Ubi Caritas

Ubi Caritas was inspired by my time spent at the Oxford University summer school studying choral composition. As part of the course we learnt about music written for Oxford church choirs, ranging from plain chant to the 21st century. The experience of singing plain chant dating back to 1379 in the New College Chapel was the catalyst for this piece. The plain chant, as simple as it was, became glorious in the reverberant acoustic of the chapel. This work attempts to retain the simplicity and beauty of plain chant while creating an ‘artificial’ reverb effect. Voices echo the plainchant as one might hear it reflecting around New College Chapel, extending and combining with the resonances of the harp.