Five Songs about the World by Alan Bullard, for upper voices
I’ve been looking through my catalogue of pieces for upper voices, and today I’d just like to highlight five songs which have as their subject matter the world and its people. Some of them are fairly new, some have been around for some time, but they all communicate a message of care for the environment, and humanity and understanding, which is just as true today as it ever was.
All these songs are published by Colne Edition and you can hear a YouTube playlist of them here. They are also available from JW Pepper (USA), Sheet Music Direct, and Sheet Music Plus.
The most recent is One Voice for All. Available in versions for unison voices or SABar voices with piano, and optional descant, this lively song celebrates the joy of singing together and of working together for the community. With words by Mary Bullard, and commissioned by the Romsey Festival of Youth Music, this song was first performed by massed school choirs in Autumn 2022, in Romsey Abbey, Hampshire, directed by the composer.
Details here.
New Moon is a rather different mood – calm, peaceful, and flowing. Again available in two versions, for SA and for SATB, both with piano, this is a setting of fragments from two anonymous poems of the Hebrides. They tell of the guiding light of the new moon: the controller of the stars, of the seasons, and of the daily lives of the Scottish islanders in past centuries.
Details here.
Running for the Future originates in poems written by primary school children who were asked to identify their hopes and dreams for the future. It is for unison or two-part voices and piano, and the song combines rhythmic drive (‘…running a race for the future, setting the pace for a new world…’) with a smoothly arching melody over a flowing background (‘…my hope and dream is that one day there’ll be no more war…my hope and dream is that one day there’ll be no pollution, the world will be clean – that is my dream.’). These words and music were written in 2000, but equally they could have been written today.
Details here.
Rainbow was written during the coronavirus lockdown of 2020, in which we all experienced a very different and scary world, for many people a tragic world. During the lockdown, UK residents placed pictures of rainbows in their windows, and, every Thursday, came out to their doorsteps and applauded those in the medical profession who were working so hard to keep them safe. This song, to the composer’s own words, reflects on the healing powers of the rainbow, symbol of the caring professions – ‘Rainbow brightening all the earth, Rainbow dancing to the heavens, Bringing joy and gladness to a world confused and weary.’ It is available in two versions, SA or SATB, both with piano.
Details here.
And lastly, Sun, Moon, World in which the words are a paraphrase of the famous prayer by St. Francis of Assisi. For voices in two parts, it alternates calm appeals to sun and moon, rain and fire, with more emphatic syncopated requests to ‘…give us the day, give us the night, give us the dark, give us the light…’ It ends with an appeal for peace and survival for the whole world.
Details here.
Please contact me if you’d like more details of these songs.