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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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Unfortunately, on the one hand a deadly error in judgment placed the official leadership of this committee into the hands of a man who—though generous and brave—was not very knowledgeable: Cardinal Lercaro. He was utterly incapable of resisting the maneuvers of the mealy-mouthed scoundrel that the Neapolitan Vincentian, Bugnini, a man as bereft of culture as he was of basic honesty, soon revealed himself to be.”

— ‘Fr. Louis Bouyer, an important member of the Consilium’

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