Description

Procedenti puereo

for Unison with descant and Organ/Piano accompaniment
duration ca. 3′

Words: Anonymous C14th, from Sloane MS 2593
Music by Edward Caine

This is one of a number of settings based on the Sloane MS 2593 manuscript – a 14/15th Century manuscript based in The British Library which contains a large number of carols and songs written in Middle English and Latin. For more information on the Sloane 2593 project click here.

Procedenti Puereo (For the advent of a child) is a Latin chant. The copy in Sloane 2593 is unique, missing as it does a verse celebrating circumcision. It is the same text set in Peter Warlock’s Benedicamus Domino.

For this setting, I wanted to write something simple and universal that a congregation or a community choir can sing, inspired partly by Holst’s arrangement of Personent Hodie. The initial setting is a unison chant with optional organ accompaniment. I followed this up with an arrangement for SA aimed at school choirs, and an arrangement for SATB with and without accompaniment (both are different).

This is suitable for any type of choir, and you may choose your version based on the abilities of your choir.

Other Versions:

Unison Voices
SA with Organ/Piano
SATB with Organ/Piano
SATB a cappella