Portfolio of compositions, with commentary

Abstract

This commentary, together with the portfolio of compositions it accompanies, proposes a particular attitude towards the composition of sacred choral music for liturgical use.

Most church music published for use in the English parish church-collegiate-cathedral tradition in recent years tends not to display the influence of art-music of the twentieth century in terms of its approach to pitch and rhythmic material, and in its use of structural devices and schemata. There are notable and prolific exceptions, including Pärt, MacMillan, Birtwistle, and Weir, all of whom have written significant works for the liturgy, but the balance of repertoire is in favour of the strongly diatonic, added-note style associated in recent decades with Rutter, Whitacre, and Lauridsen.

By contrast, the works presented in this portfolio show the influence of a range of composers from various twentieth century mainstreams, and build on the inheritance of these traditions; equally, they inhabit a specifically choral tradition traceable as far back as Machaut. Each work uses a relatively complex style in a relatively limited way: each has a particular difficulty, or set of difficulties, which, once surmounted, allow for the straightforward rehearsal of the entire work.