Chris H #ChoirsForClimateIf you've been following #ChoirsForClimate you might have noticed I've written a fair few pieces for it - here they all are in one place! https://hutchingsmusic.co.uk/choirs-for-climate/ They're all released free under #CreativeCommons licenses - free to download and perform, ideally to raise funds or awareness, or campaign, for climate/ecological causes. More about each of them below: 🧵Please boost if you know anyone interested in #choir / #choral music, #singing, #conducting, etc. , or send the link directly to them.
Starting with the easiest to learn: "Animals" (upper voices and piano – mostly unison, short optional 2-part section) is a song about #biodiversity and how humans are destroying it, but with a hopeful ending. Would suit children's choirs ages 8+, I think. Words by @brianbilston . Read more about the piece and download the score at https://choirsforclimate.com/2022/10/26/animals/ - I've just uploaded a recording from our June concert to SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/hutchingsmusic/animals-1 #animals #nature #ecocide #choir #NewMusic
"Why We Sing" (flexible 2-part choir and piano) might be my favourite piece I've written. It explains why we think singing can change the world. The third verse can be rewritten to suit whatever cause you are passionate about - versions about #singing and about #ecocide available. Suitable for all age groups/abilities. More info at https://choirsforclimate.com/2022/04/14/why-we-sing/ - includes full score and a video from our March 2023 concert. #ChoirsForClimate
Here's the video of our performance in March 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ABnYVTNQs
"Just one voice can start the singing,
Stories grow with every word,
No-one is too small to matter:
Raise your voice, you will be heard.
So every day, we make a small advance,
and the snowflakes build to make an avalanche…"
"Just one voice can start the singing,
Stories grow with every word,
No-one is too small to matter:
Raise your voice, you will be heard.
So every day, we make a small advance,
and the snowflakes build to make an avalanche…"
Why We Sing #ChoirsForClimate
"If The World Were Ours" is a new piece available for SABar, SSA, ATB or TBarB in various transpositions. Easy block harmonies. https://choirsforclimate.com/2023/07/22/if-the-world-were-ours/ About forward planning and our lack of it, but carrying a message of hope. Newly premiered at our June 2023 concert. Listen at https://soundcloud.com/hutchingsmusic/if-the-world-were-ours
Next on the list is "The Rules" https://choirsforclimate.com/2022/04/15/the-rules/ - an angry rant against existing laws which not only protect companies that harm the environment, but sometimes even penalise them if they try to reduce damage. We need to change these rules and introduce #EcocideLaw. That's why I wrote this piece for #ChoirsForEcocideLaw http://stopecocide.earth/choirs . It's a whole concert's worth of music that you can download and perform to campaign for an ecocide law. If you direct a choir, check it out!
"The Rules" is for flexible 2-part choir and piano - it could be performed by a tenor-bass choir, a soprano-alto choir, or SATB group with ST on the top part in octaves and AB on the bottom part in octaves. Quite dark and angry, maybe not suitable for primary school singers. Video from March 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhuk9j8pvrs
The Rules - Chris Hutchings #ChoirsForClimate
"Send Lazarus" (SATB, no divisi) is the first piece I wrote for #ChoirsForClimate - https://choirsforclimate.com/2020/10/10/send-lazarus/ - with words by David Ervin, a climate-change retelling of the rich and poor man from the Gospel of Matthew. David's words written in 2019 predict "pandemics and disease"! It's been performed by several choirs in the USA, and some of the harmonies and idioms will feel familiar to choirs who have sung spirituals. Here's the recording from our March 2023 concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bV6UkiZsJQ&list=PLF4NwU3B2664iT75JIJVTRxasjkkn04J3&index=6
The most recent piece in the series, "rising" has words by Louisiana-based poet
Ariel Francisco from his poem Insomniami, warning of the impacts of climate change on Florida. https://choirsforclimate.com/2023/07/22/rising/ No performances yet (I only finished it 3 weeks ago!) but watch this space...
You can read the full poem at https://poets.org/poem/insomniami and find out more about Ariel and his work at https://arielfrancisco.com .
Ariel Francisco from his poem Insomniami, warning of the impacts of climate change on Florida. https://choirsforclimate.com/2023/07/22/rising/ No performances yet (I only finished it 3 weeks ago!) but watch this space...
You can read the full poem at https://poets.org/poem/insomniami and find out more about Ariel and his work at https://arielfrancisco.com .
I found Ariel's excerpt here very powerful, and I've used the lines to warn both about the dangers of rising waters and the dangers of ignoring a growing movement for change:
"if you listen closely
you can hear
the rising water’s whispers
if you cover your ears
you’ll hear it too"
And finally, "Let Them Not Say" with lyrics by California poet Jane Hirshfield - probably the most successful piece so far, it was recorded by Piedmont Singers virtual choir with a video by Ian Richardson of Equal Tempered Studio (it has over 2700 views!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ss5ugQA5sI Find the poem at https://poets.org/poem/let-them-not-say .
"Let them say, as they must say something:
A kerosene beauty.
It burned.
Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned."
"Let them say, as they must say something:
A kerosene beauty.
It burned.
Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned."
Let Them Not Say
Released on #EarthDay2021 to raise funds for climate causes as part of #ChoirsForClimateYou can donate to climate-related causes by purchasing the audio for ...
Download the score at https://choirsforclimate.com/2020/10/10/let-them-not-say/ - there are two versions of the final page, one written out for a small choir and one more aleatoric for a larger choir (voicing is SSAATTBB, top sopranos go to a repeated high A at the end). It's also been sung by Kantos Choir in Manchester (UK), Ember Choral Arts in NY and NJ, and the choir of St Matthew's Cathedral, Washington DC.
Thank you to anyone who read all of the above, or took the time to listen to any of the music - I hope you enjoyed it if so! Please send these pieces on to anyone you know who might want to sing them - all of them are free to download and use.
Polyrical - music and politicsAll the rules say that it doesn’t really matter if the last tree dies
All the rules say it’s OK to poison rivers if your profits rise
When the fish are dead and the streams won’t flow
The polluters shrug and say well, you know,
It’s within the rules: do they take us all for fools?
When the last drop of water’s gone
and the crops and the harvest fail
who’s to blame?
When the last living tree is felled
And we see that the forest’s gone
Is the axe to blame?
Or the man who wields the axe? Or the man who owns the land?
Or the man who sold the tree? Or the man who bought the logs?
But it’s all within the law
that says it’s okay, profit’s good,
chop the tree, sell the wood,
plough the land, feed the cows,
eat the steak, enjoy it now…
@Polyrical thanks for sharing!