DANIEL BASFORD - COMPOSER & ARRANGER

Ave Verum

2000, rev. 2004. Duration 4' approx.

 

 

 

First performance - 2000, Luton, Bedfordshire 

Luton Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, cond. Robert Crowley

 

 

Scoring

SATB Chorus

Organ

Strings

 

Programme Note

A Eucharistic hymn, popular with other composers including Mozart and Elgar. The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus's Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to the Catholic conception of the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers. The music is diatonic throughout, the harmonies rooted firmly in E flat major, and follows an arch-like structure.