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A piece which celebrates an anniversary provides a composer with particular challenges in the choice of a text. It should not be so tied to the group or the event that no-one else will want to use the music, yet it needs to acknowledge and celebrate the group’s achievement.

“All This Singing, One Song” was written for GALS (Gay and Lesbian Singers of Auckland) for the choir’s 20th anniversary in 2012. The text comes from the 13th century Persian poet and philosopher Rumi, and consists of several short pieces of his writing on the subject of singing. Most of these encourage the listener to join in with the singing. The music is mostly rhythmic and energetic, with a strong climax at the end where the choir sings the words “Sing loud!”.

Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi or Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273) was a 13th-century Persian philosopher, theologian, poet, teacher, and Sufi mystic. Also known as Mevlana (Our Guide), Jalaluddin Rumi, but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi.

“All This Singing, One Song” was commissioned by GALS (music director: Stephen Bowness), and first performed by the choir on 27 October 2012.

• David Hamilton: All this singing, one song - hardcopy score 

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St Michael’s Church in Remuera (Auckland ) is one of the finest acoustics in the city for choral music. When I heard Viva Voce was presenting a concert of “heavenly music” there as the choir’s final concert for 2011, I offered to write a new piece. My earliest regularly performed work,“Lux Aeterna was already scheduled for the programme, so I felt this would make a nice comparison of works written 32 years apart. Conductor John Rosser readily agreed to the idea.

Angele Dei is a text traditionally attributed to St Anselm (c.1033-1109) although it is now believed to have been added to his works after his death probably in the 11th or 12th centuries. It is a brief prayer to a guardian angel – one who is charged with protecting against the assaults of demons, that might lead one into sin.

The piece is full of warm rich choral textures, beginning with the women’s voices descending in a scale-like passage which repeats several times against simple tonal chords in the men’s voices. The build to the climax uses textures reminiscent of Renaissance composers, featuring a string of suspensions in the harmony. The work ends quietly with an Amen section and final statement of the title.

David Hamilton

• Hamilton: Angele Dei; computer set  Year: 2011 

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This is a modern folk song about the history of glass-making in Sunderland. It is part of a collection of songs about the River Wear, “Winter Wear”. It can be performed as a Christmas song, or at other times of year. It is not especially religious.

Glass-making has always played an important role in the cultural and industrial history and soul of Sunderland and the River Wear: Benedict Biscop’s unique use of French glass-makers to fill in the windows of his monastery church, St. Peter’s in the 9th century; the industrial melting pot of the 19th century where the abundant supply of coal from the Durham coalfield, ferried down the River Wear fuelled several industries, most notably steel-making, shipbuilding and glass making; the European monopoly of Joblings Glassworks making heatproof oven-ware out of Pyrex in the mid- 20th century; and the National Glass Centre of today in which students at the University and glass artists from around the country craft enchanting art works. The first people to see each of these phenomena must have been transfixed by the novelty they were witnessing. This song portrays the response to each of these first encounters with the magical glass.

• Camm: Magical Glass; computer set 

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• Camm: Magical Glass; computer set 

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• Chris Artley: O Magnum Mysterium - hardcopy score 

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• Chris Artley: O Magnum Mysterium - downloadable PDF 

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The ‘Salve Regina’ text is one of the four Marian antiphons – texts associated with the Virgin Mary which are used at various liturgical times of the year in the Roman Catholic church. This one is used from Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Pentecost) until just before Advent. Originally these antiphons were used in conjunction with psalms, but since the 13th century they have been independent parts of the liturgy.

This setting begins with one of the Gregorian chants used with this text – the first line for tenors only, and then the second line harmonised. A version of this music reappears later in the work.

“Salve Regina” was written for the vocal group The Madrigal Companie of New Plymouth. The ensemble had performed a number of works of mine, and when preparing for a concert of Marian music asked about other works of mine. Given that none of my settings of the Magnificat suited the size and combination of voices, I decided to write this short work for the group, aiming for a simple SATB texture with almost no sub-division of parts.

• Hamilton: Salve Regina; computer set 

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