Spiraculum Vitae

"Breath of Life"

In the Bible, breath is the animating force given by God to earth to create man. This composition is based on two primary melodies. The first comes from the hymn tune Trentham , the tune that commonly accompanies the hymn “Breathe on me, Breath of God”:

Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do.

The second is from a chant setting of Genesis 2:7:

Formavit igitur Dominus Deus hominem de limo terræ, et inspiravit in faciem ejus spiraculum vitæ, et factus est homo in animam viventem. (Vulgata)
Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. (NRSV)

“Spiraculum Vitae” won the 1st prize in the carillon composition competition conducted by the Perpignan Sacred Music Festival 2014.