Mc Clelland: Hail Lovely and Pure for SATB Chorus, a cappella

Hail Lovely and Pure is a setting for a cappella chorus of a short poem from The Second Shepherds’ Play, an English mystery play written in the 15th century by The Wakefield Master of Northern England. Mystery (or miracle) plays were a form of medieval drama that represented Biblical subjects such as the Creation and the Last Judgment. The text consists of the first lines spoken by the shepherds when they entered the stable to celebrate the birth of Jesus. My brother David C. K. McClelland (1947-1976) translated this fragment from the original Middle English and made a small calligraphic version of it which I discovered among his papers. David probably intended to make a larger, more elaborate manuscript of the poem, though if he did so it has not been found.

Instrumentation: SATB Chorus, a cappella
Duration: 13’30”
Composed: 2011
Published by: WMC Music (BMI)