Ko Matsushita Hodie beata Virgo Maria

<p>The aged Simeon takes the new-born Jesus in his arms, recognises his significance and celebrates this moment in a paean of praise as the fulfilment of his life. In Matsushita&rsquo;s motet this song of praise, the &ldquo;nunc dimittis&rdquo;, stands at the centre of the composition. Here, the triad of C&ndash;F sharp&ndash;G, used for the word &ldquo;hodie &ndash; today&rdquo; at the beginning, symbolically combines with a Gregorian-like motif, revolving around the central note of B flat in whole-tone movement, and which is used to represent the Virgin Mary. The work ends with a mystical wash of sound, a whole-tone cluster which emerges from the aleatorically repeated basic motifs of the work, and fades away to nothing. <br /></p><p>Vocal range: S1: f&#39;-as&#39;&#39; / S2: d&#39;-fis&#39;&#39; / A1: c&#39;-d&#39;&#39; / A2: b&deg;-d&#39;&#39; / T1: g&deg;-as&#39; / T2: g&deg;-fis&#39; / B1: c&deg;-cis&#39; / B2: E-c&#39; </p><p>World premiere: 22.7.2012, Tokyo, Japan (Collegium Cantorum Yokohama, Ko Matsushita)</p>