Opus 871
O quam mirabilis (2010)
for SATB Chorus Unaccompanied
Text by Hildegard von Bingen (in Latin)
Harvard Choral Fellows; Edward Elwyn Jones, conductor
Duration: 2.25 min.
Dedication: for Frank Ferko on his 60th birthday
Commission: Commissioned by the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, Massachusetts
Recorded on The Welcome News: Choral Music of Carson Cooman (2012)Publisher: Zimbel Press/Subito Music Corp.
Performance materials available from the publisher.
O quam mirabilis (2010) sets a text by Hildegard von Bingen and was composed as a 60th birthday present for American composer Frank Ferko, who is particularly noted for his large body of superb music connected to Hildegard’s visionary writings. The work was premiered by the Choral Fellows of the Harvard University Choir under the direction of Edward Elwyn Jones.
O quam mirabilis est prescientia divini pectoris,
que prescivit omnem creaturam.
O quam mirabilis est inspiratio,
que hominem sic suscitavit.
How wondrous is the prescience of the divine heart
which foreknew every creature.
How wondrous is the breath of inspiration
by which humanity was awakened.
Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), trans. Carson Cooman