Ave verum

- Timothy Flynn

PDF Sample

Use: Lent, Communion, General
Required Resources: SATB choir, organ
Language: Latin

From his position as Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Lansing, Michigan, Dr. Flynn gives us this setting of the text, Ave verum. It is dedicated to The Rev. Msgr. Bernard Reilly, rector.

The homophonic choral writing is clear, clean and very logical, moving in half notes and quarter notes. The ranges are extremely comfortable, most stretching only slightly more than an octave:

1. Soprano: D (below the staff) to E (4th space)
2. Alto: B-flat (below the staff) to C (3rd space)
3. Tenor: E (3rd space, bass clef) to F# (above staff)
4. Bass: G (bottom line) to C (above staff)

The organ offers very simple accompaniment, alternating at the outset with a cappella choral passages, playing under unison sections, and concluding the work on two whole note measures, ii7 and I in treble range. The organ part indicates strings and soft flutes, and the pedal part is ad libitum, meaning this could easily be played on a very small organ, even a continuo instrument.