Balulalow - Christopher Moore
Balulalow - Christopher Moore
Commissioned by Choir & Organ in partnership with the VOCES8 Foundation
attrib. James, John and Robert Wedderburn (C.1567) | CHRISTOPHER MOORE (1997 -)
In 2022 I was jointly commissioned by The VOCES8 Foundation and Choir & Organ Magazine to write a piece as part of their New Music partnership. Having wanted to set this ancient and beguiling text for a while, I remember waking up on a tour of America rather early because of jet lag and found that the music came to me pretty much in one go. I’m pleased that the piece appeared in Live From London Christmas 2022 and subsequently in many of VOCES8’s Christmas concerts. It is essentially a cradle song, a prayer of the Virgin Mary as she sings the infant Jesus to sleep. I wanted to bring out the natural lilt in the text, the gentle rocking of the lullaby and some of the deep mysticism in that scene at the crib. I would encourage choirs to find lots of legato line in the moving parts and to make the climactic chords shine with bright vowels and clear tone.
Difficulty | Medium - The texture is fairly simple but all parts divide at various points and there are a couple of trickier changes of harmony, so confident singers are required on all parts.
SATB | SATB Divisi