In Paradisum is a setting of the antiphon from the Requiem Mass, for a cappella SATB choir, written in 2007 in memory of Nina Bergeron. It is built on a hymn tune named “Nina,” composed earlier by her husband, Dave Bergeron, for the Gloucester, Massachusetts Unitarian Universalist congregation during the restoration of its historic meetinghouse. That a tune already bearing her name should exist made it the natural foundation for this memorial.

The setting is in B-flat major, the German “B,” for Bergeron. As a German and piano double-major who studied organ in Germany on a Fulbright before her master’s work at the New England Conservatory, Nina would have recognized the key reference. The Gregorian In Paradisum chant travels through the voices across the piece, stated first in the alto line, Nina’s voice. At Chorus angelorum (“a chorus of angels”) the music modulates to A-flat and the texture thickens into the heavenly choir. The music modulates again as the angels welcome the soul into heaven at te suscipiat. The music grows to a climax at quondam paupere (“once a pauper,” like Lazarus), which returns the harmony home to B-flat.

At this point the “Nina” hymn tune enters in the tenor line, Dave’s voice. I have noted in the score that the tune is to stand out prominently in the texture, despite it carrying only the simple words aeternam habeas requiem (“may you have eternal rest”). The Gregorian melody gradually emerges in voice after voice until the final habeas. Now inside six-part harmony, the B2 line carries the chant theme while everyone else embellishes around it. The work closes on a pianissimo B-flat major chord, with the alto descending to meet the tenor in unison on the same B-flat, representing Nina’s voice and Dave’s arriving together on the same pitch. The audio sample begins at measure 23.

Here are the Latin and English texts: