Adoring Praise: Two Hymn Settings

Emma Lou Diemer is widely recognized as one of the leading women composers of the late 20th century. In this publication she applies her unique compositional style to two well-known hymns. LASST UNS ERFREUEN is a celebratory setting with a wide variety of harmonic colors. The work is a free setting of the hymn, with motives from it being used rather than complete statements. Her set of Variations on ADORO TE DEVOTE (ADORO TE/ADORO DEVOTE) is a meditative, expressive setting of the Benedictine plainsong. The variations vary from quiet to more intense, with the central variation a moving canon between the pedal and upper voice subsiding to a prayerful ending.