The internet is aglow with awe, and pleasant admiration as an excerpt of a performance by the students of the school showed up online.
The students, mostly teenagers, were seen in a well-arranged orchestral formation performing Karl Jenkins’s classic,” Adiemus” with such passion and precision that they marveled the spectators.
It attracted a barrage of commendations from fans and supporters, especially lovers of good music, as soon as they uploaded it on their Facebook page.
For such a young choir to perform that sophisticated piece was no mean feat. Many hours of hard work and sleepless nights had made it happen.
And this sacrifice came from both the staff and students, especially their music teachers. It bred perfection and is a masterpiece that makes millions of people smile.
Mater Amabilis is an all-girls catholic secondary school in Umuoji, a town in Idemmili North Local Government Area of Anambra state, Nigeria.
The school was founded in 1962.
They pride themselves as a center for academic excellence, solid moral formation, and the development of extra-curricular skills.
According to authorities, their ambition is to make education more accessible, engaging, and beneficial to everyone regardless of race, religion, or place of origin. ”Our unique and flexible study programs and supportive learning experiences make us a pace-setter in Secondary School Education in Nigeria.”,they wrote.
To see more and to contact the school, here is their website: https://materamabilisumuoji.org/
On The Song’ Adiemus’
The classical song, ‘Adiemus,’ was written by the Welsh composer Karl Jenkins as a commercial for Delta Airlines. Still, after that, Later that year, Jenkins developed the new-age ditty into a full-blown choral work.
In 1995 it was officially released on the album Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary with South African soloist Miriam Stockley, whose voice is charged with a boundless fusion of styles and world music influences.
The second female singer, Mary Carewe, harmonizes in parallel, creating a curious non-Western classical music soundworld.
Karl Jenkins writes in his performance note for ‘Adiemus’ that the lyrics are written in “an invented language.”
The text has no meaning; instead, the vocals were written as sounds to mimic a musical instrument – the idea being that the listener is more able to focus on the free-flowing vocal phrases.
“The text was written phonetically with the words viewed as instrumental sound, the idea being to maximise the melisma by removing the distraction, if one can call it that, of words,” Jenkins says.
Below, we have reproduced some stanzas of the song for anyone who wishes to know what they were saying.
‘ADIEMUS’
Ariadiamus la-te ariadiamus da
Ari a natus la-te adua
A-ra-va-re-tu-e-va-te
A-ra-va-re-tu-e-va-te
A-ra-va-re-tu-e-va-te-la-te-a
Ariadiamus la-te ariadiamus da
Ari a natus la-te adua
A-ra-va-re-tu-e-va-te
A-ra-va-re-tu-e-va-te
A-ra-va-re-tu-e-va-te-la-te-a
A-na-ma-na-coo-le-ra-we
A-na-ma-na-coo-le-ra
A-na-ma-na-coo-le-ra-we-a-ka-la
A-na-ma-na-coo-le-ra-we-a-ka-la
Ah-ya-doo-way-ye
A-na-ma-na-coo-le-ra-we-a-ka-la
Ah-ya-doo-way-ye
A-ya-doo-a-ye
The vocal sounds have a folk quality, and the melodies have been attributed to African-tribal and Celtic-style inspiration.
Some have suggested the lyrics bear an unintentional resemblance to Latin. Jenkins later explained that he made up the word ‘Adiemus’ and was unaware that it roughly translates in Latin to ‘We will draw near.’
The motto of Mater Amabilis secondary school is “Making a difference.”
And indeed, they are making a big difference.
