WelCom June/July 2021
Boston composer, Linda Chase, has written an oratorio based on Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical, Laudato si’, On Care for our Common Home. She said of the project: ‘I am interpreting Laudato si’ as a call to action through music’.
The ambitious work is to be sung by 16 vocalists accompanied by a small chamber orchestra. It consists of 18 movements, including 10 songs that can be sung by choirs or community groups. She envisions performances of about 75 minutes followed by discussions with the audience about their communities’ concerns.
The encyclical itself harks back to St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, whose canticles in praise of creation have themselves been set to music.