Perusal scores available on request

 

VOICE AND ORCHESTRA

Canzoni d'amore e di dolore - after Claudio Monteverdi

2025 (appx. 22')

For solo soprano/high mezzo-soprano and orchestra (piccola., fl., 2 ob., 2 clar., 2 bsn. - 2 hn., 2 tpt., 2 tbn., bass-tbn., perc. (crotales, bowed vibes, tam-tam), harp, strings.

This quasi song-cycle sets music by Claudio Monteverdi, mainly from his eighth book of madrigals, all focusing on aspects of love and loss. The vocal lines remain unchanged (though frequently lengthened in terms of tempo) while the remainder of the music is carefully orchestrated with harmonies often surreally stretched and suspended to highlight the modernity of Monteverdi's original work.  The result is music that sounds timeless - both ancient and modern.

I - Tocatta

II - Sinfonia

III - Poi che del mio dolore 

IV - Mentre vaga Angioletta

V - Non havea Febo ancora

VI - Lamento della ninfa 

VII - Si tra sdegnosi 

 

 

VOCAL SOLO

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Cadenzas and Arias

1992 (appx.9’)

soprano, trumpet, piano

 

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Trois Traduits de la Nuit, Livre 1

1994 (appx.12’) to poems by Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo

mezzo-soprano, piano

Trois Traduits de la Nuit, Livre 2

2002 (appx.10’)
to poems Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo
mezzo-soprano, piano

 

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Illuminations I, II and Ophélie to poems by Arthur Rimbaud

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Illuminations I

1996 (appx.9’) 

Soprano, piano

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Ophélie

1996 (appx.9’)

soprano, flute

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Illuminations II

1996 (appx.10’)

soprano, flute and piano

 

Prophecy and Experience

2005 (appx.17’) Settings of texts by William Blake

baritone, piano

Commissioned by Howard Wong

 

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The Winged Sandals

2013 (appx. 10’)
Two songs for mezzo-soprano and piano
settings of poems by Henri de Régnier in translations by the composer
Commissioned by Sarah Connolly

1. The Voice 

2. Wish

Programme Note:

These two songs were written at the request of as well as for my dear friend, the renowned singer Dame Sarah Connolly CBE.  Sarah knows me well and when I asked her if she had a poem she wanted me to set, she came up with Henri de Régnier’s ‘The Voice’.  What an inspired choice!  Of course, Sarah knew what these words would mean to me as she was well aware of the machinations life can bring at particular times.  Yet ‘The Voice’ is a sad poem and I wanted to write something that expressed the beauty of life.  I found in Régnier’s work an exquisite poem called ‘Wish’, and so this seemed an ideal partner.  One in which the sorrows of life are transformed into the gentleness of what the human spirit can think of when either surrounded by goodness or when capable of looking beyond current circumstances to a better place.  © Paul Max Edlin 2013

 

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Veillées

2013 (appx. 3’) Setting of a poem by Arthur Rimbaud

For mezzo-soprano and piano

 

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Come Heavy Sleep

2021 (appx 4’) Setting of John Dowland’s song in two versions:

Version 1: mezzo soprano and harpsichord

Version 2: mezzo soprano and piano

Written for Dame Sarah Connolly and Mahan Esfahani

 

 

CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA/ENSEMBLE

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The Passion of Christ – the way of sorrows

2019 (appx.50’)

For 14 singers (4.4.3.3) and ensemble (flute/alto flute/bass flute, oboe/oboe d’amore/cor-anglais, clarinet/bass-clarinet, harp, violin, viola, ‘cello.  7 singers double percussion (2 gongs, 1 tam-tam, 2 whips and 2 bass-drums)

Text and subject matter based on the 14 Stations of the Cross in their visual and scriptural forms and the Seven Last Words (or sayings) of Jesus on the cross. The combination of these three sets creates 21 overall sections.

The voices create a line behind the 7 instrumentalists, and all are structured/placed so that an overall image of a cross is created.

The work is divided into 4 parts.

