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• Genre: Vocal & Choral
• Date of Composition: 1997
• Commission information: Association of British Choral Directors - annual conference, Sunderland University, 1997
• Instrumentation: SATB + piano duet/percussion (optional) or SATB + organ/percussion (optional)
• Piece Duration: 6
• Publisher: Novello

A Welcome Ode was commissioned by the Association of British Choral Directors for their 1997 conference in Sunderland. It was given a workshop performance on that occasion by the Delegate Choir, conducted by Simon Halsey.

The genesis of the work came from a commission which I undertook for the official opening of the Bridgewater Hall in December 1996 - on that occasion a short piece entitled Welcome for the Manchester Boys Choir, with organ, brass and percussion. This new and enlarged version is scored for mixed choir, piano duet and percussion and is a short anthem for which I have written my own text.

In some ways the anthem harks back to the 17th century models of Purcell, but otherwise is quite contemporary in its approach. It opens with arpeggio figures on the piano and long melodic lines for female voices. Gradually the other voices enter and the music transforms into a fast and rhythmic middle section to the words 'with singing and dancing', and is exuberant in nature. Eventually the music returns to the opening but this time it leads to an exultant and climactic coda.

Edward Gregson 1998

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