Pride Motets (2023)
Notes
For choir (SATB divisi.) and piano
Composed for the Choir of Somerville College Oxford
First performance by Somerville Choir at Somerville College Chapel, June 4 2023
Commissioned by Somerville College, Oxford
Texts: Richard Barnfield, Jay Hulme, E.E. Cummings
Duration: 5 minutes
Pride Motets
i - my love
ii - this heart
iii - for him
My Pride Motets emerged from a personal and introspective journey, initiated by a commission for a 'Pride' contemplation for the Choir of Somerville College, Oxford. Drawing from a collection of poems by queer writers, the motets explore the experiences of queer men in love. The first movement delves into the isolation frequently encountered within the queer community, presenting an image of pain and longing. In contrast, the second movement serves as a space of soothing and healing, before the pinnacle of the cycle for him, which embraces hope, joy and resilience. The Motets paint a nuanced representation of a personal queer experience.
Pride Motets
i - my love
ii - this heart
iii - for him
i. my love
Sonnet 16
Long have I longed to see my love again,
Still have I wished, but never could obtain it;
Rather than all the world (if I might gain it)
Would I desire my love’s sweet precious gain.
Yet in my soul I see him every day,
See him, and see his still stern countenance,
But (ah) what is of long continuance,
Where majesty and beauty bears the sway?
Sometimes, when I imagine that I see him,
(As love is full of foolish fantasies)
Weening to kiss his lips, as my love’s fees,
I feele but air: nothing but air to be him.
Thus with Ixion, kiss I clouds in vain:
Thus with Ixion, feele I endless pain.
Richard Barnfield
ii. this heart
from Jesus at the Gay Bar
my beautiful child
there is nothing in this heart of yours
that ever needs to be healed.
Jay Hulme
iii. for him
i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
E.E. Cummings
