This piece is my setting of the ancient antiphon on charity and love, for SATB choir, written for Alison Derbenwick Miller and Kurt Miller, and performed at their wedding. I chose A major (A for Alison) and used an original theme rather than the chant tune, deliberately stepping out of the shadow of Duruflé’s beloved version. An optional piano part is included, which I wrote as insurance for a choir with limited rehearsal time. It mostly doubles the voices, but does add a few harmonic touches of its own.

Throughout the work, lines of music move in ever-shifting pairs, embodying the text’s vision of love gathering individuals into one. At the Amen, the opening theme returns, now with polyphonic treatment. Ubi Caritas is a warm, tender anthem on the oldest of subjects.

Here are the Latin and English texts: