OTCHE NASH
for mixed choir (SSA TBB) a cappella
Text: Old Church Slavonic
Music by Matej Kastelic (1994)
Composed: August 4, 2021
Dedicated to Conductor Ambrož Čopi and KGBL Chamber Choir
ONLINE PREMIERE:
December 30, 2021
Posneto 5. decembra 2021, Cerkev sv. Terezije deteta Jezusa na Kodeljevem, Ljubljana / Recorded December 5, 2021, Church of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus at Kodeljevo, Ljubljana
The Chamber Choir of the Ljubljana Conservatory for Music and Ballet, Slovenia
Ambrož Čopi, Conductor
Отьчє нашь
Отче нашъ, иже еси на небесехъ,
да свѧтитьсѧ имѧ Твое, да прiидетъ царствiе Твое.
Да бѫдетъ воля Твоя яко на небеси и на земли.
Хлѣбъ нашъ насѫщьнъ даждь намъ дьньсь,
и остави намъ длъгы нашѧ,
яко[же] и мы оставляемъ длъжникомъ нашимъ.
И не въведи насъ въ искушенiе, нъ избави [насъ] от лѫкавого.
яко твое есть царствiе и сила и слава въ вѣкы.
Аминь.
Our Father
Our Heavenly Father, hallowed be Thy Name,Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done,on Earth, as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,for ever and ever.Amen.
Composer about composition:
After a long period of studying Alfred Schnittke"s Choir concertos and his other choral compositions, I decided to compose an Orthodox prayer Otche nash as a "hommage" to Schnittke. The composition is six-parted SSA TBB, sopranos are divided for colors, basses for vertical harmonic density. I was insisting on having just one part tenors and altos for stability and powerful sound. Female and male sections are constructed as three voices - minor and major chords which are sectional independent, but together sounding bicordal.
From the view of music dramaturgy "Otche nash (Our Father)" is firstly presented as a majestic hymn full of sound, then it slowly goes to pianissimo as a humble prayer. Then there is the espressivo part "da budet volya Tvoya (thy will be done)", which slowly goes to the higher voices "yako na nebesi (as it is in heaven)" and to the lowest "i na zemli (on earth).
"Khleb nash (Give us this day our daily bread)" is a very dark part composed as an argument of people weeping for a daily piece of bread. The musical climax goes to the forte fortissimo ("yakozhe i mi ostavlyayem dolzhnikom nashim (as we forgive those who trespass against us)" then there is a temptation part, more eteric and spectral. I concluded with the unisono espressivo line "no izbavi nas ot lukavago (deliver us from evil)" which leads to reprise of "Otche nash" - humble prayer.
The composition also includes "Yako tvoye jest tcarstvije i sila i slava vo vyekim. Amin.", a common phrase in Orthodox liturgy.
The last chord "Amin" has open fourths as an unfinished question in the way: is there a light or dark. You decide.
About the composer:
One of the youngest Slovenian composers Matej Kastelic (b. 1994) is currently finishing his Master’s degree at Academy for Music in Ljubljana. He composes mainly choral music, though he was writing music for the theatre in the last year. His musical language is very penetrating, exposing the highlights of the lyrics, which he chooses very attentively. However young, Kastelic’s music has already been performed worldwide - at festivals and competitions of choral music.
English translation prepared by Rebeka Dobravec
Design and editing for youtube channel prepared by Matej Kastelic
Audio and video recording by Žiga Čopi
Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana, Slovenia / Konservatorij za glasbo in balet
Ljubljana (www.kgbl.si)
Sheet Music Published by Astrum Music Publication, Slovenia-Europe (www.astrum.si)
Copyright © 2021 by KGBL Chamber Choir (www.choirkgbl.eu)