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Dusk Songs - Kerry Andrew (2006)
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York Mass - Kerry Andrew (2008)
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Pilgrimage - Philip Moore (2008)
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The hand that made us is divine - Hilary Campbell (2009)
Having performed the large-scale compositions written for the Orthodox Church by Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Grechinanov and Rautavaara, it was the choir’s aim to commission something comparable for the Western (and more specifically Anglican) Church liturgy, where music and ritual are fused into a timeless expression of prayer. The service that comes closest to this in the Anglican tradition is Compline, where the prayers and psalms remain more or less unchanged throughout the year. Although music for the services of Evensong, Vespers, and Sung Eucharist have continued to be written since the Reformation, very little music has been written for Compline during this time, and certainly no complete setting of the service has been attempted.
Compline as it is performed in the Church of England is a composite liturgy, drawing from elements of Roman Catholic Vespers and Compline, which themselves have roots in the shared liturgical heritage of the Western and Eastern churches, and Kerry was keen to reflect this in the new work. So alongside the familiar English translation of the Compline liturgy are other texts that demonstrate these cultural origins on the service and the wider context of Christian worship (two Catholic hymns, one Orthodox hymn and one Celtic prayer).
First performance: 9 Sept, 2006 in the Chapter House, York Minster
Recording: Dusk Songs
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Andrew's flowing vocal lines and her deep feeling for text presage the emergence of a considerable talent... an inspirational programme. The Ebor Singers are magnificent throughout. I can't wait to hear more from this young group'
Choir and Organ
To mark the choir's 15th anniversary (the Feast of the Assumption), Kerry Andrew was commissioned to write a setting of the Mass.
First performance: 14 Aug, 2008 in the Nave, York Minster
To mark the choir's 15th anniversary and the retirement of Philip Moore as Organist of York Minster, Philip was invited to compose a work that incorporates the idea of pilgrimage. The work opens and concludes with text drawn from Sir Walter Raleigh's A Passionate Man's Pilgrimage, supposedly written the night before he was beheaded (he was later reprieved). This is followed by the anonymous prayer A Charm for Travellers ('Here I am and forth I must'), Psalm 23, and the poem Up-Hill ('Does the road wind uphill at the way') by Christina Rossetti.
First performance: 16 Aug, 2008 in the Chapter House, York Minster
The hand that made us is divine - Hilary Campbell (2009)
Hilary, the choir's first composer-in-residence, was commissioned to compose The hand that made us is divine for the debut of Zodiac. The piece is a setting of a poem by Joseph Addison (1672-1719), the English writer and poet, which uses vivid imagery to discuss creation and the capaciousness of the earth. The music draws on different tonal and textural ideas that depict the strong ideas of the text.