Gabriel from Heaven’s King, Anon. 13th-century, arr. R. Duffin
Quire Cleveland; Ross W. Duffin, Conductor
December 22, 2011, at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland. This piece, also known as “Angelus ad virginem” (under which title it is mentioned in Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale), seems to date from the 13th century. Our arrangement is based on two music manuscripts of the 14th century, and presents the sayings of Gabriel by the men, and the sayings of Mary by the women. The middle-English text is comprehensible but a little difficult to understand, so we have used the modern English version by the romantic poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins.
The soloists are Judith Overcash, Tracy Cowart, and Debra Nagy.
