Date of Award

4-2000

Degree Name

Master of Music

Department

Music

First Advisor

C. Curtis-Smith

Second Advisor

Dr. Richard Adams

Third Advisor

Dr. Matthew Steel

Fourth Advisor

Dr. David Sheldon

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The Nunc Dimittis, canticle of Simeon (St. Luke ii, 29-32), is the last in historical sequence of the three great Canticles of the New Testament, the other two being the Magnijicat (Canticle of Mary) and the Benedictus (Canticle of Zachary). Numerous composers have set all three canticles from various classical time periods, all of which utilize the text from the specific canticle to create the musical work. This work is usually written for choir and orchestra or choir alone.

As I begun this work, I worked with the text of the Nunc Dimittis in mind, but rather than becoming the text the choir sang, it became the idea by which the work in its entirety progressed. This is an outgrowth of the thoughts of Johannes Brahms, based upon his German Requiem. I sought a different application for the Nunc Dimittis as Brahms had for the Requiem. The ideas presented in the song-petition of Simeon are universally applied in this work to be the ideas of mankind. Promise, waiting, suffering, and deliverance are the experience of many, and the three separate pieces in this work partake in these experiences.

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