Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Jac van Steen, Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, March 2014

Artefacts (excerpt)

An a capalla arrangement of the popular worship song 'In Christ Alone'

In Christ Alone - an a capella arrangment

Secreta Desolación (2012) - OBC, Diego Matheuz

Fragments d'Ausiàs March (2016)
for five male voices and ensemble

[excerpt from the 4th movement, mm. 245/285]

Solistes XXI (Rachid Safir)
Ensemble Intercontemporain 
Matthias Pintscher

Live recording (January 21, 2017: Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie 2, salle de concerts, Paris)

Fragments d'Ausiàs March (2016) [SAMPLE, 4th mov.]

Performed at National Museum Wales, Cardiff, 3 March 2017
Louise Chartron, violin
Julia Howell, viola
Elin Hâf Taylor, cello

‘And am I born to die?’ is based upon the Sacred Harp hymn of the same name, with words by Charles Wesley and tune accredited to Ananias Davisson. The Sacred Harp tradition is a very old one in the Southern United States, preserving very distinctive tendencies of harmony, ornamentation, and vocal style. It is an experiential tradition, with the music often sung in long, high-intensity sessions as a feat of devotional endurance, where the singing of the music itself, and the communal experience thereof, becomes an expression of faith and emotion rather than functioning as an addition to worship. This particular song speaks of the struggle to accept without fear the inevitability of mortality, and an apocalyptic vision of judgment in the afterlife. My piece is a play of eerie echoes and shadows, with the interruption of the trumpet blasts signaling a reckoning.

And am I born to die?

Mezzo-soprano and electronics. Text is an anonymous Old English poem. Performed by Lucie Louvrier. 

Translation:
It is as though someone gave a present to my people;
they want to oppress him if he comes with a troop,
We are apart.
Wolf is on an island, I on another.
That island is secure, surrounded by marshland.
There are cruel men on the island.
They want to oppress him if he comes with a troop.
We are apart.
I endured far-wandering hopes of my Wolf;
when it was rainy weather and I sat, mournful, 
then the one bold in battle laid his arms around me,
there was joy to me in that, but it was also hateful.
Wolf, my Wolf, my hopes of you caused me to fall sick,
your infrequent visits, a mourning spirit, not at all lack of food.
Do you hear, Eadwacer? Wolf carries our wretched whelp to the wood.
People easily may separate that which was never joined,
our song together.


We Are Apart; Our Song Together

string quartet arrangements of Christmas tunes. Played by the Ligeti Quartet

Ligeti Quartet

Violin 1: Mandhira de Saram
Violin 2: Patrick Dawkins
Viola: Richard Jones
Cello: Valerie Welbanks

composer: Tom Green

recorded at Goldsmiths Music Studios

engineer: Nick Powell
mixed by Tom Green and Paul Bishop

scores available from tomgreencomposer.com

5. Silent Mirror

4. Arguments Against Feudalism

3. Lulley Lullay

2. The Holly And The Ivy

1. The First Nowell

Edmund Hunt is a British composer. His work has been played in the UK and abroad by ensembles including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Psappha, The Royal Northern Sinfonia, Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra, CHROMA, BCMG, ICARUS Vocal Ensemble, The Curious Chamber Players and CoMA (Contemporary Music for All). 

Edmund has an MA from the University of Cambridge and an MMus from Newcastle University. He completed a PhD in musical composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he studied with Edwin Roxburgh, Richard Causton and Simon Hall.

Much of Edmund’s music is inspired by the early medieval literature of northern Europe, and his PhD explored this area through the creation of vocal, instrumental and electronic works.

We Are Apart; Our Song Together

Edmund_Hunt

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