. The first involves a performance in which the choir and soprano parts are only accompanied by organ. Such a performance has several advantages: since the band never sounds together with the choir and the soprano, no balance problems occur, and even a performance with a large concert band and a small cantata choir is conceivable. A special layout is also possible - with which you can set up a three-dimensional performance in a church. For example, the choir can sing in the chancel, accompanied by the choir organ; the soprano can stand on the gallery, accompanied by the main organ; and the band can be seated in another part of the church. The choir could also sing from a gallery. With layouts like this, working with two conductors is advisable.