I’m a little behind in getting this up as I usually write about the recording and video as I upload it. Let’s get to it then! In recent times, I have been asking on social media what hymn tunes folks would like settings of and one that was requested was ADORO TE DEVOTE. (The tune is also known as ADORO DEVOTE, at least in the Hymnal 1982.) The text that is commonly associated to this tune/text a communion text – something that Thomas Aquinas wrote. I should say here that I did not consider the text in composing the piece in any particular way; to be more clear, it was the tune that guided the composition more than any other consideration.
That all being said, I leaned on the meditative qualities of the tune. I devised a pretty simple rhythmic and melodic figure/motif that is used throughout the piece. What’s funny about devising something like that, I wonder if it will be interesting enough to last all three to four minutes of the piece. I also wonder if there’s enough in that figure to lend itself to mutations and adaptations. Ultimately, I think that this time, it worked!
If you listen to the piece or have the score in front of you, I would like to observe the repeat sign at the beginning. I mentioned that potential problem of an idea being too repetitive and a repeat sign is an easy way to accomplish that. This sounds silly but my solution was a simple one: add a dynamic change to the repeat. I think that gives the arc of the whole piece a nice trajectory and indicates that there will be all sorts of dynamic swells in the piece (pun intended). Funny enough, I used the same trick on Es Ist Ein Ros, only in reverse with the repeat being quieter. Lastly, I’ll just say that I leaned into a slight Messiaen like sound at the end which was a lot of fun. Go download the score here and happy playing out there!