Hymn to the Mother of Light

Audio (instrumental demo)
SATB unaccompanied (optional organ)
Text by Sheila Dunlop

While originally concieved for a Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service, this is appropriate for more general use. it is a mystical meditation on the nature of light and existence.

Difficulty rating: moderately difficult
Duration 3:15

Program Notes:

Mystical images of the beginning of the universe have long focussed on light, even when the idea of "the Big Bang" would have had no frame of reference. This piece is a meditation on the mystical nature of light and existence. It was originally sung as part of a Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols, as the "Mary" carol. In some ways, it functions as an extension of the "O" antiphons.

Notes on preparation and performance:

Single arch shapes are the structural center of this piece. The color of the sound goes from dark to light back to dark. The length of the lines, dynamics, tempo, in every aspect, look for that progression.

Unaccompanied is preferred, but the organ can supply a sustained support if needed. An organ score (organ notes full size, score laid out in landscape mode) is available.

Text

by Sheila Dunlop and Reginald Unterseher

O Mother

Womb of the unbroken life

Lens of the new-formed sun

Speaker of the word, the endless word

Mirror of the eternal light

O Mother