Three Liturgical Chants II.: Laudate Dominum

The composer Péter Andorka (born 1987) studied under Miklós Kocsár and Miklós Csemiczky at the Bartók Secondary School of Music and under János Vajda at the Liszt Academy of Music, both in Budapest. Apart from solo, chamber and orchestral works, several vocal compositions of his (oratorios and choral works) have been performed, and he has also composed for the stage.

The Three Liturgical Chants to Latin texts were composed for six-part female choir in 2009. The text of the first piece (Lux aeterna) comes from the mass for the dead, that of the second (Laudate Dominum) from Psalm 116 (117 in many English translations), and that of the third (Adoro te devote) from a hymn by StThomas Aquinas, whose Gregorian chant is also incorporated into the work.

The euphony and elaborate part-writing of the Three Liturgical Chants place a serious task before choirs, particularly in terms of intonation. Especially the wide compass of Lux aeterna requires a professional choir.