Searching for Simon Mold - 10 results.
In 2018 John Varney asked me to write a carol for the Guildford Areas U3A Choirs, with the request that it might also be suitable for general use. It was thus a challenge to find some suitable words, as most carols are put firmly to bed once the festivities are over; but I happened upon this pseudo-medieval text by George R Woodward which seemed to fit the bill. Jesus, Mary and "my guiding angel star" (although not Joseph, for some reason) are imagined as sailing "a brave ship and a fine" towards the Heavenly Kingdom, with the poet as passenger.
I decided, in the music, to imitate a traditional galley's oarstrokes by using a constant, steady beat in compound time, accompanied throughout by ascending and descending organ scales to suggest the sea. The persistent use of the flattened 7th glances at the medieval theme; and the return of the opening music poco a poco diminuendo, in canon, at the very end is intended to suggest the galley sailing off out of sight over the horizon.
I wrote this set of Preces and Responses in 1993, when sets with organ accompaniment were uncommon. My aim was to provide something which, with just two vocal lines and with several vocal combinations possible, was straightforward to learn and easily adaptable to local and amateur circumstances whilst being sufficiently different from other commonly-used sets to appeal to cathedral choirs as well, which has happily proved to be the case.
The musical style is restrained and monastic, drawing inspiration from unobtrusively accompanied plainsong and some of the more lyrical accompanied recitatives in Handels oratorios and operas, for instance Thy rebuke (Messiah) or Chi vide mai (Tamerlano). The vocal lines intertwine gently, often in canon, and the organ provides a sustained background with occasional phrases imitating the voices. The Preces and the Lesser Litany are conceived as single complete movements, rather than a series of discrete versicles and responses.
Men's voices are used in the illustrative recording but, as remarked above, other vocal combinations are allowed for and encouraged (see footnote at the bottom of page 1 of the score).
This extended piece was commissioned to mark the retirement of the Rev Christopher Morgan-Jones, Vicar of Maidstone, Kent in 2013 and in thanksgiving for his full-time ministry. The interesting text is a poem by Frederick William Orde Ward (1843-1922), one of a group of nineteenth century neo-metaphysical poets who revived the writing of mystical Christian verse. The Beatific Vision tells how the writer experienced "A wondrous vision but without a name" which initially seemed "Exceeding terrible;" but then a Voice "swept away the clouds of gloomy fears", assuring him that in spite of appearances to the contrary all was well with a world emanating from a "Presence" which
was "boundless love".
The music shadows the text's twists and turns, contrasting unison with harmony and alternating between major and minor tonalities to mirror the poet's shifting mood. Broadly speaking the piece falls into four sections that respect the four stanzas of Ward's poem. The opening section, for full choir and organ, announces the principle musical themes and leads to a moment's quiet, mistico reflection at the words "I felt a Presence though I saw no face". Then the music opens out into sunniness as the sopranos emerge from the clouds of doubt with a confident, extended melody, enthusiastically taken up by the full choir.
Stanza three of the text is sung by unison tenors and basses to a broad tune, swinging in compound time over a rippling accompaniment that glances at "The giant wheels and all the hidden springs/Of this most beauteous globe". Its reflective conclusion contrasts with an abrupt organ fanfare that announces the final section of the piece: the full choir
suddenly returns at what is intended to be a spine-chilling moment, then maintains the momentum of the texts increasingly confident thrust. After a final pause for renewed reflection, recalling earlier music, the piece ends in a blaze of glory, the organ tuba announcing the final bars celebrating "boundless love".
The St Woolos Service, a setting of the Latin mass, was commissioned in 2010 for the choir of St Woolos Cathedral, Newport, Gwent by their then Director of Music Christopher Barton.
The Kyrie introduces a triplet figure which is taken up by sopranos in the central Christe section, the opening music then returning to complete the movement. The Gloria begins con moto, followed by a quieter central section featuring the altos and basses. A reprise of the opening plainsong intonation leads into the final section that concludes with joyful amens. The Sanctus introduces an organ fanfare that periodically punctuates the forceful phrases of the choir, before all concludes quietly as the fanfare passes into the distance, as it were. A soprano solo, complemented by a solo oboe stop, begins and ends the Benedictus, wherein the choirs osannas are thoughtful and muted. The Agnus Dei combines a number of hitherto-heard themes, moving up three keys before a coda, based on the now-familiar triplets, ends with a short soprano descant and quiet, high organ trills.
There aren't that many contemporary unison pieces for Remembrance occasions, so I hope this setting of a new, specially-commissioned text will be useful. Whilst acknowledging the toll armed conflict brings, Lizzie Ballagher's thoughtful words bring out the human qualities of those being commemorated, and should offer solace both in church and more secular settings.
