Canticum Canticorum Caritatis

Erkki-Sven Tuur's Canticum Canticorum Caritatis ('Song of Songs') is a setting in Latin for choir SATB (with divisi) of the famous passage from St Paul's letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13 dealing with the nature of love ("Now faith, hope, love these three: but the greatest of these is love"). Tuur reflects that the ancient Greeks broadly divided love into four categories: agape, eros, philia and storge. When love is exhausted, we often think about eros. But at this moment there is a need to celebrate agape, unconditional love, and this piece was born from this consideration.