Irish winner of the Choir & Organ Composition Competition 2012; New Communion anthems
Irish winner of the Choir & Organ Composition Competition 2012
Seán Doherty, 25, has won the Choir & Organ Composition Competition 2012 with his setting of Blessed be that Maid Marie.
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Doherty, originally from Derry, Northern Ireland, read music at St John’s College, Cambridge before undertaking a PhD at Trinity College, Dublin. Though his PhD research concerned music theory in 17th-century England, Seán has also continued to compose. He won the St Giles’ Cathedral Edinburgh Anthem Competition 2012, the Jerome Hynes Composition Competition in 2011, and is a two-time winner of the Feis Ceoil Choral Composition Competition, as well having received various other choral commissions. His passion for choral music stems from singing in Codetta chamber choir, the chapel choir of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the choir of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
The jury for this year’s competition comprised David Halls, Sarah Baldock, Andrew Lumsden (directors of music at Salisbury, Chichester and Winchester Cathedrals) and choral composer and conductor Bob Chilcott.
The premiere of the winning piece will be given by the Choir of Salisbury Cathedral, directed by David Halls, at the Christmas Carol Service on Friday 21 Dec, 7pm and Sunday 23 Dec, 5pm.
New Communion anthems
Margaret Rizza, well-known for her many compositions of church music, has just composed four anthems for singing during communion services. Blessed Bread, published by the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), is a collection consisting of two simple anthems and two chants, all of which can be performed with keyboard and instrumental accompaniment.
Two of the anthems in the collection, The Real Presence and Dedication can be performed either as a unison song or by a four-part choir. Both have the option for a soprano descant and melody instrument. The words are taken from The Edge of Glory – a collection of contemporary prayers in the Celtic tradition written by David Adam, a former Vicar of Lindisfarne during the nineties. The remaining pieces, Blessed bread and Lord, all truth is from you, are both based on repetitive chants, which on each repetition grow in texture with the addition of either voices or instruments as the performance progresses. Margaret Rizza has written her own words for Blessed bread, with the words of Lord, all truth is from you taken from the Weekday Missal.
The anthems were written at the suggestion of Tim Ruffer, the RSCM’s Head of Publishing, with flexibility very much in mind. “Musical resources vary greatly from church to church, so the joy of these pieces is the fact that they can be performed according to who or what is available; you don’t necessarily need a four-part choir to run these, and the melody instrument could be, say, a flute or violin.” Similarly, the chant pieces are flexible in length. “The distribution of communion takes as long as it takes,” says Tim Ruffer. “Chants can be performed or omitted as the occasion dictates.”
In the Preface, Margaret Rizza refers to the ease with which the chants can be performed. “Through the repetitions, a chant starts in the head with all its thinking and begins the long journey into the heart. Singing chants is a wonderful way to share, as we come to celebrate the Eucharist together.”A30-327 exams
Blessed Bread may be purchased from RSCM Music Direct:
Price £3.50 (£2.63 RSCM affiliates)
RSCM order number: A2336
Tel: 0845 021 7726
Email: musicdirect@rscm.com
Online: www.rscm.com/shop