Song Stories: Omnes de Saba

Omnes de Saba

It’s an Epiphany anthem!

The chirpy, rhythmic style of this Latin anthem is similar  to the “Five Christmas Fanfares”, but is only in four parts. There are versions for SSAA choir (as heard here), SATB choir and TTBB choir.

Go to Five Christmas Fanfares

The images accompanying the song in this video are of a breathtaking series of sunrises at the end of November 2013, taken from Warkworth Beach and the dunes in Northumberland. Most have Coquet Island and Amble in the background. Jackdaws on the beach2The performance is by Rock Festival Choir, a chamber choir from the Alnwick area in Northumberland from their Advent concert on December 1st 2013.

I wrote the song in a day to enter into a competition, the closing date of which was indeed the following day. It did not win the competition, alas, but the competition gave me an excellent incentive to get a wriggle on with a piece that I had planned for a while!

The text is in Latin and tells part of the story of the kings arriving with their gifts at the stable, and is therefore particularly suited to Epiphany.

Alleluia, alleluia. Omnes de Saba venient,
aurum et thus deferentes, et laudem Domino annuntiantes.
Surge, et illuminare, Jerusalem:
quia gloria Domini super te orta est. (Is 6,1)
Vidimus stellam ejus in Oriente,
et venimus cum muneribus et adorare Dominum.
Alleluia (Matth.2,2)

Alleluia. All they from Saba shall come,
bringing gold and frankincense and showing forth praise to the Lord.
Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come;
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
We saw his star at its rising
and have come with gifts to worship the Lord. Alleluia.

Go to Omnes de Saba for high voices Go to Omnes de Saba for low voices Go to Omnes de Saba for mixed voices
No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.