(2005) duration
ca. 25 minutes, commissioned by Frances Marie Uitti through generosity of the
Canada Council.
In December 2004, I visited Bernini's The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
at the Cornaro Chapel, Sta. Maria della Vittoria, Rome. The statue depicts Saint
Teresa of Avilla's first "rapture", a physical and spiritual communion
with Christ. In her autobiography, Teresa describes an angel armed with a fire-tipped
spear who came to her while she was singing "Veni Creator Spiritus".
I was attracted by the physicality of her description, and translated and adapted
this selection along with two other episodes from her life, setting them between
longer sections of music for solo 'cello. The chants are based on sources from
the Liber Usualis. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa was
written especially for Frances Marie Uitti, to whom it is dedicated.
- Rodney Sharman