The music is tuneful yet reflective, employing an accommodating vocal range suitable for most singers. Two verses in contrasting keys are linked by a twice-sung refrain, which eventually leads into an extended coda focusing prayerfully upon the Remembrance theme. The accompaniment is suitable for either organ or piano, and has been kept deliberately uncomplicated. There are two bars of optional solo at the very end.
Poet Lizzie Ballagher's website is at https://lizzieballagherpoetry.wordpress.com/about/
This setting of Elizabeth Ballagher's specially-commissioned text is suitable for memorials, be they of a religious or more secular nature. The music generally evokes a sense of thankfulness and hope: cautiously in the first verse, then with increasing confidence in verse 2. A keyboard passage then leads into a delicate coda featuring two solo voices, before the piece ends on a note of restful comfort.
Hold Me High was written as a companion piece to For Others, also with a Ballagher text. Both pieces offer comfort through restrained, accessible tunefulness.
This setting of Elizabeth Ballagher's specially-commissioned text is suitable for memorials, be they of a religious or more secular nature. The music generally evokes a sense of thankfulness and hope: cautiously in the first verse, then with increasing confidence in verse 2. A keyboard passage then leads into a delicate coda featuring two solo voices, before the piece ends on a note of restful comfort.
Hold Me High was written as a companion piece to For Others, also with a Ballagher text. Both pieces offer comfort through restrained, accessible tunefulness.
This gentle carol for upper voices pairs a text I wrote in 1990 with a lilting, Celtic-flavoured melody that I had originally composed when I was 14.
In verse 1 an opening solo is answered by all voices in unison. The first half of verse 2 is straightforward 3-part harmony, after which the first and third voices break free from the tune with joyful shouts of Come!. The final verse reprises the second half of the tune which is surrounded by roulades of accompanying alleluias; then the soloist returns
prior to a contemplative coda that briefly explores remote keys before finally resolving, pianissimo, in the home key.
The piano part mostly employs uncomplicated broken chord figuration, with one or two more appassionato moments.
The carol is suitable for the entire Christmas season, and would be especially appropriate for a crib service. A lovely performance by the Girl Choristers of Southwell Minster (with "guest" boy soloist), directed by Paul Provost and with pianist Simon Hogan, can be heard by clicking the YouTube panel on the right.
Children At The Manger
The shadows of eventide echo the twilight,
Upon Davids town gentle starlight is shed,
Through the byways of Bethlehem children are creeping
By dim lantern light to a soft manger bed.
For there lies a babe bearing grace from above,
They have come to adore Him with goodness and love,
And they watch by His cradle in faith and devotion,
And smile at the blessings that light on His head.
We pray with the shepherds, we sing with the angels,
We kneel at the crib like the children of old,
Each child of today is a gift for tomorrow,
The gift of a lamb for the heavenly fold.
So come and rejoice that a saviour is born,
A babe with the bloom of a midsummer dawn;
Let us offer our gifts to the Son of Salvation,
The healer of sorrows, so gladly foretold.
O come and rejoice at the news of His birth,
Our gifts let us share for the good of our Earth:
Our gifts of compassion and childlike devotion:
Not incense, nor myrrh, yet as precious as gold.
(Text © Simon Mold)
This anthem for general use was commissioned by Emma Trounson, Director of Music at the Church of St James the Greater, Leicester, with a request for a piece that could be used more than once during a typical year. I accordingly felt Psalm 84 would be an appropriate text, but instead of using the BCP's familiar O how amiable are thy dwellings, I opted for the metrical translation by Tate and Brady in their New Version of the Psalms of David (1696). This enabled me to write a strong "home" melody that can bear repetition without any problems dealing with an unmetrical text.
So the piece begins in E flat with this expansive tune, written in compound time and with a slightly Celtic flavour, which was deliberately conceived with a tessitura to suit a soloist or semichorus from any section of the choir. This is taken up again by full tenors and basses in unison, accompanied by the upper voices. There is then a turn to C minor as the "panting heart and flesh cry out", with the organ hardly in evidence as the singers momentarily, as it were, feel bereft of support. The birds who "Around thy temple throng" are illustrated with some high, twittery semiquavers in the organ, which then provides a more solid, chordal underpinning as they "Securely hatch their young". A key change heralds the confident return of the opening tune sung by all voices in unison, and the anthem concludes with a short, reflective amen.
Following Martin Luther ("Why should the devil have all the best tunes?") I've set my text deriving from Psalm 23 to the wonderfully modal tune otherwise usually sung to "She moved through the fair". Verse one is an optional solo with a single-line organ accompaniment, with verse two introducing full choir and organ. Unison tenors and basses sing the melody in the a-cappella verse three, surmounted by some ethereal SSA tracery that periodically rises and falls, whilst the final verse is for unison voices and a returning organ that reprises its solo material heard at the start. A short coda includes a final contemplative amen. There is a short forte passage towards the end of the piece but otherwise the music rarely rises above mf, reflecting the mysterious nature of what must be one of the most haunting folk tunes in existence.