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This piece was originally the fifth movement of a short Christmas cycle (“Angels and Shepherds and Wise Men All”) was written in 2012 for the end of year concert by South Auckland Choral Society to be conducted by the composer. The concert included my school choir, St Mary’s Schola, and I was keen to write something that the combined forces (including the soloists) in the concert could sing together.

The cycle doesn’t try to encapsulate the entire Christmas story, but focusses on those characters on the edge of the story – the angels, the shepherds and the wise man. In this piece, the characters who gathered around the infant Jesus are focussed on: the animals, the angels and the shepherds.

• David Hamilton: A Child Lay in a Little Crib - hardcopy score 

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• David Hamilton: A Song of Ruth; audio 

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• The Big Sing Finale 2000  Year: 2000 

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Ave Maris Stella (“Hail, star of the sea”) is a plainsong Vespers hymn to Mary. It was especially popular in the Middle Ages. The creation of the original hymn has been attributed to several people, including Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century), Saint Venantius Fortunatus (6th century) and Hermannus Contractus (11th century). The text is found in a 9th century manuscript in the Abbey of Saint Gall (St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland).

The piece uses little material other than the original chant melody. It is presented against a single sustained pitch from the singing bowl which sounds throughout. The work uses a mix of fully notated and semi-improvised music to create an atmospheric response to the text. Only the first and last verses of the text are used, with the choir only ever singing the first verse, and two solo voices singing the final verse.

“Ave Maris Stella” was written for St Mary’s Schola (St Mary’s College, Auckland).

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• Ritchie, J.: Concerto for Saxophone; computer set 

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• Ritchie J.: Concerto for Alto Saxophone; computer-set 

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• John Ritchie: Concerto - 3rd movement; audio 

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• John Ritchie: Concerto - 2nd movement; audio 

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This short work for treble-voice choir and guitar sets a poem by Australian poet Kylie Johnson. Kylie is a visual artist as well as a published poet. Her website www.paperboatpress.com says:
During her study of Visual Arts and Film at QUT in Brisbane (1990-1993) Kylie met a group of artists and potters and became part of the group known as Amfora. Amfora held many group shows throughout its 12-year run, of which Kylie was a part of all.

It was through these years that Kylie also published three books of her poetry: Distant Shoes (1992), forty-eight minus one (1997) and the ivory birds (2000), the poetry book launches also coincided with solo exhibitions of her painting and collage work. In 1996 Kylie set up her business paper boat press, in its early stages creating a boutique greeting card range featuring her own whimsical one or two line poems. This has now grown to include ceramic ornaments, ceramic jewelry, original illustrations and functional ceramic vessels.

In recent years Kylie has joined forces with a group of Brisbane artists to form the Umbrella Collective. The six women work together towards group shows and sales of their work as well as creating a dialogue and support network for all aspects of their work and creative business.

Count Me the Stars sets a text taken from her most recent poetry collection of the same name. The poem is untitled, so I used the first line as a title for my setting.

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• The Treble Voice Choral Music of David Hamilton Vol. 4  Year: 2013 

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This short lively piece was originally the final movement of “A Little Easter Cycle” written in 2007 for 3-part mixed-voice choir.

The text is from the Afro-American tradition of spirituals, and tells of the angel rolling the stone away and releasing the risen Christ on Easter Day. It also refers in passing to other characters from the biblical story – Mary arriving at the tomb, the soldiers not knowing what to do, and Pilate with his wise men not knowing what to say.

This re-working of the piece for SSA choir with piano was made early in 2008 for the choir at St Mary’s College, Auckland.

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Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the pioneers in the style of poetry known as ‘jazz poetry’. He came from mixed-race ancestry, and in his early years was an educator and advocate for African-American rights. He lived much of his adult life in Harlem, and received numerous honours and awards in his lifetime.

“Shepherd’s Song at Christmas” is a poem in which a young shepherd boy wonders what gift he should take to the infant Jesus. He first suggests a song, then a lamb, and finally he pledges to give his heart.

This setting was made for the annual Christmas concert at St Mary’s College in Auckland. It was written to involve both Mary’s Schola (conducted by the composer) and the school’s younger choir.

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This Robert Burns song was arranged for the 1995 overseas tour of my choir Opus from Epsom Girls Grammar School, Auckland. Following, involvement with the international youth choral SYMPAATTI in Finland, the choir visited Scotland and England. This arrangement was given its world premiere at our concert in Liberton Kirk, Edinburgh in early September 1995.

One printed version of the song explains the background to the song thus:
“The song embodies pretty fairly the anti-union feeling of Scotland during the 18th century. The charge of corruption which is made against the majority of the Scottish Parliament for “selling out for English gold” is repeated again and again in the Jacobite songs."

The wide ranging melody is divided between soprano I and 2 during the first two verses, while in the third verse it is initially treated as a two-part then three-part canon.

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The Door justaposes living conditions under two very different types of regime. It opens with an idyll, quoting a Mozartian motif of personal significance to the composer, and segues to a totalitarian state.

• Samuel Gray: The Door; audio 

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American poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) suffered from ill health throughout her life, although she published a number of highly regarded collections of poetry. In spite of falling in love with fellow poet Vachel Lindsay, she married a businessman, eventually divorcing him four years before she committed suicide.

Her poem There Will Come Soft Rains (from the collection Flame and Shadow 1920) is subtitled War Time. It was her response to the events of World War I. In the poem she considers the war from the perspective of nature – the birds, frogs and trees who know nothing of the combat. She concludes that their lives would continue uninterrupted even if mankind disappeared from the earth: “and Spring herself… would scarcely know that we were gone.”

This setting was written for St. Mary’s Schola and St. Mary’s Chamber Orchestra (St. Mary’s College, Auckland) to perform together. It features solos for mezzo-soprano and cello, to provide significant roles for two senior musicians.

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• Hamilton: There Will Come Soft Rains; computer-set  Year: 2008 

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