Salve Regina - New Composition
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    I am excited to share another composition with the group. PDF download, electronic rendering, and some commentary on this setting of Salve Regina are available here:

    http://www.catholicliving.net/drakes-salve-regina/

    As usual, it is sharable (creative commons). I always appreciate feedback and hope the piece may be of use to someone. Thank you for taking some time to look at it.
  • Beautifully conceived and done.
    I especially like the five-voice structure. I've always thought it a pity that this rich procedure gave way to the less satisfying, somewhat arid, four-voice standard.

    Your counterpoint and rhythmic sense are admirable. The digital recording does not, I think, do it justice at all. It sounds almost boringly ponderous and without that life-giving rhythmic interplay which the score implies.

    Thanked by 1Drake
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    Thank you! That makes my day.
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • This ought to make your tomorrow to boot -
    When I was reading your score I could easily imagine that it had a definite Byrdian or Gibbonsian provenance!
    Thanked by 2Drake cesarfranck
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    I think I should print out your comments, frame them, and put them over my desk. You are so kind!
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Engraving note: I'd suggest putting the incipit in stemless modern notation or neumes. It's a bit difficult to read right now, and it would also make clear that it's not a metrical line, but to be sung freely as chant.


    As is, the recording sounds very nice.
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    Thank you for the suggestion, Ben. I've updated the PDF with stemless. Wish Finale could chant, but at least this way it is clear what pitch to start on.
  • CCoozeCCooze
    Posts: 1,259
    How neat. Lovely piece, based off of the digital rendering.
    The video was confusing because of the playback line not matching the sound, and so not showing the next page, when needed, but that's not too big of a problem.
    I'm glad you removed the stems of the incipit line - it was a good suggestion by Ben.


    I'm not sure what instrument you chose as the "voices," but it sounded almost like a beautiful percussion (marimba, vibes, maybe a bit of xylophone with the right mallets) ensemble piece.
    I wish I was in college again, solely to pitch this piece to the percussion instructor.
    Thanked by 1Drake
  • Drake,

    Thank you.

    Not too fast, and therefore allowing much meditation. There's a shortage of such music among modern composers.

    Thanked by 3Drake Ben moderntrad
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    CCooze, thank you for the feedback. The voice is "Silvery Choir" from the Garritan instruments that come with Finale. I like the sound better than Choir Oohs or Choir Aahs, but it is so soft, I have to amplify it with Audacity after exporting the score as an audio file. I made the screen recording separately and tried to merge them together, which is why the two are a bit out of sync.
  • November2 font does have chant font characters, which should make it interesting with Finale's strong involvement with XML.
  • bumping because the Immaculate Conception is right around the corner.
    Thanked by 2Incardination Drake
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,190
    Alma Redemptoris Mater is the correct seasonal antiphon.
    Thanked by 2tomjaw Incardination
  • Kevin,

    Of course it is, so one wouldn't use this in place of the Marian antiphon in the coming season.