Format : Vocal Score
Music for SATB chorus occupies an important place in Rhian Samuel's catalogue of works from the early carols written in the USA 'Jolly Wat the Shepherd' of 1970 and 'So Long Ago' (1st Prize Greenwich Festival 1979) to her most recent anthems for the Choir of New College Oxford. In her songs vocal chamber music and choral compositions she has explored an impressive range of poetry from anonymous 14th-century Welsh texts and traditional Japanese verse to Emily Dickinson Samuel Beckett and contemporary poets including Anne Stevenson. Samuel's three 'Jacobean Lyrics' of 1979 included a simple canonic account of George Herbert's 'I got me flowers'. Thisnew a cappella setting returns to the poet's sublime devotional verse reflecting the dialogue structure of 'Love Bade Me Welcome' through expressive contrasts of material and vocal ensemble.