Part 1:
1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested
3. Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin
4. Jesus is denied by Peter
5. Jesus is judged by Pilot

Part 2:
6. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
7. Jesus accepts his cross
8. Jesus falls for the first time
9. Jesus meets his mother, Mary
10. Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross
11. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

Part 3:
12. Jesus falls for the second time
13. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
14. Jesus falls for the third time

Part 4:
15. Jesus is stripped of his clothes
16. Jesus is nailed to the cross
17. Jesus promises his kingdom to the repentant thief
18. Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other
19. Jesus dies on the cross
20. Jesus is taken down from the cross
21. Jesus is placed in his tomb

 

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Requiem – a requiem for our times

2020 (appx.75’)

For bass-baritone solo, double choir, 7 solo trumpets and symphony orchestra (3.3.3.3 - 4.3.3.1 - 5perc - strings)

The work combines the text of the requiem mass with passages from the Book of Revelation

1. Then the seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets
2. Bass solo - And I saw a mighty angel coming down from heaven.
3. Introitus: Requiem aeternam
4. The first angel sounded his trumpet
5. Bass solo - Then the angel standing on sea and on land raised his right hand to heaven.
6. Kyrie
7. The second angel sounded his trumpet
8. Bass solo - Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on sea and on land.”
9. Graduale: requiem aeternam
10. Bass solo - I went to the angel and asked him to give me the scroll.
11. Tractus: Absolve, Domine
12. The third angel sounded his trumpet
13. Dies Irae
14. The fourth angel sounded his trumpet
15. Tuba mirum
16. The fifth angel sounded his trumpet
17. Mors stupebit
18. The sixth angel sounded his trumpet
19. Rex tremendae
20. The seventh angel sounded his trumpet / Bass solo - “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever."
21. Juste Judex
22. Bass solo - Then war broke out in heaven.
23. Offertorium: Domin, Jesu Christe
24. Bass solo - And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.
25. Offertorium (part 2)
26. Bass solo - I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth.
27. Agnus Deai
28. Bass solo - Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air.
29. Lux Aeterna
30. Pie Jesu
31. Libera me
32. In Paradisum / Bass solo - I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
33. Epilogue Bass solo - I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: & Amen

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Cantico

2024 (appx. 35') - orchestral version

For bass-baritone solo, mezzo-soprano solo, choir, orchestra (fl. bass fl., ob., cor-ang., clar. in Bb, bass clay., bsn., contra-bsn., - 3.2.2.0 - 1perc., hp., celeste, pno., strings (suggest 12, 10, 8, 6, 3/4), electronics.

Cantico sets Saint Francis of Assisi’s Cantico delle Creature (Canticle of the Creatures). It combines this with further texts from the Laudario di Cortona (a musical codex from the second half of the 13th century, kept in Cortona’s Biblioteca del Comune e dell’Accademia Etrusca) and Saint Clare’s Second Letter to the beatified Agnese of Prague. This letter of encouragement arguably aligns with the support Saint Clare gave her beloved Francis to continue his own devotion and charitable deeds.

The inspiration for this work was ignited when I moved to Italy and visited Assisi, exploring Saint Francis’ hermitage, the great basilica and, particularly, San Damiano, where I bought a beautifully illustrated copy of the Cantico delle Creature.

At a time when the very principles of Christian faith are being so abused and purposefully manipulated and seriously misunderstood, it seemed a poignant moment to reflect on Saint Francis’ profound words, which celebrate the balance between man and nature and the beauty and significance of all God’s creations. We forget this balance and respect for our natural environment at our peril!

Saint Francis is portrayed by a bass-baritone, Saint Clare by the distant voice of a mezzo-soprano, and a chorus interjects in response, adulation and dedication.

There are two versions of this work, with a third in progress. The first is for soloists, chamber choir, piano, percussion and organ, but does not include particular instrumental solos. However, I felt the subject matter demanded a full orchestra, and I also wanted to incorporate some key moments where woodwind or brass soloists could play with an almost improvised quality. These solos would also provide additional symbolic meaning. The string writing relies on many drone-like effects, and this was entirely intentional, underpinning the harmonic design of the work. The celestial and ‘other’ world is amplified by the use of electronics, which use sampled sounds of antique cymbals, harps and strange flutes, using registers and notes (including quarter-tones) that are completely outside their capabilities. These are instruments that can easily evoke Heaven, but now in an all-encompassing way. 

