Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- John Joubert
Reflections on a Martyrdom, Op. 141 (1997)
- Novello & Co Ltd (World)
Commissioned by The Vicar, Churchwardens and Parochial Church Council of SS Alban and Patrick, Highgate, Birmingham, on the occasion of the organ restoration AD 1997. Supported by The National Lottery through The Arts Council of England and by a grant from The Ecclesiastical Music Trust.
Programme Note
The musical material of this work is taken from my cantata, The Martyrdom of St Alban, which is based on the Venerable Bede's account of the event in his History of the English Church and People. St Alban, the first English martyr, was beheaded in 209AD for giving shelter to a Christian during a period of persecution by the occupying Romans. The four 'reflections' of the title correspond to four different stages in the story and are played without a break. They are as follows:
1. Recitative – St Alban's trial before the Roman magistrate
2. Aria – His prayer for acceptance into the Christian faith
3. Funeral March – The procession to the place of execution
4. Epilogue – Waters flow and flowers bloom at the scene of Alban's martyrdom
John Joubert