The Birds’ Mass
Barbara Ellis was a local poet (she lived in Pimperne, near Blandford) whose work I had admired for some time. In 2000 she asked if I might be interested in setting a group of poems she had just completed, loosely based on the sections of the Requiem Mass (but with a "Magnificat"....!). Each of the ten poems matches a liturgical section by name with a bird (or birds): Kyrie Eleison/the Captive Birds; Miserere/the Owl; Dies Irae/the Eagle; Lachrymosa/the Nightingale; Credo/the Swift; Sanctus/the Blackbirds; Gloria/the Skylark; Lux Perpetua/the Arctic Tern; Magnificat/the Rooster; and Benedictus/the Raven.
The ten poems presented a formidable challenge. I loved the great variety of moods but wanted to bind them together to create a single integral work. The individual settings are not particularly long except for the final Benedictus which brings together much of the previous melodic material, binding it in a much longer peaceful blessing. The work lasts about 30minutes. I chose to write for unaccompanied voices (a Cappella): SATB Choir with six soloists (2 sopranos, alto, tenor, baritone and bass).
I completed the work in December 2004 and the premiere was in March the following year. Because I had just had shoulder surgery Richard Hall directed the choir in this recording of the live concert.
The ten poems presented a formidable challenge. I loved the great variety of moods but wanted to bind them together to create a single integral work. The individual settings are not particularly long except for the final Benedictus which brings together much of the previous melodic material, binding it in a much longer peaceful blessing. The work lasts about 30minutes. I chose to write for unaccompanied voices (a Cappella): SATB Choir with six soloists (2 sopranos, alto, tenor, baritone and bass).
I completed the work in December 2004 and the premiere was in March the following year. Because I had just had shoulder surgery Richard Hall directed the choir in this recording of the live concert.