Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Rezo de San Iñigo de Loyola (1990) was written for the Jesuit parish of St Mary's, North Sydney, on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Jesus. The text is the well-known Prayer of St Ignatius, from the Spiritual Exercises. Faced with a choice between the energy of the original Spanish and the greater comprehensibility of an English translation, I chose both - and discovered immediately that I had not only combined the advantages of the two, but also opened up a myriad possibilities of connection and contrast between distinct but related layers of text and music. The choir declaims the Spanish with great rhythmic verve, while the English "subtitles" are provided by a more lyrical solo quartet. The two are cross-cut in different ways throughout the piece, fusing only in the final section's humble prayer for divine love.

Tomad, Señor, y recibid
toda my libertad, my memoria,
my entendimiento, y toda my voluntad;
todo my aver y my poseer.
Vos me lo distes;
a Vos, Señor, lo torno.
Todo es vuestro;
disponed a toda vuestra voluntad.
Dadme vuestro amor y gracia,
que ésta me basta.
(St Ignatius, Spiritual Exercises)

Take, O Lord, and receive
all my liberty, my memory,
my understanding, and all my will;
all that I have and possess.
You have given all this to me;
to you, O Lord, I return it.
All is yours;
dispose of it according to your will.
Give me your love and grace,
for this is enough for me.

Work Details

Year: 1990

Instrumentation: Soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, SATB choir.

Duration: 4 min.

Difficulty: Medium — Good amateur.

Commission note: Commissioned by Alison Johnston.

Title translates as: Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Setting of prayer from St Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises, written for the Jesuit parish of St Mary's, North Sydney, on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Jesus.