Lo, the full, final sacrifice
- Lo, the full, final sacrifice
"Lo, the full, final sacrifice" (Op. 26) is a festival anthem for SATB choir and organ, composed by Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) in 1946. The work was commissioned by the Revd Walter Hussey for the 53rd anniversary of the consecration of St Matthew's, Northampton. Finzi orchestrated the piece for its performance at the Three Choirs Festival in 1947. Since then it has become a staple of the Anglican choral tradition. Performance time ranges between fifteen and eighteen minutes.
The anthem's text memorializes the celebration of the Eucharist. Finzi assembled the text from two poems of Richard Crashaw (c. 1613-1649), an English poet of the Metaphysical tradition of John Donne and Thomas Traherne. These two poems, Crashaw's "Adoro Te" and "Lauda Sion Salvatorem", themselves constitute poetic translations of Latin hymns by St Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274). Finzi did not set the entirety of both poems; he instead excerpted and re-ordered selected stanzas from Crashaw's original to create a composite text for the work.
The music of the piece adheres to a conservative tonal idiom, albeit one that modulates frequently. The highly sectionalized form follows the stanza divisions of the text, featuring episodes of homophonic textures as well as short stretches of polyphony. The text is consistently set in a syllabic style, save for the beautiful melismatic "Amen" that closes the piece.
References
*Banfield, Stephen. "Gerald Finzi: An English Composer." London: Faber and Faber, 1998.
*Crashaw, Richard. "Steps to the Temple: Delights of the Muses and Other Poems." Edited by A. R. Waller. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1904.
*Finzi, Gerald. "Lo, the full, final sacrifice." London: Boosey & Co., Ltd., 1946.
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
The Final Sacrifice — Infobox Film name = The Final Sacrifice image size = 200px caption = Promotional poster for the film director = Tjardus Greidanus producer = writer = Tjardus Greidanus Bruce J. Mitchell (uncredited) Christian Malcolm (uncredited) narrator =… … Wikipedia
The Spook's Sacrifice — … Wikipedia
The Vampire Diaries (season 2) — The Vampire Diaries Season 2 USA DVD box cover Country of origin United States … Wikipedia
The Church — The Church † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Church The term church (Anglo Saxon, cirice, circe; Modern German, Kirche; Sw., Kyrka) is the name employed in the Teutonic languages to render the Greek ekklesia (ecclesia), the term by which… … Catholic encyclopedia
The Dark Phoenix Saga — Cover of X Men Legends Volume 2: Dark Phoenix Saga (1990), trade paperback collected edition. Art by John Byrne. Publisher Marvel Comics … Wikipedia
The Blessed Trinity — The Blessed Trinity † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Blessed Trinity This article is divided as follows: I. Dogma of the Trinity; II. Proof of the Doctrine from Scripture; III. Proof of the Doctrine from Tradition;… … Catholic encyclopedia
The Byzantine Empire — The Byzantine Empire † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Byzantine Empire The ancient Roman Empire having been divided into two parts, an Eastern and a Western, the Eastern remained subject to successors of Constantine, whose capital was at … Catholic encyclopedia
Final Fantasy Tactics — North American official boxart Developer(s) Square Publisher(s) … Wikipedia
The Shining (film) — The Shining Theatrical release poster Directed by Stanley Kubrick Produced by Stanle … Wikipedia
Sacrifice — • This term is identical with the English offering (Latin offerre) and the German Opfer Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Sacrifice Sacrifice … Catholic encyclopedia
