for mixed voices (SATB div) a cappella
Text: Latin
Duration: c3 minutes
Difficulty: 3/5
Use: General, introit, motet, Candlemas, Christmas

Composer’s note
Commissioned by the Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, for the first ever BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong broadcast from the college, this introit or short motet was written to commemorate the occasion of Candlemas. Echoing the text, rich in light imagery, the recurring motif, first heard at the opening of the piece, unfolds from a single pitch into glowing harmonic colours. After a luminous climax where the texture reaches its widest span, with a soaring soprano solo, the piece ends by returning cyclically to the meditative state of the opening, fading to a single note once more. As a versatile introit or as a concert piece, this gentle and reflective setting of the archaic text would suit confident choral groups.

Text
O nata lux de lumine,
Jesu redemptor sæculi,
Dignare clemens supplicum
Laudes precesque sumere.

Qui carne quondam contegi
Dignatus es pro perditis,
Nos membra confer effici
Tui beati corporis.

O Light born of Light,
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
Mercifully deign to accept
Suppliant praise and prayer.

You who once deigned to be clothed in flesh
For the sake of the lost,
Grant us to be members
Of thy blessed body.

Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker is an award-winning composer, pianist and music educator from the North-East of England, currently based in Cambridge. Since completing her postgraduate studies at Gonville & Caius College, where she was a Choral Scholar, in 2021, Lucy has received numerous high-profile commissions. Composing highlights for Lucy so far include her first BBC Radio 3 commission, sung by the BBC Singers, in celebration of International Women’s Day; composing an introit for the first ever Evensong broadcast by the Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge; and, most recently, being appointed Composer-in-Residence with St Martin’s Voices, at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. Lucy’s works have been frequently broadcast on national radio, featured on commercial recordings, and are gaining popularity in performance across Europe and the US. Lucy is passionate about making music, especially choral music, accessible and inclusive, and her compositions aim to reflect this mission.