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About the Score

Commissioned by Marietta College Concert Choir, Dan Monek, conductor for their 2015 Christmas Concert, O Great Mystery is a setting of the O Magnum Mysterium text in English for double SATB chorus. The composer's program notes are below.

There are many beautiful settings of the O Magnum Mysterium text in Latin — both ancient and modern. When Dan Monek from Marietta College approached me about another setting, I eventually asked him if I could set the text in English.

This is a slow music. I have suggested a tempo of 50 to the quarter note. I could imagine some of the homophonic sections moving slightly faster depending on the acoustic. The important thing is that the music should go slower than you want it to go.

Ideally, this piece should be sung in a generous acoustic with the choirs far enough apart to take advantage of the stereo effects. I should think that they will also need to be able to sing the Soprano/Alto and Tenor/Bass sections convincingly. That means that they probably can’t be too far apart. So, the choirs should be as far apart as possible while still singing together. It’s the Goldilocks distance.

This text has always fascinated me. In a way, the settings of the text (mine included) don’t make the scene of animals raw and dirty enough. There is no braying of donkeys or smell of manure. I suppose that’s because we are viewing the scene from such a distance. There is something very profound in the act of contemplating the beauty of the humility conveyed in the text. It is magical, and I hope I have captured some bit of my sense of wonder at the great mystery described.

Kurt Knecht – Lincoln, August 2015

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