Maarten van Norden – Gloria Musica

Maarten van Norden: “I have used the original Latin psalm-text and turned it into an ode to the music. The religious terms are replaced by a celebration of music in all its glory. Also, I was inspired by Van Morrisons 1965 hit-single ‘Gloria’ with the group Them. From this, I took the idea of using separate letters as text.”
The music refers to old music and polyphony as well as contemporary minimal music. As usual in Maarten van Norden’s music, there is a strong emphasis on the rhythmical aspect. Bach is celebrated by using the letters of his name, and Händel is present in a little quote from his ‘Ode for Cecilia’s Day’ which is just like Gloria Musica an ode to the music.
The first performance will be in the Dominicus-church in Amsterdam on November 16th at 4 PM and is sponsored by the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst. From then on the piece is available for performance by other choirs. Since the first performance is by an amateur choir we especially encourage professional choirs to program this piece.
Music Gloria at the Donemus store
More info about the concert