Program Notes:

The text to Vergente mundi vespere is the third stanza from “Conditor alme Siderum” (“Creator of the Stars of Night”), which is an anonymous 7th century Advent text.

Vergente mundi vespere (When the old world drew on toward night,)
uti sponsus de thalamo (thou camest, not in splendor bright)
egressus honestissima (As monarch, but the humble child)
Virginis matris clausula. (Of Mary, virgin mother mild.)

Vergente mundi vespere comes from the larger work VOICES OF LIGHT: An Advent Cantata for SATB Soli, SATB Chorus, brass trio, percussion, harp, and organ. This work was commissioned in celebration of Advent by Michael Fuchs and the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio (December, 2013).