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Fauré’s Tanto Ergo offers devotion without theatrical excess. The music is warm, poised, and gently luminous, unfolding with the quiet confidence so characteristic of Fauré’s sacred writing. Rather than overwhelming the listener, it invites stillness: solo voice, chorus, and organ moving together in an atmosphere of reverence, restraint, and serene beauty. This is faith expressed not as spectacle, but as inward radiance.
**Latin**
Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui;
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui;
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.
Genitori Genitoque
Laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio;
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.
Amen.
**English Translation**
Therefore, so great a Sacrament
Let us venerate, bowed low;
And let the old covenant
Give way to the new rite;
Let faith provide what is lacking
Where the senses fail.
To the Father and the Son
Be praise and jubilation,
Salvation, honour, power also,
And blessing;
To the One proceeding from them both
May equal praise be given.
Amen.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s *Pie Jesu*, from his 1985 *Requiem*, reimagines the traditional Latin prayer as a luminous soprano duet. Written for the Latin Mass text—“Pie Jesu, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem”—it blends ethereal melody with lush harmonic shifts, rising from tender pleas to a radiant climax before dissolving into serene resolution. Premiered at St. Thomas Church, New York, with Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston, it became an instant classic, later adapted by André Rieu in Maastricht with Kimmy Skota and Mirusia Louwerse. Rieu’s orchestral warmth amplifies Webber’s romantic lyricism, preserving the piece’s devotional core while framing it for popular reverence.
Arvo Pärt’s De profundis (1977) is a choral work for male voices (TTBB), percussion, and organ, based on Psalm 130, a penitential psalm from the Latin Vulgate (“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord”). Composed in Pärt’s signature tintinnabuli style, it features minimalist textures, stark harmonic clarity, and a meditative atmosphere. The piece unfolds slowly, with layered vocal lines and resonant organ drones, evoking a sense of spiritual longing and introspection. The percussion adds subtle, ritualistic accents. Typically lasting about 5–7 minutes, it’s a profound, contemplative setting of the sacred text, emphasizing humility and hope.
For our upcoming Remembrance Day concert. Impossibly beautiful and a honour to sing.
While performing this song, the soloist takes flight leading with beautiful passages, but then when the choir joins the piece soars even higher. Singing and sharing this during a performance can only be fully realized if you are in it.
This makes me think humanity has a chance. Through music and song, we are one.
Why do you sing in choir? This is why you sing in a choir. :)
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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