VOCAL
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eight maids a-millking
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Duration: 1 minute
Forces: SATB Choir Commissioner: Corvus Consort World Premiere: 1 January 2021 (digital) - Corvus Consort (cond. Freddie Crowley) About the work There are various stories as to the origin of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. One story suggests the song began as a memory game for children. Following in this spirit, the piece translates a child’s reading of the verse eight maids a milking into a playful back and forth between the choir. The constantly changing metre and contrasting dynamic changes create a joyous, if not excitable, reimagining of ‘eight maids a-milking’. |
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one more breath
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Duration: 8 minutes
Forces: SATB Choir Commissioner: Deutscher Chor London World Premiere: 31 October 2020* - Deutscher Chor London (cond. Barbara Höfling) About the work one more breath was written for choir and was commissioned as part of the Deutscher Chor London CoronaCommissions. The text is based on a letter by the miner Jacob Vowell (1866-1902) who died in the Fraterville Mining disaster, the largest mining disaster to date in Tennessee. In what became his last letter he wrote about his hopes for his family he knew he would never see again and the pain of both time and air slipping away. The basses emerge from a chorus of whispered voices gasping for breath. The piece has a peaceful, almost hypnotic quality, only being interrupted by the marking of time passing. *Postponed due to Covid-19 |
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elegy
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Duration: 6 minutes
Forces: SSAATTBB Choir Workshop Premiere: 5 March 2020 - BBC Singers (cond. Paul Spicer) at Maida Vale, London, UK About the work elegy was written for eight part choir and is a setting of the Lux aeterna text from the Requiem Mass. Inspired by a transcription of an iceberg in Antartica breaking apart, elegy reimagines the tension and constant pressure the iceberg faces as it slowly changes shape. As such parts are often clashing, harmonically and rhythmically, with the harmonic tension never truly resolving. |
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praise ye the lord
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Duration: 3 minutes
Forces: SATB Choir / Organ World Premiere: 13 May 2019 - Worcester College Chapel Choir (cond. Thomas Allery) at Worcester College, Oxford, UK - Written for the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music About the work Commissioned by Worcester College Chapel Choir, praise ye the lord focuses on the joy of the world around us. Using Psalm 148 as the text the piece opens with solo organ playing transcriptions of stardust, with the choir joining in based on transcriptions of solar flares. This short but upbeat piece is unashamedly exuberant and attempts to emulate the ecstatic nature of the psalm. |
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here dead lie we
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Duration: 5 minutes
Forces: SATB Choir World Premiere: 16 November 2021 - Cardiff University Contemporary Music Group (cond. Robert Fokkens) at Cardiff University Music Hall, Cardiff, UK About the work 'here dead lie we’ (2019) is based on the poem of the same name by A.E. Housman and is a reflection on the First World War. Following in Housman’s simple style, ‘here dead lie we’ opens with a roll call of members from Worcester College, Oxford that died during the war before the tenors and basses slowly enter with an eerie refrain. |
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if i join up the dots in the stars
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Duration: 3 minutes
Forces: Mezzo and Piano Workshop Premiere: 26 October 2018 - Claire McCaldin and Libby Burgess at The Schulman Auditorium, Oxford, UK - Written as part of the Oxford Lieder New Music Workshop About the work if i join up the dots in the stars was written for the Oxford Lieder New Music Workshop. Based on a poem by local poet Lou Hough, the piece is based on transcriptions of sonifications of stars catalogued by astronomer Ulugh Beg and opens with a single note on the piano. |
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we are for one, we are for all
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Duration: 5 minutes
Forces: Children's Chorus and String Orchestra World Premiere: 13 March 2017 - The Commonwealth Festival Orchestra and Choir at Westminster Abbey, London, UK About the work we are for one, we are for all was written for The Commonwealth Resounds and is based on poetry by Michael Dome. Inspired by the musical traditions from Papua New Guinea the piece opens with a call to arms before the choir joins together in a rousing chorus. |
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all shall be well
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Duration: 4 minutes
Forces: SSA Choir and Harp Commissioner: Multitude of Voyces World Premiere: 8 March 2017 - The Godolphin School Vocal Ensemble and Katie Salmon (cond. Olivia Sparkhall) at St Thomas' Church, Salisbury, UK About the work all shall be well is part of a series of works for Godolphin Vocal Ensemble, directed by Olivia Sparkhall. The text is from Julian of Norwich’s ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ with the music based on transcriptions of readings by various women. A solo singer opens singing the full text before the choir delves into the deeper meaning of each line. |
