O sacrum convivium

Information

No. 2 from Three Latin motets. A four parts a cappella setting of the old O sacrum convivium text by Thomas Aquinas.

”The Three latin motets were composed for the communion service at Oscarskyrkan in Stockholm. They have also been performed at concerts and at various choral competitions throughout Europe.
The pieces make up a small suite, where the hymns by Thomas Aquinas frame the ancient Ubi caritas as a centerpiece. Beginning with the epic multi-verse setting of Tantum ergo and ending with the dance-like ritornello structure of O sacrum convivium, the suite makes up a nice ternary form with the warm stillness of Ubi caritas in the middle.
While composing, I aimed to evoke the antiquity of the texts by assigning them to mock-plainchant melodies and then treating them in a cantus firmus setting. All three pieces are written in a neo-romantic style.

The prose text of O sacrum convivium is a celebration of the holy sacrament, describing it as a banquet. The piece depicts a fairly joyous meal with dance-like rhythms and mock-antiphonal features that evoke the murmur of conversation.” Pär Olofsson, musician in Oscarskyrkan, Stockholm.

See also Tantum ergo, Ubi caritas and Sicut cervus by Pär Olofsson.

Listen to Hjorthagens Kammarkör conducted by Karin Oldgren.