Ave Regina Coelorum

A beautiful setting of a Marian antiphon, Isabella Leonarda’s Ave Regina Coelorum would be ideal for services during the Marian year, particularly from Advent through to Purification. Sung in Latin by ATTB choir, the composer sets the familiar text with a flowing melodic line. The opening salutations to Mary as Queen of Heaven and Lady of Angels are treated with reverence, while the subsequent verses invoke her as the root from which light was born into the world, and the glorious Virgin, surpassing all in beauty. The motet concludes with a plea for her to intercede with Christ on our behalf. Leonarda, a prolific and respected composer of the Baroque era, crafts this devotional work with clarity and grace.