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CFAMC Listening Page #78

First issued April 17, 2011

A monthly musical offering by a composer member of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers.
Both your listening and comments are encouraged.

Robert Chastain

Ave Verum Corpus

Performed by
The International Orange Chorale
Zane Fiala, Conductor

View a PDF of the score of this work.

NOTE: The PDF file is for viewing only. Please contact the composer for further use.

Program Notes

Ave verum corpus, meaning “Hail, true body,” is a 14th century communion hymn whose author, while attributed to Popes Innocent III, Innocent IV, and Innocent VI, remains unknown. The text has been set most notably by the composers W.A. Mozart and William Byrd. I believe that both of these composers have set this text appropriately for concert or liturgical use, something I seek to accomplish in my own setting of this historical text.

Following in the meditative nature of the text, I intend for my musical setting to be a spiritual meditation on the nature of Jesus Christ as both man, fully human, and Son of God, fully divine.

Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary,
who having truly suffered, was sacrificed on the cross for mankind,
whose pierced side flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet in the trial of death.
Oh dear Jesus, Oh merciful Jesus, Oh Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.

Composer’s Statement of Faith

I believe, first, in one simple fact: there is a God.
He is that first intelligence, existing outside of time, and therefore for all eternity.
He is the Father of all creation, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen, unseen, and yet to be seen.

I believe that God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
From the Father the Son was eternally begotten, not made:
God from God, Light from Light,
true God of one Being with the Father.
I cannot agree with those who say that we are morally evolved enough to surrender our belief in God. The fall of humankind from being “perfect” creatures is evident in our constant corruptibility by way of one human's desire to overcome another human being in all matters of human community and civilization.
For this reason God has redeemed us through his Son by his death and resurrection.
When we see how God chose to manifest himself to us, through the first Word who dealt amongst us, we see that we are truly made in His image.
We now wait for His return so that all may be made right, acting as the Body of Christ and making our faith visible by our service in His name.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the life-giving personage of God who has inspired mankind throughout the ages to profess faith and make God's presence visible through the nation of Israel, and through the prophets who proclaimed the coming Kingdom of God.

I believe that our faith in Him saves us from the unavoidable sin of our selfish nature, and that on the last day we will be resurrected to join with Him in Paradise.

Composer Biography

Robert Chastain was born in 1981, earned an MM San Francisco Conservatory of Music, BM University of Florida, and was a 2010 Susan and Ford Schumann Fellow to the Aspen Summer Music Festival. He began his formal musical training at the age of 17 in the public school system of Pinellas County, Florida, teaching himself to play the bassoon before earning a performance scholarship to the University of Florida. His composition teachers include George Tsontakis, Daniel J. Becker, Paul Richards, James Paul Sain, Paul Koonce, and Paul Basler. He has also presented in masterclasses with John Adams and Libby Larsen. For the summer of 2011 he will be studying at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris.

Recent performances include his String Quartet No. 1: “Gravity's Relentless Pull,” at the 2010 Aspen Summer Music. Mr. Chastain has also been commissioned by the St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco, CA to set the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross for the 2011 Lenten season. In April of 2010 the International Orange Chorale premiered his Ave Verum Corpus for SATB chorus a cappella. Mr. Chastain also organized the premier of his Parousial Dawn for Surround Sound Orchestra, conducted by Ross Ipsen in May of 2010. He also conducted the premier of his Requiem in bello (Requiem in Time of War) for wind symphony with his ensemble, the San Francisco Wind Symphony in addition to recording his orchestral work, Metanoia, with the same group.

Mr. Chastain enjoys an active performing career as a conductor, choral bass, and a bassoonist. He served as an assistant student conductor of the San Francisco Conservatory Chorus in spring of 2010. He also sings bass for the Solemn Mass Choir at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco, and also performed in orchestras and choirs in the U.S. He works for the San Francisco Opera as a composer/teaching artist where he guides classroom mini-opera composition in the Bay Area public school system.

- - -  SOLI DEO GLORIA!  - - -

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