Programme Note

Performance suggestions

It is suggested that Salve Regina should not be performed with fewer
than three voices to each part. There are two areas in the score that
dictate this:
The opening section is designed to create a seamless effect by melding
one syllable with the next. The result is a very long phrase which can
only be achieved by staggered breathing.
At the ‘Eia ergo Advocata nostra’ the upper voices endlessly repeat
their simple phrases by singing around the pitches given in brackets.
By allowing each singer metric freedom the voices will move out of
‘phase’ with each other and overlap. The effect of this accompanying
figure is to create a very soft halo of sound against which the lower
voices sing ‘Et Jesum’.