Delmar Small’s latest work may be "hot off the press," but its musical origins date back more than 1300 years.
“It’s a cantata based on the seventh-century plainchant Advent hymn Conditor alme siderum, which means “Creator of the Stars of Night,” explained Small, who is an administrator at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾’s music department as well as being a talented musician, writer, and theater producer.
Using that text and inspired by the original plainsong melody, he composed a seven- movement narrative choral piece, known as a cantata. The half-hour work was premiered recently at First Parish Church in Brunswick, located just off the northwest corner of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾’s campus. The piece was performed by a twenty-one-singer choir and soloists, along with instrumental accompaniment.
Small says he has a longstanding “occasional” musical relationship with the church, having been their interim organist in the mid-1980s and also having performed a couple of organ concert works as part of their summer concert series. “It has become a tradition at the church to put on a cantata or similar musical work on the third Sunday of Advent. Every two or three years, I’ve played continuo organ in the small orchestra for these works.”
After playing in the performance of last year’s cantata, Small approached the church’s music director, Jane Hagness, about the possibility of writing a cantata for this season.
“Being brave, she agreed to the performance of a piece as yet unwritten. I gave the work to the adult choir as a gift in honor of the many collaborations with them that I have enjoyed so much,” he said.
Small, who studied organ and German at Bates College, has written many musical works over the years, including an Easter oratorio for the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ chorus in 2013, and has been musical director for dozen of shows across Maine. In 2022, he composed the musical Hook, Line, and Sinker, which was performed at the College.
