Par GILL JOANNA. This work is a reflective setting of a popular blessing used regularly in both church services and within choral concerts. Scored for unaccompanied mixed choir, the four parts are often divided to create an eight-part texture. The main melodic interest is carried in the soprano line over a supporting line of six parts provided by the lower voices. Within this short setting a variety of beautiful shifting choral combinations are used: sopranos and tenors against altos and basses, sopranos against altos, tenors and basses and finally alto and tenor lines which lead into the concluding six-part texture ending on a radiant E major chord spread over three octaves. Within these voice combinations we hear a choral texture which spans just the interval of a perfect fifth to the concluding three octave final chord, creating a wide palette of choral sound in a short space of time. Joanna herself says the following about this work: I wrote “The Lord’s Blessing” in 2018. That year, I had been on tour to New York with the London Symphony Chorus and we got the privilege to spend a day with the Westminster Choir College. At the end of the day they sang a blessing over us and I thought it was such a beautiful moment. So as soon as I got home I wrote a short blessing that I imagined would be sung at the end of a concert as a blessing over the audience. I dedicate it to the LSC./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte SATB a Cappella

Psalm 117. Par GILL JOANNA. In this setting of Psalm 117 the composer has created an unusually serene and ethereal setting considering the meaning of the text. Most composers that have written settings of this Psalm 'Praise the Lord, all you Nations' have written music of a robust nature and celebration. However, this setting not only uses Hebrew text but the whole composition with the exception of one bar is dynamically quiet and reflects not so much on praising the Lord, but the love that the Lord shares with us, hence the title of the work (“Unfailing love”). Written for unaccompanied mixed choir, this is a simple four-part composition. The choral texture is largely homophonic with melodic lines gently emerging in the soprano and tenor voices which then sink back into the blanket of choral sound. Generally, the work is tonal but it features harmonic clusters which delays the expectation of the final resolution. This is a work that with rehearsal all choirs will find very rewarding to sing and perform. Joanna herself says the following about this work: “Unfailing Love” was the first choral piece I ever wrote. In my final year of university, I had the privilege of meeting the American composer, Morten Lauridsen and immediately was inspired to write a choral piece. So I sat down to write, and four hours later, “Unfailing Love” was completed./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte SATB a Cappella