Canticle of Freedom (A Song for Peace) (1999)
SATB choir, soprano and bass-baritone soloists, children’s or youth choir, and orchestra. Duration c.48 minutes
Canticle of Freedom was commissioned to celebrate the Millennium by Colchester Choral Society. The text – a prayer for peace and freedom – is from a number of sources and the work is in four movements whose subject matter derives from the four verses of the hymn `It came upon the midnight clear’ – Earth, Heaven, War, and Peace. First performed by the Colchester Choral Society and Colchester Sinfonia, conductor Ian Ray, with Denise Mulholland (soprano), Adrian Clarke (baritone), and children from the Colchester Performing Arts Centre, in the Moot Hall, Colchester, on 25 March 2000 and subsequently performed by the Coventry Choral Society, and at Snape Maltings by the Waltham Singers and Colchester Choral Society.
`Combines a wonderfully natural melodic and harmonic flow with atmospheric and immensely colourful orchestration – a work that fulfils artistic goals but also has an immediacy about it in the way that it engages and moves the audience’ – Andrew Quartermain, Essex County Standard
Orchestration: 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 bn, 4 hns (3 and 4 opt), 2 tpt, 2 tenor trb, bass trb(opt), tuba (opt): timp, 1 perc: strs
Complete performance (Snape Maltings) with scrolling score on YouTube
Complete performance on SoundCloud(same performance, better quality sound)
Link to Notes and complete text: Canticle of Freedom Programme notes
Vocal Score on sale here as a digital download (pdf): Sheet Music Direct, or Sheet Music Plus Printed copies to special order from Colne Edition
Vocal Scores, Orchestral score and parts on hire from Colne Edition