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This work was written at the request of conductor Elise Bradley for her highly regarded choir Key Cygnetures at Westlake Girls High School (Auckland).

It was intended for a ‘mid-winter Christmas’ concert which was to also feature Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. I therefore felt happy to turn to Christmas texts with some of the more traditional Christmas references (snow etc).

The first text is from the fifteenth century and is a general text mentioning Mary, the manger, the wise men, and the gifts they brought, and ends with call to delight in the Christ child. The second text, by G.K. Chesterton contains images of snow and night, and ends with the line that gives the work its overall title. The third text is a variant of the carol ‘I saw three ships come sailing in’ and may refer either to the medieval myth that Joseph and Mary travelled to England, or obliquely to purported journeys of the relics of the wise men. The fourth text is a lullaby by nineteenth century poet John Addington Symonds. Again the wise men and their gifts are mentioned along with the shepherds. The final text is another anonymous one, and is simply a brief and energetic welcome to ’heaven’s King’.

• Hamilton: A Child Comes Forth; computer-set 

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• The Treble Voice Choral Music of David Hamilton Vol. 2 

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This work sets a poem by New Zealand poet Ruth Gilbert. The poem is in two verses – the first having a questioning and searching tone, while the second presents the resolution. Love is at the centre of the text: for it is love that is the “rose that will not die” and the “house not made with hands”.
The text begins:
Find me the rose that will not die,
The tree no axe can fell,
The spring no Summer’s drought shall dray,
And this last miracle: …

• Hamilton: Not Made With Hands; computer set 

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The true origins of this Irish text are lost in the mists of time although it is generally agreed to date from around the 9th century. Amongst the various stories of its origins are that it was written by an Irish monk in Austria (or maybe Switzerland), in the margin of a manuscript (or maybe on the back of a page), and in Irish. One story even suggests it was written while the monk was working on the Book of Kells (almost certainly false though).

The poem was originally in a form of Gaelic and the generally acknowledged best translation is by the scholar Robin Flower (1881-1946) – an English poet and translator from the Irish language. The name of the cat, Pangur Ban, simply means ‘white Pangur’ or ‘white cat’, Pangur being a common name for a cat. In translation the cat is referred to as male – a talented tomcat!

One source sums up the poem this way:
Sometimes called ‘The Monk and his Cat’, the poem Pangur Ban was written by an Irish monk, in the 9th century. It details the similarities between the scribe hunting appropriate words and solutions, and his pet cat hunting mice.

Pangur Ban was written at the request of conductor Jane Money for Boston City Singers in the USA.

• Hamilton: Pangur Ban; computer-set 

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• Hamilton: Pangur Ban; computer-set 

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• The Treble Voice Choral Music of David Hamilton Vol. 2 

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This short Christmas setting was requested for Bella Voce, one of the choirs in the Junior School at Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland. The music makes much use of canons as a simple way to achieve a two-part texture.

The short text is by Marion Schoeberlein, an American writer and poet who has featured in a number of anthologies. It suggests that some of the traditional images of Christmas are an essential part of the experience of Christmas day.

• Hamilton: Tell Me Again; computer-set 

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• Hamilton: Tell Me Again (the Story of Christmas); computer set 

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• The Treble Voice Choral Music of David Hamilton Vol. 3  Year: 2011 

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