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

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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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• David Hamilton: Ave Maris Stella; audio 

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

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This sonnet, by Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), is part of a long sequence of poems titled “Astrophel and Stella”, which tracks the development of a love affair between the narrator (Astrophel) and the virtuous, intelligent, idealized Stella. Stella had a real-life counterpart who Sidney loved, yet eventually saw marry another man.

The thirty-ninth sonnet is “Come sleep. Oh sleep, the certain knot of peace” in which the narrator personifies Sleep. He prays that Sleep will come and release him from his current state of misery – only through sleep will he be able to be free from the war raging between his head and his heart, between reason and love. All he seeks is “…smooth pillows, a sweetest bed, a chamber deaf of noise and blind of light”. He rationalizes that he can entice Sleep by promising that the image of Stella will appear in his dreams, and Sleep will be able to watch. This would be the greatest tribute he could pay. The narrator prefers Stella to appear in his dreams, because he then need not face the reality that she is not his own.

“Come sleep. Oh sleep” was commissioned by Euphony (Kristin School, Auckland) and conductor David Squire.

• David Hamilton: Come sleep. Oh sleep. - hardcopy score 

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A free downloadable score for this work will be available shortly

• Samuel Holloway: Dualities 2 - downloadable PDF 

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The text of this work comes from the 40-part motet of the same name by Alessandro Striggio (c1540-1592). His work was the likely inspiration for the better-known 40-part motet of Thomas Tallis “Spem in alium”. It is believed that Striggio wrote the text himself. Striggio wrote both sacred and secular music, and all his surviving music is vocal (although often with instrumental doublings clearly indicated).

“Ecce beatam lucem” is a hymn of praise to the sun and more generally to all of creation, and by analogy to the power of God shown through his creation.

This piece was written for Choralation (Westlake Girls’ and Westlake Boys’ High Schools) and conductor Rowan Johnston who had requested a ‘fireworks’ piece – something short, bold and dramatic.

• Hamilton: Ecce beatam lucem; computer set  Year: 2012 

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• David Hamilton: Ecce Beatam Lucem; video 

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‘In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni’ is a palindromic riddle that translates as ‘We enter the circle at night and are consumed by fire’, or ‘We wander at night and are consumed by fire’.

• Margetic: Et consumimur igni; computer set 

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• Margetic: Et consumimur igni; computer set 

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This is a traditional Celtic lament to the deaths of James IV, many of his nobles, and over 10,000 men – the titular “Flowers of the Forest” – at the Battle of Flodden Field in northern England in 1513, a significant event in the history of Scotland. The original composer is unknown.

These days the tune is widely incorporated into funerals and memorial services, hence my being requested to transcribe, arrange and perform this version for the funeral of my beloved grandmother in September 2012.

• Audain: Flowers of the Forest; computer set 

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• Audain: Flowers of the Forest; computer set 

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A setting of the text of section 4 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (which sets out the fundamental obligations of the legal profession).

• Lloydd: Fundamental obligations of lawyers; computer set 

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• Lloydd: Fundamental obligations of lawyers; computer set 

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• Chris Artley: I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes (SATB choir with piano) - downloadable PDF 

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• Chris Artley: I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes (SATB choir with organ) - hardcopy score 

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• Chris Artley: I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes (SATB choir with piano) - hardcopy score 

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The original title for this short poem was simply “Christmas” – here I have taken the last line as a more interesting title. The text tells, in short lines, of the traditional images surrounding the birth of Jesus.

The poem is variously credited to Mary I., or Mary I. Osborn, of whom nothing is known, although one or two poems appear on the internet.

“Little Lord of Light” was written for conductor Susanna Saw and Kuala Lumpur Children’s Choir. The choir has performed several pieces of mine, and I had the pleasure of working with them in 2010.

• David Hamilton: Little Lord of Light - hardcopy score 

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