AVE MARIA by Jack Ledger-Dowse @voces8_foundation
VOCES8 SCHOLARS
12 October 2022, 7:30pm
Recorded Live at St Bride's, Fleet Street
London, UK
This concert is part of the JAM MASTERCLASS SERIES in COMPOSITION in collaboration with the VOCES8 Foundation featuring 6 world premieres. To find out more about JAM enabling, promoting and supporting emerging composers, please visit: www.jamconcert.org
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and in the hour of our death. Amen.
The Ave Maria or “Hail Mary” is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Christ. Jack Ledger-Dowse’s Ave Maria is a rich and meditative setting of the text for choir. It seeks to convey the mystical and other-worldly qualities of the text through its rich harmonic language, with moments of real intensity and others of tranquil spaciousness. The piece was originally conceived in early 2021, with a previous version for male voices being premiered by Portsmouth Cathedral Choir in June 2021. Since, it has been revitalised, in places reworked and scaled up to a full SATB choir.