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Views from the Choir Loft

A Chinese “Ave Maria”

Andrew Leung · August 14, 2018

THINK MANY OF OUR READERS would enjoy listening to this Chinese setting of Ave Maria by Mons. Anthony Chi-Ming Lau. Mons. Lau was born in Guangzhou, China, in 1938. He received his musical training in Macau and Rome (Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music), and he now lived in Taiwan. Mons. Lau composed a large body of hymns and sacred pieces in Chinese.

In the video, you will hear this piece sung in Cantonese, which is the mother tongue of Mons. Lau. Both Eastern and Western musical elements can be found in this piece. The first half of the “Hail Mary” is written based on the Chinese modality and the second half of the prayer is set to a fugue in the Western style. I was quite amazed by this work when I first heard it two years ago.



This video was recorded live at a special Choral Evensong service held at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady, Macau. At the invitation of the cathedral parish, my choir sang this piece as a choral prelude with the Cathedral Schola of Macau. The Evensong was then sung by the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Another video recorded from a few more different angles can be found on Vox Antiqua’s Facebook page.

A PDF of this piece (in Latin) can be downloaded on the website of the Sacred Music Commission of the Diocese of Hong Kong.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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“In everything of any importance at all, Sarum (and all other mediæval rites) was simply Roman, the rite which we still use.”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (1912)

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