Meditation on an Agnus mj303
9th movement (of 19) of Bishop Closes High Church
Improvisation copyright © Malcolm Hill, Bath UK
The mode I plainsong setting of the Agnus Dei on which this meditation is 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 compariatively 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 plainsong Agnus Mode I can be seen on Malcolm Hill’s page on Petrucci (imslp.org).