SATB Soli or Chorus Unaccompanied
Text: Antiphon for Eastertide, Liturgical (Latin)
Duration: ca. 4 minutes
Publisher: C. F. Peters Corporation, Edition Peters 67490
Most of the basic motivic material for this motet is derived from the Gregorian antiphon Vidi aquam, and I prefer to have the opening phrase of the chant sung prior to beginning the motet proper, in the manner of an incipit.
The original antiphon is traditionally sung as a replacement for Asperges me, Domine, during Paschaltide (from Eastertide to Pentecost inclusive) during the sprinkling of holy water prior to the principal Sunday Mass. Its text is adapted from the book of the prophet Ezekiel (47:1-12).
Vidi Aquam was composed in 1991 at the request of John Goldsmith for his group the Bellefield Singers, and was first performed by that ensemble in May of that year in Heinz Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh.