O Oriens

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star,

splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

The text of O Oriens is one of the seven Advent Antiphons, thought to have been written in sixth century Italy. The music for choir and organ, plays with two modes, the Phrygian and the Aeolian, and at the beginning of the work, a subtitle reads: Phrygian and Aeolian: night becomes day becomes night. Rising phrases are mirrored in the organ part. At the end there is an optional rustic ‘dance’ for organ in which falling phrases dominate. I was thinking of a painting of the Nativity in which shepherds are dancing in the background.

Judith Bingham