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Views from the Choir Loft

Sir Colin Mawby Composes Special “Ave Maria” For Kansas Choristers

Lucas Tappan · December 2, 2015

LMT Colin Mawby EVERAL MONTHS AGO I posted about Colin Mawby and his time at Westminster Cathedral as Master of Music and director of the cathedral’s world famous men and boys choir. I included information he had sent me several years prior, so Jeff Ostrowski asked if I had received Mawby’s permission to include his remarks. I told Jeff he had given me permission at the time, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask him again.

I am grateful for Jeff’s prodding, because in the midst of my conversation with Mawby over the post, he told me he would love to compose a work for my parish’s children’s choir (The Children of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola Cantorum) should I ever want him to. I mentioned our upcoming trip to Rome and said we would love to premier one of his works in the Eternal City. A great priest/friend of mine agreed to pay the commission, and we decided on the text of the Ave Maria, since our parish is under Our Lady’s patronage. Within two weeks Mr. Mawby sent me the finished score, set in five parts (SSATB). I passed it out to the choir—and they loved it! As one of the high school boys in the choir put it, “this is the piece that every other composer wishes he had written.” The work vacillates between D minor and D major, and is very contemplative in nature. Every time I listen to it, I find myself present at that historic moment when St. Gabriel uttered the words Ave, gratia plena to a young Galilean women so totally absorbed in prayer that the Eternal Word pitched His tent in her and dwelt in her very body.

So… thank you, Jeff, for a little extra prodding. Not only did the world gain a beautiful new piece of sacred music, but the choristers of our parish are able to contemplate the Incarnation in a new light. They are also excited to meet Mr. Mawby, who emailed me two weeks after he sent me the music saying he had already purchased his plane ticket and would see us in Rome!


Editor’s Note: Dr. Tappan will be in Rome with his choristers. He will not be able to post any blogs while he is in Rome. He also has a brand new member of the family, so let’s be patient with him!

We hope that Dr. Tappan will consider sharing this piece with our readers when the time is right, but we must wait until after it is premiered in Rome.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Colin Mawby Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Lucas Tappan

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four children.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Been to Catholic church and heard Mass. Execrable music! Organ played by a young girl who made impossible harmonies. Sermon very long. The preacher screamed loud enough to tire his lungs. The congregation was affected.”

— Louis Moreau Gottschalk (8 May 1864)

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