A CAPELLA ANTHEMS

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Text: Jamila Gavin

SATB 

Duration 3 mins

Sung here by Sonoro

Text: Eugene Field
SSA
Duration 10 mins

The Death of Robin Hood composed by Russell Hepplewhite performed live in London by the Trinity Boys Choir conducted by David Swinson with Rebecca Hepplewhite (cello)

Commissioned by Trinity Boys Choir
First Performance: St Mary-at-Hill Church London (March 2015)

Aren’t all children (and many adults) fascinated  by Robin Hood? The myth, the folklore and  of course the moral dilemma he poses as to  whether it is ever right to steal from the rich  to give to the poor. For all these reasons I had  always wanted to compose a piece about him,  and so when Trinity Boys Choir commissioned  a new work from me in 2013, I found the ideal  text by Eugene Field. The language of the poem  is wonderfully accessible to young singers, and  although it is a sad text, the words are actually  as much about friendship and the beauty and  power of the natural world as they are about  the final moments of Robin Hood.  For my setting the choir divides into three  vocal lines and is accompanied by a solo cello.  Young voices are the purest of all, and in this  work I wanted to showcase their clarity and  natural transparency. The singers narrate the  scene, while the cello both supports and adds  further commentary between certain lines and  verses. Some of the melodic writing is angular  and jagged, to reflect the tension and the  heightened emotional state being described. I  had even imagined the sound of the cello as  being like a ghostly echo of the voice of Robin  Hood himself. For some of the more dramatic  images that drive the poem forward – the bow  and arrow, for example – the choir combine  and punch out the words in rhythmic unison.  In contrast, they weave around each other  in polyphony when singing about the natural  world – the babbling brook, the birds singing  and the wild flowers of the forest. Towards  the end of the poem, Robin Hood is placed  in a marble vault in the forest and the choir  eventually fall silent. A solo singer concludes  the tale, and then with just one final plucked  note from the cello the piece disappears into  silence and the listener is left to contemplate  all that has just been told. 

© Russell Hepplewhite 

Text: Responsory for Mattins on Christmas Day 

SSAATTBB

Duration 4 mins 

Sung by St Cyprian's Singers & conducted by Julian Collings 

Commissioned by the St Cyprian's Singers London 

First Performance: St Mary-at-Hill Church London (March 2015)       

Published by Banks Music Publications