This score is the revival of a distant memory of when I was a young organist in the church of my village near Belluno, a city in the foothills of the Dolomites in the Veneto in northern Italy. The melody, an old processional song, was collected by Maestro Martino Durighello.
It has been almost thirty years, but I can remember quite well when the procession started from the church, went down into the valley, and then up the opposite side of the hill. I remained in the square near the church, waiting and listening. The procession order was composed of men first, followed by the priest and choir, then lastly the women and children. This mixture of sounds, prayers and songs so affected me that I wished to recreate it in this score.