Dormi Jesu (Sleep Jesus)
Finalist for the Ithaca Choral Composition Competition
Voicing: SATB a cappella (non divisi)Text: Anonymous
Language: Latin
Duration: 4:45 min.
Premiere: July, 2001; Paris, France; Mark Shapiro, conductor
Published by: G. Schirmer: Dale Warland Choral Series, Cat No. 50486936
Score Sample: PREVIEW THE SCORE (pdf)
LISTEN:
Dormi Jesu: mp3, 4:42, 4.4 MB
Performed by Ensemble of the North. Patrick McDonough, conductor.
PROGRAM NOTE:
Dormi, Jesu was written in July of 2001, just after visiting some glorious European cathedrals with the St. Olaf Choir. The piece was inspired by Anton Bruckner’s “Os Justi” and Olivier Messiaen’s “O Sacrum Convivium,” both on the choir’s European tour program that summer. Dormi, Jesu was premiered under the direction of Mark Shapiro at l’Eglise Saint Severin in Paris, France just a few days after its completion, and was a finalist for the Ithaca Choral Composition Competition in fall of 2004, where it was given its US premiere by the West Genessee High School Chorale. The piece is dedicated to Dr. Anton Armstrong and the members of the St. Olaf Choir 2000-2001, with great admiration.
Dormi, Jesu was recorded in spring 2005 by the Minneapolis-based chamber chorus Ensemble of the North (Patrick McDonough, director).
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Dormi Jesu Dormi, Jesu. Mater ridet Quae tam dulcem somnum videt. Dormi, Jesu, blandule. Si non dormis, mater plorat. Inter fila cantans orat, Blande, veni, somnule. Anonymous |
Sleep Jesus Sleep, Jesus. Thy mother smiles when she sees such gentle slumber. Sleep Jesus, gently. If you do not sleep, your mother cries. And, singing, prays as she weaves: "Come, gentle sleep." Translation by Abbie Betinis (and dictionary) |
Performed by:
Choir of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church - St. Paul, MN (James Frazier, conductor)
Choir of King's Chapel - Boston, MA (Heinrich Christensen, conductor)
Church of St Andrew, Adult Choir - Newtonville, MA (Amelia LeClair, cond.)
Ensemble of the North - Minneapolis, MN (Patrick McDonough, conductor)
Magnum Chorum - Minneapolis, MN (Ralph Johnson, conductor)
Oriana Consort - Cambridge, MA (Walter Chapin, director)
Paris Singing Adventure - Paris, France (Mark Shapiro, conductor)
Philadelphia Singers (David Hayes, conductor)
Rocky Mountain Chamber Singers - Loveland, CO (Ann Bunyan, conductor)
Schola Nocturna - Newton, MA (Amelia LeClair, cond.)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Concert Choir - Lincoln, NE (Sean Burton, conductor)
Valborgkoor - The Netherlands (Árpád Schermann, conductor)
Vox Humana - Zonta, Austria (Wolfgang Ziegler, conductor)
West Genessee High School Chorale - West Genessee, NY (Anthony Alvaro, conductor)