PANGE LINGUA VARIATIONS (1989)

OVERVIEW

This work beautifully captures the poetic spirit of the original Latin influences of Gregorian chant and combines them with jazz. The hymn Pange, lingua, gloriosi praelium (Sing, tongue, the glorious battle) was written by medieval French poet Venantius Honorius Fortunatus in 569. This was a model for St. Thomas Aquinas’ him written in 1263. Settings of this hymn with a Gregorian melody continued to be made by composers during the Renaissance.

Brubeck set about “writing a modern variation for each of the six verses…I searched for the meaning of each stanza and tried to musically convey the thought, so that each variation is a miniature mediation.”

Pange Lingua Variations was commissioned as part of a special fundraising event for the restoration of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California. This was Brubeck’s first sacred composition since he had embraced Catholicism.

DETAILS

(1989) 35 min.

Pange Lingua Variations (1989)

Pange Lingua
I. Sing My Tongue Sing
Nobis Datus
II. To Us Is Given
In Supremae
III. Thus On The Night
Verbum Caro
IV. The Word Made Flesh
Tantum Ergo
V. Let Us Bow Down
Brass Chorale
Meditation
Bow Down (Improvisation)
Interlude
VI. Praise To The Father!

INSTRUMENTATION

SATB Choir, accompanied
Brass, Organ, Strings & Percussion

MUSIC

Dave Brubeck

TEXT

Latin text by Thomas Aquinas, English adaptation by Iola Brubeck

COMMISSION

Commissioned by the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento California as part of a special fundraising event for the restoration of the church.

PREMIERE

May 21 & 22, 1983 by the Sacramento Chorale Masterworks Chorus prepared by Albert J. McNeil, the Early Music Ensemble from the University of California at Davis, Sacramento Symphony Chamber Orchestra, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Dave Brubeck, Bill Smith, Chris Brubeck, and Randy Jones. The program also included the West Coast premiere of Brubeck’s Mass To Hope! A Celebration, conducted by Russell Gloyd.

PURCHASE & LICENSING

For more information contact Derry@BrubeckMusic.com