Description
Natalie Shea writes about this piece: Andrew Schultz begins his Magnificat setting not with an exultant shout of praise but almost hesitantly, the plainsong-like melody unfolding from the bare interval of a fourth like the petals of a flower. Once in bloom, however, the parts fall away again and the music returns to the purity of single lines. Despite the delicacy of the writing and the softness of the singing, there is a sense of quiet determination which echoes the epigram that Schultz has inscribed at the head of the score: “No coward soul is mine” (Emily Brontë, Last Lines). Schultz’s Mary may be small, but she has strength and courage as she faces a future beyond her imagining.
Magnificat for unaccompanied choir was composed over the summer of 2008-2009 and was written in response to a commission from the Sydney Chamber Choir.