A Sanctus mj305
11th movement (of 19) of Bishop Closes High Church
The plainsong setting of a Sanctus in Mode VII on which this improvisation was based had been commissioned by a previous Rector in 1997, along with settings of the Gloria, Alleluias, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei in all eight modes, both festal and ferial, so that the musical tradition of the church could remain even when the comparitively un-poetic texts of common worship’s Ordinary were to be employed. All these were composed by Malcolm Hill, but Kyries, still permitted to be sung in Greek, were left unset so that as much tradition as possible could be maintained.
The original plainsong setting can be found on Malcolm Hill’s page on Petrucci: http://imslp.org/wiki/16_Plainsong_Sanctus_(Hill%2C_Malcolm)
A larger file with better acoustics can be requested via the Contact Form.
Improvisation copyright © Malcolm Hill, Bath UK