In Iejunio et Fletu
Genre: Chamber music quintet flute, clarinet, violin, cello piano
Description: A short work for chamber ensemble inspired by Thomas Tallis's motet of the same name
Duration: 5 minutes
Date: 2018
Programme Note
Tallis set In ieiunio et fletu in his Cantiones Sacrae (1575), a volume including some of his final and most expressive motets. This is a penitential text particularly suited to Ash Wednesday, with priests weeping at the altar and pleading for forgiveness for the people.
As I absorbed the strange and beautiful harmonies while arranging the work for a modern ensemble, the violin came forward in my mind - prompting a new layer, based on the harmonies of the music, as though a new foreground was being produced, slightly blurring or occluding the original. To this counterpoint the piano also introduced a new layer. For me, this modern ensemble reflects a new approach on the negotiation between voices and instruments that was a feature of 16th and 17th century practices in English music. This work was rescored in 2018 as part of a new work for chamber orchestra 'Sinfonia'.
To buy recording please contact the composer for further information
To buy recording please contact the composer for further information
To buy or hire the score, please contact the composer
Chamber music quintet
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