The musical structure came first: a complex and convoluted journey around the ‘circle of fifths’ in which there is always a balance and a sense of symmetry and in which tonalities refer to conventional symbolism. This ‘journey’ applies to all three versions. For instance, the work begins and ends in F minor/major, moving towards and then again from D major/minor, reflecting positivity, humility, redemption and celebration. At the work’s heart, Saint Clare sings over a drone of B minor – the most distant key from F, and a tonality that is found nowhere else within the work. Throughout the entire work, the fundamental harmonies are simple, using major and minor chords and the natural harmonic series of each.

This work lasts around 35 minutes, and, like its smaller counterpart, was composed in 2024, exactly 800 years after Saint Francis wrote his famous text. It is interesting to note that this was a time when Saint Francis was suffering severe illness and spiritual turmoil, just as we now seem to be, as a society, becoming sicker in mind and spirit and creating so much turmoil for ourselves and others.

The music has an intentionally magical and other-worldly quality, yet one rooted firmly in a recognisable language with religious chants. There is both light and darkness – another balance, but one in which we are reminded that we should consider better the positive values of ‘light’.

© Paul Max Edlin 2024

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Cantico

2024 (appx. 30') - chamber version

A version for smaller forces.

For bass-baritone solo, mezzo-soprano solo, chamber choir, percussion (cartels, vibraphone, marimba, 2 gongs [medium and medium-large], large tam-tam), piano and electronics.

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CHORAL/VOCAL ENSEMBLE

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Chants for Kambu

2000 (appx.10’) Text by the composer 

Professional chamber choir (6.6.6.6), organ

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Evening Canticles

2002 (appx.7’) 

Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis

Double SATB choir, organ 

 

 

An Easter Blessing

2005 (appx. 3’) 

Two versions
Version 1 for boys voices (a capella)
Version 2 for full choir (a cappella)

 

 

A Harvest Song

2008 (appx. 2’)

for youth choir (sopranos only) and piano

 

 

Ich bin der Welt

2013 (appx 4’) - setting of words by Friedrich Rückert

for double choir (16 parts)

Programme Note:

MacMillan famously said ‘Events, dear boy’.  Things happen and at times of crisis, the fortunate artist within us can say ‘Enough’, and it is time to inhabit only beauty.

In early 2013 I set about composing four pieces for unaccompanied choir that I dedicated to kind and special people.  Each piece chooses texts of great significance.  Mahler’s setting of ‘Ich bin der Welt’ is surely one of the most sublime pieces of music ever created by any composer.  Yet I had known it corrupted.  In order to dispel that memory I set Ruckert’s telling words in a wholly different way.  I dedicated this work to a Dean of Chapel, Dr Jeremy Law.  Interestingly, I can now hear the Mahler again with fresh ears, and I truly understand it.

So the experience of composing these works was not only deeply cathartic, it was also a way of me creating beauty out of ugliness and challenge and saying things in music I would not wish to repeat in words.  

 

 

Come Heavy Sleep

2013 (appx 3 ‘) setting of song and words by John Dowland

for double choir (16 parts)

Programme Note:

John Dowland’s ‘Come Heavy Sleep’ is a song I had reworked long ago, then realised by the leading mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly CBE when she was a student with me at the Royal College of Music.  This new setting keeps Dowland’s text and melody intact, but finds a new hypnotic quality to the soundscape that weaves around it.  It is dedicated to Sarah.

 

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Weep you no more, sad fountains

2013 (appx 3 ‘) setting of words by John Dowland

for double choir (16 parts)

Programme Note:

 ‘Weep No More Sad Fountains’ is a well-known song by John Dowland.  My reworking explores its tenderness, its dreaminess and its magical qualities, exuded by the twists and turns of Dowland’s original melody.  It is dedicated to Sally-Ann Edlin.

 

 

Octo Beatitudines

2013 (appx 5’) - text traditional 

for double choir (16 parts)

Programme note:

 ‘Octo Beatitudines’ is a rich setting of these famous Christian values.  Two antiphonal choirs create dramatic yet beautiful sweeping textures.  This work came to life in a surprise performance given by outstanding Cambridge choral scholars directed by the remarkable Suzi Digby OBE.  It is dedicated to Dr Michelle Castelletti.