Magnificat

This 24-minute work in eight movements was commissioned by the Vancouver Chamber Choir. Following the ancient tradition, the text of this canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke (1:46-55). Fragments of the text, often overlapped, repeated, and juxtaposed, are set in Latin plus the six official languages of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and German. The omnipresent and spiritually symbolic element of stepwise ascending melodic lines helps to unify the eclectic panoply of traditional, multicultural, and contemporary musical styles. Through its marriage of multilingual text and contrasting musical idioms, the work expresses not only strongly held religious convictions but also hope for universal peace and harmony within our global community.