Omni Die

Going from one of my least favourites to one of my most favourites - Omni Die is a hymn tune I most associate with the text "From the Slave Pens of the Delta," by Herbert O'Driscoll. As Rev. O'Driscoll is still alive, and his copyright is still active, I can't print or link his words, but this post isn't about his words as much as it is about the tune.

Omni Die - from the Trier Gesangbuch (Omni die dic Mariae), not that of Corner - dates from the late 17th century, and is a powerful and energetic tune, one that I could listen to and play with over and over. And so, I've provided here a prelude based on Baroque points-of-imitation techniques and a reharmonization, with the hope that people might get as much enjoyment as I do from this tune.

The prelude

Pick your favourite pedal-heavy registration and go. Light and clear preferred, I think, to best illustrate the contrapuntal nature of the work. And yes, in my opinion it's a viable introduction to the hymn - if you have a congregation that knows the tune and doesn't mind sitting for a few minutes while you play. Here it is.

Herein links the PDF

Prelude on "Omni Die" by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The reharmonization

... went places I wasn't totally expecting. But it was fun to write. I actually wrote it starting from the end and moving forward, so I knew I was working with a modal cadence and tried to make the rest of the piece fit. Instead, the whole thing went chromatic on me, much to my delight. And hopefully yours.

For PDF, click here!

Reharmonization of "Omni Die" by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Might be a bit of a challenge to sing. Shouldn't be too tough to play, though.