To mark the “Year of St. Joseph” Vox Hiberniae draw on a variety of composers and genres to reflect musically on his life:
O’Carolan, the famous Irish harper, whose familial forfeiting of estates in times of turmoil and his later nomadic existence resonate with the turbulent early years of St Joseph as he took Jesus and Mary into his care.
Seán Óg Ó Tuama’s haunting telling of the flight into Egypt and Scottish Rev. Norman MacLeod’s poignant tale of the heartbreak of exile.
Contemporary Irish composer Ronan McDonagh’s beautiful setting of psalm 89 which surely St. Joseph recited in praise of the infant Son and in invocation of the heavenly Father.
Ronan’s instrumental arrangement of the traditional Irish hymn A Íosa, mhic Mhuire (Jesus, son of Mary) draws our gaze from St. Joseph towards Jesus whom he contemplated,
Finally we draw on chant, pointing to the universal church to which we belong and the Irish monastic tradition that is our heritage, as it honours Joseph, son of David.