Seven ‘O Antiphons’ were commissioned from seven composers by Merton College, Oxford, for the Merton Choirbook to be sung at the College’s Advent Carol Service. The Choir of Merton College gave the first performance of all seven antiphons, including one by Sir John Tavener, in the Merton College Chapel on 4 May, 2012, conductor Benjamin Nicholas.

This is the fifth of the ‘O Antiphons’ which are said or sung before and after the Magnificat at Vespers. In O Oriens the luminous text exhorts the Morning Star, in its beauty and splendour, to enlighten those who live in darkness and the shadow of death. The pace is steady, moving slowly through thick, dark harmonic textures which dissolve into dissonance and clusters then back again. The antiphon progresses towards the light with the words ‘et sol iustitiae’, unfolding further into a bright climax with ‘O Oriens.’ The closing bars return to the underlying E Major triadic tonality with gentle dissonant touches, a reminder of our mortality. O Oriens was chosen as one of the three finalist works for the British Composer Awards for liturgical choral music in 2013.

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