O Antiphon - Musical Settings

Musical Settings

Marc-Antoine Charpentier completed a setting of the O antiphons in the early 1690s. In the twentieth century, the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt set a German translation of these antiphons for SATB unaccompanied choir, under the title Magnificat Antiphonen. The British composer Bob Chilcott has set the Latin version of these antiphons for SSAATTBB unaccompanied choir, under the title Advent Antiphons. Other examples include a major setting in Latin (35 minutes) by Polish composer Paweł Łukaszewski (b. 1968) composed between 1995–99; settings by American composers John Muehleisen (b. 1955), composed in 1996, and R. Anthony Lee (b. 1936), composed in 1999; and by the well-known American composer of liturgical music in the Episcopalian and Anglican traditions, Peter Hallock (b. 1924), whose setting was composed in 1986.