Pater Noster (2018)

for SSAATTBB a cappella chorus
4 minutes

Commissioned by Michael Straus for Suzi Digby and the ORA Singers
Text: The Lord’s Prayer (Latin)

WORLD PREMIERE
The ORA Singers
Suzi Digby, conductor
St. John’s Smith Square, London, UK
November 22, 2018

Pater Noster is a setting of Lord’s Prayer in Latin. The music delves into the opposing worlds the text evokes: that of heaven, deep spiritual connection, and forgiveness, suggested by pure, sparse, cantorial melodies inspired by the original chant, and the world of temptation and deep, earthly suffering, captured by dense clusters and full, vibrant harmonies. As the music oscillates between these worlds, it evokes the yearning for wholeness and longing for peace embodied in the act of prayer.