Description
Hepplewhite, Russell: Song of Flight
Ref
W238
Categories
Choral Music
,
Latest Titles
,
MultiBuy
By
Russell Hepplewhite
Words by
Jamila Gavin
SATB and piano
Duration: 4’15”
Where is our home going to be now?
Wherever you lay down your head.
Opening in unflinching, fast-paced reportage, Jamila Gavin’s
Song of Flight
deals with the horrific realities of fleeing a warzone and the resulting search for safety. Russell Hepplewhite’s hard-edged, pulsating score instantly places the listener amongst the ‘bullets and fires and rubble’, with unexpected harmonic shifts reinforcing the unstable atmosphere. A sudden change of scenery to ‘Orchards of apples and cherries and plums’ ushers in a more lyrical section of yearning lines shared between the voices, with expertly crafted piano figures integral to the texture. An essential addition to a concert with a conflict and displacement theme,
Song of Flight
has the dramatic power to stand alone as an unforgettable
tour de force
on any programme. It also serves as a stark reminder for us not to look away from atrocities, wherever they are committed.
Song of Flight
is one of ten new poems commissioned and set to music by Russell Hepplewhite in his landmark choral anthology
Living Voices
, published by Stainer & Bell. See
here
for more information on the other pieces in the collection.
First performed on 5 July 2025 by Birmingham Bach Choir, conducted by Paul Spicer
This title is available either as a printed edition (delivered by post) or as a licensed digital download (minimum 8 copies).
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