Ubi Caritas
Choir, SSAATTBB a capela
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As I started writing this setting of ‘Ubi Caritas’, my original plan was to set the Latin text, but I began to have difficulty early in the process finding a place to start. I had written the opening and closing phrases basically as they are in the finished piece, using the traditional chant melody, but I couldn’t figure out how to combine them with the more contemporary sound I was looking for in the body of the piece. On a whim, I started looking at English translations, and immediately realized that setting the text in English was the right choice for me, keeping the Latin for the beginning and end as bookends, or perhaps prelude and postlude.
The translation that I ended up with is my own, translated rather freely in order to have phrases ending on key words, especially for the three “choral melismas”, on the words ‘God’, ‘Rejoice’, and ‘God’, respectively. Once I had the primary melodic idea and the harmonic progression for the choral melismas, the rest of the piece fell into place.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Where there is charity,
Where there is love,
There is God.
The Love of Christ
Gathers us as one
Let us rejoice and be glad in Him!
Let us fear and love the living God,
And with pure hearts let us love one another.
Where there is charity,
Where there is love,
There is God.
Amen.
for information on obtaining sheet music, please contact me at WalkerWilliamsMusic@gmail.com
Choir, SSAATTBB a capela
PDF Preview
As I started writing this setting of ‘Ubi Caritas’, my original plan was to set the Latin text, but I began to have difficulty early in the process finding a place to start. I had written the opening and closing phrases basically as they are in the finished piece, using the traditional chant melody, but I couldn’t figure out how to combine them with the more contemporary sound I was looking for in the body of the piece. On a whim, I started looking at English translations, and immediately realized that setting the text in English was the right choice for me, keeping the Latin for the beginning and end as bookends, or perhaps prelude and postlude.
The translation that I ended up with is my own, translated rather freely in order to have phrases ending on key words, especially for the three “choral melismas”, on the words ‘God’, ‘Rejoice’, and ‘God’, respectively. Once I had the primary melodic idea and the harmonic progression for the choral melismas, the rest of the piece fell into place.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Where there is charity,
Where there is love,
There is God.
The Love of Christ
Gathers us as one
Let us rejoice and be glad in Him!
Let us fear and love the living God,
And with pure hearts let us love one another.
Where there is charity,
Where there is love,
There is God.
Amen.
for information on obtaining sheet music, please contact me at WalkerWilliamsMusic@gmail.com