vocal music with medieval inspiration
Music written for Bristol University Schola Cantorum. Schola Cantorum is a small auditioned ensemble of female music students, specialising in medieval and contemporary music, directed by Professor Emma Hornby.
During my PhD programme I sang as part of this unique group, as well as writing for it. I wrote music inspired by the medieval chant we sang, and also in response to the ongoing research into the Old Hispanic Office, a till-recently neglected “lost” liturgy, and how composers and compilers of the time used words and music. Some of these compositions formed part of my PhD portfolio.
(Some sheet music linked is below – I would be very happy for any of these to receive more performances, so do contact me about any not linked.)
Aphorisms: a heart under a stone (2016)
I encountered in the street a poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat was worn, his elbows were in holes. Water trickled through his boots, and the stars through his soul.
This piece for 2-part choir sets selections from the extraordinary chapter of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables in which scattered reflections on the nature of love are presented one after another like “droplets of soul”.
Performances: St Paul’s Church, Bristol, 23 November 2016
Between in God’s eternity (2017)
Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, for thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness. But thou wilt bless the righteous – with favour wilt thou compass her as with a shield.
Commissioned by The Brigstow Institute as part of Sound and Silence in the Ecology of Bristol Cathedral. Choir in 3 parts, 2 soloists. 10 minutes.
From Psalm, the final section of the piece:
For this piece, I made a collage of texts by several poets: Anna Rebecca Hunt, Julia Ward Howe, Frances Ridley Havergal, Ada Cambridge, Anne Steele, and from Psalm 5. I was aligning various themes to do with the experience of sound and silence – in Bristol Cathedral in particular – in general. Also highlighting women’s words in particular.
Performances: The Station, Bristol, 23 October 2017,
St Paul’s Church, Bristol 22 November 2017
Missa Brevis (2017)
For a change, a piece where I did nothing to text. Well, except decide how to cut it up and how to set it… Setting familiar words of the Latin mass. This remains one of my favourite compositions.
Female choir SSAA div. (17m)
Performances: St Paul’s Church, Bristol, 28 March 2018
TreeFest, St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, 7 December 2018 (just the Gloria)
As the morning star (2019)
My jailored thought flooded with light of song,
And in that moment nothing was between
Your soul and mine.
The final piece I wrote during my time with Schola, representing the culmination of everything I learnt from singing with them, some more medieval music-text research, and also a good number of texts I fell in love with and managed, I think, to combine in a meaningful way.
Texts, on themes of love, from Ecclesiasticus 50, Amy Lowell (In excelsis), The Song of Songs, Victor Hugo (Les Misérables: A heart beneath a stone), John Drinkwater (David and Jonathan), Katherine Phillips (To My Excellent Lucasia On Our Friendship),2 Samuel 1, Katharine Lee Bates (If You Could Come), Matthew 7, Katherine Lee Bates (Madonna), Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love chapter 59)
Performances 23 February 2020, St. Mary’s Church, Thornbury
And possibly a future performance in lieu of our Netherlands tour which was planned for March 2020…
Honourable mention: Four Hildegard Texts (2021)
Fuge, fuge speluncam
antiqui perditoris,
et veniens veni in palatium regis.(Flee, O flee the cave
of the old betrayer
and come, O come into the king’s palace.)
Not written for Schola, as such; written at home alone in pandemic time, but always with this group in mind. Settings of Hildegard of Bingen texts with no reference made to the original (beautiful) melodies! I know. Four, mainly very short fragments for four-part choir.