CHORAL MUSIC by Neil Buckland
A Taoist Hymn
(English text, translation of excerpts from the Tao Te Ching) (4’00), two versions:
– for solo soprano (or instrument) and SSAA choir, a cappella or with organ, string orchestra or string sextet accompaniment – CONTACT
– for solo soprano (or instrument) and SATB choir, a cappella or with organ, string orchestra or string sextet accompaniment – CONTACT
This piece is not intended for use in Daoist worship (I do not know if Daoists even sing hymns); it is simply an admiring Westerner’s musical reflection on some profound thoughts from a great philosophical text. “A man is supple and soft when living, but rigid and hard when dead. / Grass and trees are tender and pliant when living, but dry and brittle when dead. / Thus the hard and the stiff are companions of death; / the soft and the pliant, companions of life.” (For more information, full texts, and performance suggestions, see A Taoist Hymn preface.)
A Taoist Hymn can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website, and is also available on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Et requiem non habebant (And they rest not day and night) from Revelations
for SSATB choir and orchestra (Latin text: Revelation ch.4) (6’15) – CONTACT
The 5th movement of Revelations (see CHORAL WORKS IN PROGRESS, below), a large scale choral and orchestral work setting the strange, visionary text of Revelation chapter 4.
This movement and In diebus illis (see below) can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
In diebus illis… (In that time…) from Revelations
for SSATB choir and orchestra (or organ and small instrumental ensemble) (Latin text: Revelation ch.4) (6’30) – CONTACT
The opening movement of Revelations (see CHORAL WORKS IN PROGRESS, below), a large scale choral and orchestral work setting the strange, visionary text of Revelation chapter 4: “… behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter…”
This movement and Et requiem non habebant (see above) can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Miserere
for SATB choir a capella, or with organ, or with string orchestra (Latin text: Psalm 50/51) (9’30) – CONTACT
A setting of the Miserere (Psalm 51, “Have mercy upon me, O God”) with the original Latin text.
The concluding sections of Miserere for SATB choir can be heard on the Listen page of this website and the full composition on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Musick, the Mosaique of the Air
for soprano solo, SATB choir and orchestra (English text: Andrew Marvell) (4’15) – CONTACT
A movement from a cantata on the subject of music itself (see Musicks Empire in CHORAL WORKS IN PROGRESS, below). Here all the various kinds and instruments of music come together to form a grand, airy “mosaique” and capture “the Empire of the Ear”, including not only earthly music but the music of the spheres: “Then Musick, the Mosaique of the Air, / Did of all these a solemn noise prepare: / With which She gain’d the Empire of the Ear, / Including all between the Earth and Sphear.”
Musick, the Mosaique of the Air can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website, and is available on YouTube, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Music, Spotify, Deezer, QQ Music, Kuwo and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
O Breath, O Fire
for SSAA choir a cappella
or with harp, qin, zheng, konghou or koto obbligato (range: EE – g”)
(Latin text: Hildegard of Bingen) (3’30) – CONTACT
A setting of words by Hildegard of Bingen to music that combines traditional Chinese and Western elements: “O mightiest path which penetrates all things; in the heavens and on earth … … O breath of holiness, o fire of love…”.
O Breath, O Fire (with harp obbligato) can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website, and is available on YouTube, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Music, Spotify, Deezer, QQ Music, Kuwo and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
O Virtus Sapientiae
for SATB choir (arrangement of Shostakovich Fugue, op.87 no.16) – see ARRANGEMENTS
Of Beauty
for SATB choir with orchestra, or with flute (soprano recorder) and piano (English text: Kahlil Gibran) (5’24) – CONTACT
This piece, with its striking text by Lebanese writer, poet and visual artist Kahlil Gibran, is in effect a hymn to beauty. Beauty is real, part of the fabric of nature, not just an idea invented by clever humans. I and many others want to bring a recognition of the reality of beauty, and the expression of beauty, back into the arts. (Of Beauty has not yet received its first performance. Interested choirs are invited to contact me.)
Of Love
for solo soprano and SATB choir with orchestra, or with violin, cello and piano (English text: Kahlil Gibran) (7’44) – CONTACT
Another setting of a text by Lebanese writer, poet and visual artist Kahlil Gibran: a profound reflection on what love – real love – does to the human personality. “Love is for your growth,” Gibran says, but also for your “pruning”; love “ascends to your heights and caresses your tenderest branches” but may also “shatter your dreams”… Together with ‘Of Joy and Sorrow’ and ‘Of Beauty’, ‘Of Love’ forms my Three Songs of Kahlil Gibran. (Of Love has not yet received its first performance. Interested choirs are invited to contact me.)
Songs of Joy and Sorrow
for solo soprano and SATB choir with orchestra, or with flute, violin, cello and piano (English text: Kahlil Gibran) (17’40) – CONTACT
Three settings of texts by Kahlil Gibran (1883 – 1931). Gibran was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist most famous as author of The Prophet (1923), one of the best-loved and most frequently translated books in history. In it, Gibran distilled wisdom from the great Christian, Buddhist and Islamic religious texts he studied, adding intuitive wisdom of his own. The result is many passages that embody deep and timeless insights into human experience. I have chosen some of the best of these to set to music. The three songs are: ‘Of Love’ for solo soprano and SATB choir, ‘Of Joy and Sorrow’ for solo soprano, and ‘Of Beauty’ for SATB choir (the audio clips above are in that order), all with accompaniment either of orchestra or small chamber ensemble.
Then I Became
for soprano solo, alto solo (or solo cello) and SSATB choir with string orchestra or organ (English text: Abu Yazid of Bistam trans. R.A. Nicholson) (10’15) – CONTACT
An expanded version for choir and soloist(s) of my setting of a text by a 9th century Sufi mystic: “Then I became as a bird, /whose body was of Oneness / and whose wings were of Everlastingness …” . (There are many differences between this choral version and the version for solo soprano, but for an idea of the style and content listen to Then I Became for solo soprano on the Listen page of this website.)
Trumpet Descant for the Christmas carol ‘Ding Dong Merrily On High’
– see SOLO INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
Choral works in progress
The following works have had substantial sections written but are not yet completed. If you are interested in performing or commissioning the completion of any of these works, please CONTACT me.
Musicks Empire
for solo soprano, SSATB choir and orchestra (English text: Andrew Marvell) (6 movements, total duration approx. 25’) – CONTACT
1st & 6th movements:
4th movement:
5th movement:
A cantata in an idiosyncratic style on the subject of music itself. “First was the World as one great Cymbal made, / Where Jarring Windes to infant Nature plaid. / All Musick was a solitary sound, / To hollow Rocks and murm’ring Fountains bound. …”.
Musick, the Mosaique of the Air (see above) is the fifth movement and can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website and on YouTube, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Music, Spotify, Deezer, QQ Music, Kuwo and CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Revelations
for soloists, SSATB choir and orchestra (Latin text: Revelation ch.4) (7 movements, approx. 50’) – CONTACT
1st movement:
5th movement:
A large scale choral and orchestral work setting the strange, visionary text of Revelation chapter 4: “… behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter…”
The first movement, In diebus illis, and fifth, Et requiem non habebant (see CHORAL MUSIC, above), have been completed and can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website. They are also available on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
The River
for SATB choir and orchestra (English text: Psalm 65) (approx. 25 – 30’) – CONTACT
The sombre opening of this piece leads via stillness to a jubilant conclusion, its text full of exuberant nature imagery: “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come … / Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.”
The opening 4’30 of The River can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
(Full lyrics for my choral works (with translations) can be found here: Lyrics of Songs and Choral Music.)