O Vos Omnes

Very much guided by the text of “O Vos Omnes” (from Lamentations 1:12), I pictured a great crowd passing by a scene of utter sorrow. This idea, in turn, led me to incorporate a scene from the haunting Stabat Mater text “There stood the Mother grieving, beside the cross weeping.”, with the soloist portraying the lamenting mother. To musically align with these medieval texts, I at times employ a chant-like way of singing with lulling, static harmonies, as well as hocket-like interchanges, or rhythmically alternation notes between the double choirs nearer the end. The thematic build to highly dissonant chords is representative of the disorganized and unruly “mob” sound, as well as mentality, making use of the full presence of the choir. This is intended to be powerful and a bit frightening; the group is quite oblivious to the individual’s (the soloist’s) pain and suffering. At the end, the crowd finally disperses, and she is left bereft and alone.