''Benedicite'' is a composition for choir, children's choir and orchestra by Andrew Carter. He set the hymn

Benedicite The Benedicite (also Benedicite, omnia opera Domini or A Song of Creation) is a canticle that is used in the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, and is also used in Anglican and Lutheran worship. The text is either verses 35–65 or verses 35–66 of ...

from the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

, and additional free texts based on the model in three

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

for

unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

children's choir. The work was published in 1991 and dedicated to Andrew Fairbairns. A subset of the music for children's choir was published as ''Bless the Lord''.

History

''Benedicite'' was commissioned for the 1989 Singing Day in Edinburgh by the British Federation of Young Choirs. Carter, an English composer and church musician in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, was inspired by the restoration of roof bosses at the southern transept of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

, which had been destroyed in a fire in 1984. They depict around 60 images of creatures. The music is written to convey a child-like perspective of the wonders of

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

. ''Benedicite'' was published in 1991 and dedicated to Andrew Fairbairns. A subset of the music for children's choir was published as ''Bless the Lord''.

Structure and music

Carter set the hymn

from the

in six movements, and interspersed three additional movements, whose texts are free variations on the model, to be sung by a

children's choir. The movements are titled: # O all ye works of the Lord # Green Things # Sun and Moon # Badgers and Hedgehogs # Ice and Snow # Whales and Waters # Butterflies and Moths # Thunder and Lightning # Spirits and Souls # Grannies and Grandads # O let the earth bless the Lord The duration is given as 35 minutes. The first movement, beginning "O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord", is marked ''Molto ritmico'' (Most rhythmic) and is in 2+2+2+3/8 time. The three movements based on added text to be sung by a children's choir were also published separately as ''Bless the Lord'', which is concluded with the final movement. The movements are: * Badgers and Hedgehogs (Benedicite No. 4) * Butterflies and Moths (Benedicite No. 7) * Grannies and Grandads (Benedicite No. 10) * O Let The Earth Bless The Lord

Performances and recordings

The first performance of ''Benedicite'' was at the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

in Edinburgh on 5 November 1989, conducted by

Philip Ledger Sir Philip Stevens Ledger, CBE, FRSE (12 December 1937 – 18 November 2012) was an English classical musician, choirmaster and academic, best remembered as Director of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge in 1974–1982 and of the Royal Scot ...

. The work was recorded, together with Rutter's Requiem, by the Wayne Oratorio Society at Wayne Presbyterian Church on 10 May 2006, conducted by Jeffrey B. Fowler. In 2016, ''Benedicite'' was performed, together with Mozart's ''

Great Mass in C minor ''Great Mass in C minor'' (german: Große Messe in c-Moll, links=no), K. 427/417a, is the common name of the musical setting of the mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which is considered one of his greatest works. He composed it in Vienna in 1782 ...

'', at the York Minster by the York Musical Society.

References

{{Italic title Anglican church music Choral compositions 1991 compositions