Duration: 10 min.
afl (w/ death whistle), eh (w/ death whistle), bel (w/ death whistle), bsn (w/ death whistle), hn, tpt, tbn, perc, pno, 2 vln, vla, vcl, db
(email for score/parts)
This piece was written for the Civic Orchestra Fellowship during the Civic Orchestra Composers Project 2017. It was conducted by Michael Lewanski and the recording was engineered by Grayson Elliott Taylor.
Hildegard Von Bingen’s “Ordo Virtutum” was the earliest recorded morality play by more than a century; it was written in 1151. The play tells of a lost soul roaming the world looking for meaning in life. The devil shows up attempting to veer the soul in a direction towards darkness while the Virtues come to rid Satan of his influence and send the soul towards the light. After a tustle with the soul and the devil employing all of his tricks, the virtues eventually send the devil back to hell and give the soul peace and meaning in its world. This work begins with an introduction of the two powers. The three virtues that are presented later are Hope, Patience, and Humility. Each are given their own caricature, using material originally written in Hildegard’s piece. The final section is an intense battle between the forces of light and dark eventually giving way towards the light and inner peace.
Sections:
I. Introit
II. Hope
III. Patience
IV. Humility
V. Ordo Virtutum