The Act of Contrition
In this penitential piece, the choir sings a dark, diminished chord on the words sin, to provide a harmonic representation of the deformity caused by sin.
Glory Be
In Glory Be’s section on the Holy Spirit, the basses sing to the Third Person of the Trinity, who is with his children “here below” on earth. On the word “below”, the basses jump to a low Bb, and descend even further to a low G, “which is “below” the rest of their lyrical line.
THE ANGELICO STYLE
Text-Painting
Text painting is a technique where the composer provides a musical expression of the literal meaning of the lyrics. This clever tool allows creative lyrical writing and creative melodies and chords to compliment each other in producing a unique effect that is only possible in choral music, and is lost on listeners who do not understand the language of the text.
To help you understand this facet of The Angelico Style, some examples of text painting in our compositions are detailed below:
Receive Their Souls
In this piece, when the choir sings “eternal rest grant unto them O LORD,” there is a prolonged chord progression on the word “eternal,” such that this word–defined as an immeasurable period of time–occupies more time than any other word in the piece.