Item Number: C5.5004
The chant Attende Domine is a Mozarabic Lenten litany from the 10th century. It is one of the more familiar Lenten chants, with antiphon text "Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi" (Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against Thee). In a choral motet that loses none of the flow of the chant, John Osterhagen sets the music for soloist and SATB choir, a cappella. The refrain, harmonized for choir, begins on a strict unison D-flat, the men proceeding downward and the women upward through the refrain, which ends on an open fifth. Verses 1, 3 and 5 have the choir providing a neutral-vowel accompaniment to the soloist's verse melody. Verses 2 and 4 are set for choir in a slightly more polyphonic texture. This setting would make an impressive motet for anytime during Lent, and may serve as an effective processional or meditative piece for a Lenten Penitential Service.
