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Firstly, it has been awhile. I have to say I've missed the companionship, the camaraderie this site offered, and I've thought of many of you often over the past couple of years. So many times my hand has lingered over the ENTER key after I'd typed in this website's address — only to close my browser with a sad sigh. I can't tell you why because I don't understand it myself. Poignant memories of better days, perhaps? I can say these past 2 years have been difficult for me (and loads of others, I'm sure). The pandemic, the lockdown, the isolation... it took a pretty heavy toll on my mental health. My muse has been utterly silent. Utterly silent. Not a single note written or even hummed. I began to wonder if my days as a composer had ended for good. Thankfully — as you obviously guessed — that turned out not to be the case, and I finally broke my composing fast with this choral piece of a poem by Tolkien. I can slowly feel the music begin to stir inside me once more. Anyway, enough about my sad, sorry life. I hope this piece brightens your day and lifts your spirits. I'm rusty and out of practice, but I cannot tell you how good it feels to stretch these old composing muscles again! The recording is a bit pitchy in places (I had to perform all of the parts myself); hopefully it won't damage your listening experience too much. Thank you all in advance for your time. If you have questions about the harmonies and scales employed here, all you need do is ask. (In fact, I don't even care if you listen. Just a comment from you telling me how life's been over the past 2 years would be simply amazing!) Ah, it feels good to be back, guys! Very good, indeed.

I love this piece ...! Sometimes it seems you wrote two different pieces at the same time, that fit together so well. How did you do it?

Hi Tonskald, Ah! That is a rather nuanced point! Well spotted! I did it that way because of the measure immediately following that (measure 27). The sopranos response hits an Eb. It's a completely doable note for an alto, but sopranos won't have to think twice about it, and in an un-auditioned church choir are likely to have a nicer tone quality. 🙂. If it makes sense for the sopranos to take measure 27, then it's better for the altos to have the iteration preceding it, and the sopranos the one at the very beginning. As an added bonus, measure 24, with the Db to F run, would cross the vocal break between chest and head voice for many altos, potentially making it difficult to sing with agility at this speed. It's not that you can't do it, but it feels a little awkward. Voices vary, but it is more likely to all sit comfortably in the chest voice for sopranos, potentially giving a cleaner run with no extra rehearsal time or effort. Thank you for your comments!

Thanks for introducing me to the website, Peter! @Tónskáld sure! I will upload the pdf in a google drive! Will put the link here once I'm done! 😄 also thanks for listening!!

Hi, Maggie. This is a lovely piece that quite captures the emotion of the text, in my opinion. I particularly enjoyed the fact that "God so loved the world" was couched in a minor modality, as if to emphasize the suffering such a thing would bring about. The lighthearted middle section was a welcome relief to the solemnity, although I was glad to return to the F minor section. I think solo cello is an excellent choice for this piece, as it is itself an emotive instrument. From what I can tell, what you have written for it is quite playable, nor does it clash or overbear the singers' parts. I have one question about the vocal parts, though. You have the sops sing this: And then the altos sing the same thing, only a 5th higher. It might be my OCD talking, but had you considered swapping that? In other words, let the altos open (or maybe even the baritone) with the D-flat phrase, and have the sops repeat it in A-flat (which the altos currently sing). Minor thing, I know, and probably not worth pointing out. I really enjoyed this piece, as I do all of your choral works. Thank you for sharing!

I like this piece. Nice flavor (impressionism) and changes, as in 0:50. Good use of the piano, very idiomatic

Oh it sounds very peaceful indeed! Nothing like a real performer, eh? I like the first part (up to ~3:00) but you've definitely won me with what came next. Would you mind sharing the score? I'd really like to read it while watching the video, it's just something I like to do. The key transitions and transition "B->A" are very well conducted. I'm just listening to it again, the pianist nails it, very true. Thank you so much for sharing this, gonna share it with my friends. Kind regards ^^!

Very beautiful, bittersweet and nostalgic piece with incredible harmonies! Great touch by the pianist! Hope to hear more