Salve Regina

The Salve Regina, also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. The Hail Holy Queen is also the final prayer of the Rosary.

The work was composed during the Middle Ages and originally appeared in Latin, the prevalent language of Western Christianity until modern times. Though traditionally ascribed to the eleventh-century German monk Hermann of Reichenau, it is regarded as anonymous by most musicologists. Traditionally it has been sung in Latin, though many translations exist. These are often used as spoken prayers.

Background and history

Marian antiphons have been sung, since the thirteenth century, at the close of Compline, the last Office of the day. Peter Canisius (d. 1597) noted that one praises God in Mary when one turns to her in song. Liturgically, the Salve Regina is the best known of four prescribed Marian Anthems recited after Compline, and, in some uses, after Lauds or other Hours. Its use after Compline is likely traceable to the monastic practice of intoning it in chapel and chanting it on the way to sleeping quarters. As a piece of music, it is not part of the much older Gregorian chant repertoire, but may date back to the 11th century.

Salve Regina (Pärt)

Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen, literally: Hail, Queen) is a Marian anthem, a setting by Arvo Pärt of the Latin hymn "Salve Regina" for mixed choir and organ in 2001. It was first performed in Essen Cathedral on 22 May 2002. It was published by Universal Edition in 2002. Pärt arranged the composition for choir, celesta and string orchestra in 2011 for a celebration of 150 years of Italian unity.

History

Salve Regina was commissioned for the celebration on 22 May 2002 of 1150 years since the foundation of Stift Essen (Essen Abbey) and the city of Essen. The day was also the 75th birthday of Hubert Luthe, then Bishop of Essen, to whom the work is dedicated. It was Luthe's wish to have a setting of this text to venerate the Golden Madonna.

Salve Regina was performed by three choirs of the cathedral with the organist Jürgen Karsawa, conducted by Wolfgang Endrös. The work in one movement takes about 12 minutes to perform. It was published by Universal Edition in July 2002.

Pärt arranged the composition for choir, celesta and string orchestra in 2011 for a celebration of 150 years of Italian unity. It was commissioned by the cities of Turin and Milan and was first performed at the Festival Internazionale della Musica di Milano.

Salve Regina (Liszt)

Salve Regina, S. 66, is a musical setting of the Salve Regina hymn composed by Franz Liszt in 1885. It is written for an a cappella SATB choir.

This is the only example of unaccompanied church music in Liszt's hand. It is also Liszt's last religious composition. Liszt had previously composed an organ version of the hymn in Zwei Kirchenhymnen, S. 669, in 1877.

Set in F major and common time, it is marked lento (slow) and is mostly marked piano (soft), with contrasts within this dynamic spectrum. The text contains the first line of the hymn, Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae, with repetitions.

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