Commissioned for the Motet Choir by ensemble member Gail Tritle, Choirmaster Matthew Culloton has composed a four-movement work called This Place: A House of Hope that will be premiered on Sunday, May 18 as the anchor of the Music Sunday service. The work is scored for choir, vocal soloists, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, harp, piano, and percussion. 

The texts of the work were selected to highlight the appreciation of the HOH sanctuary, values, and love of music. The first movement, Behold the Tabernacle, is drawn from a Sarum Antiphon, reminding that the temple of God is holy, and the joys of the temple should be celebrated with festivity. The second movement sets a favorite Latin text (often sung to Bruckner’s anthem), Locus Iste, which states that “This place was made by God.” Hildegard von Bingen’s text on wisdom, O virtus Sapientiae, is the third movement, and features three soprano soloists taking flight above the choir (not literally!). The final movement, Our Songs of Joy, is excerpted from Psalms 126 and 118 – the choir waking from a dream and finding the Lord has done great things for us.