COMPOSER’S NOTE

COMPOSER’S NOTE

Anthem for Doomed Youth originally appeared as part of the third movement of The Great War Symphony which I wrote to commemorate the centenary of the First World War in 2018.  The well-known words by Wilfred Owen are sung against an instrumental elegy.  For this reason, the accompaniment should make perfect sense in itself with the frequently syncopated, broken choral parts suggesting a sense of grief – even of weeping.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

Christian Soldiers originally appeared as part of the first movement of The Great War Symphony which I wrote to commemorate the centenary of the First World War 2018.  The chordal, prayerful style of the accompaniment makes this piece fit perfectly into acts of remembrance, funerals and any other occasion which calls for peace and reflection.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

“Superbly judged and structured, with rhythms that reflect the ebb and flow of the words and their mood.”
Church Times

Edith Cavell was a British nurse celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the First World War, for which she was arrested.

Eventide is the name of the tune of the well-known hymn Abide with Me which was recited by Edith Cavell and an Anglican Chaplain the night before her execution. The hymn is used as a cantus firmus throughout the work sung by a semi-chorus of unbroken voices.  A soprano soloist takes on the role of Edith herself singing words from her letters, The Book of Common Prayer and Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ.  The SATB chorus provides a key role, mirroring Edith’s thoughts and bringing the work to moments of intense climax.

This work was commissioned by the Sheringham & Cromer Choral Society and premiered in Norwich Cathedral in July 2014.  The reduced version was premiered a year later in St Clement Danes, London by the Addison Singers, Tiffin Boys’ Choir and Brandenburg Sinfonia.

Listen here to Patrick talking on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune about Eventide.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

Gallipoli originally appeared as part of the second movement of The Great War Symphony which I wrote to commemorate the centenary of the First World War 2018.  The moving words of Sydney Bolitho which are well-known in Australia deserve wider recognition and this setting seeks to show them in a majestic, optimistic light.  In performance, it is important to convey a sense of sorrow but also a feeling of strength and courage.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

I was commissioned to write this anthem for tenor soloist, choir and orchestra as the English team’s anthem for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.  The words by my brother Andrew and the stirring melody combine to create a patriotic piece designed to inspire the English team and their supporters.  The main idea was to encapsulate the “traditions and heartlands of rugby league in this country as well as evoking the heroism and commitment of international teams competing on the world sporting stage”.

Written for tenor Jonathan Ansell, the piece premiered at rugby league’s Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, 30 August 2008 and went on to be performed live before England’s World Cup matches in Australia.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

“I can well imagine the Lazarus Requiem becoming popular with choral societies and with their audiences for it is an attractive, sincere and thoughtful piece.” 
– MusicWeb International

“What the Lazarus Requiem does – and to striking effect – is bring into sharp relief Hawes’s unerring gift for evocative orchestral texture and beautiful melodic line”
– Choir & Organ

In the Lazarus Requiem, the mystery of life and death, the pain of grief and the hope of a risen life are held in taut symmetry. The experience of death and dying, the challenge of faith and the promise of hope are all present. These are words and music for any person who has wondered in the face of death. The work intersperses the traditional Latin text sung by the choir with an account in English about the raising of Lazarus sung by the semi-chorus and soloists.

The work begins with an orchestral Elegy for Lazarus which depicts the dying man and sets the scene for the first tableau. The sound worlds of the tableaux and the Latin movements are quite different.  The Requiem Aeternam, Kyrie, Sanctus etc. use the full resources of both choir and orchestra whereas the tableaux, as well as using semi-chorus, are characterised by muted strings, harp and baritone saxophone. Christ’s solos see the addition of the four horns. There are moments when the two sound worlds become superimposed.  Most notably, the Benedictus takes the form of a soprano solo sung by Mary and, at the climax of the miracle when Christ exclaims, “Unbind him!  Loose him!  Let him go!” the mutes are removed from the strings, and the full orchestra interject with the concluding section of this tableau.  The final movement of the work is the Lux Aeterna, for choir and orchestra, together with the two female soloists.

In the Lazarus Requiem the text, with the exception of one original poem, is from the New Testament. In this way, the liturgical text and the scripture throw light upon one another and so illuminate the hearts and minds of all those who perform and listen in a ‘double light’. It is possible both to extract the Latin texts and use them as a liturgical setting, or to extract the narrative of the Gospel and perform a dramatic cantata. Many of the ‘movements’ also stand alone for concert or liturgical performance.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

Love’s Promise is the opening piece from the collection Song of Songs and depicts the yearning of the lover for her beloved and the hope of love.

The collection of love poetry which forms the Old Testament’s Song of Songs has always presented a conundrum to scholars.  The orthodox understanding of its presence in the Canon of Scripture was the widespread use in the Prophets of the concept of God as the husband of Israel.  For the Christian mystical tradition, the dialogue between the lover and the beloved gave voice to the relationship of the soul to Christ.  Bernard of Clairvaux preached over fifty sermons on them!  Jesus called himself ‘the Bridegroom’ giving authority to this reading.  Some have seen Mary the Mother of Jesus in the references to the ‘room where my mother conceived me’.

The relationship of romantic and erotic love to spirituality is the subject of the Song of Songs collection.  They express desire, hope, confusion and joy; the whole range of emotions experienced by the lover – but there is no final consummation.  The metaphors of vine, wine, garden and fountain are ones that prefigure the language of Christian spirituality.  They provide Christian spirituality with a language of love that is both sensual and spiritual, of earth and of heaven.  The text for these songs is faithful to the text of the Bible but poetic licence has provided a narrative structure and the development of some metaphors.  The cry of the lover to the beloved, the heightening of the senses through sumptuous smells and tastes, and the imagery of fire provide a rich basis for a certain type of music – music born out of our time, yes, but which also draws upon the timelessness of tonality, consonance and balance.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

I had always wanted to do an arrangement of the well-known folk song O Waly Waly dealing with the ups and downs (mostly the downs) of love.  ‘Waly’ is a dialect word for woe or grief.  The baritone solo is supported by choir, orchestra, piano, marimbas and harp.

O Waly Waly appeared on my debut album Blue in Blue.

COMPOSER’S NOTE

In 2012 I was very pleased to be asked by Decca Records to write a whole album on the theme of angels.  The resulting album – Angel – recorded with the Choir of New College Oxford and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, went straight in at Number One in the UK classical charts.

Countless people believe they have a guardian angel and the church observes The Feast of the Guardian Angels on 2nd October each year.  Prayer to a Guardian Angel, with text by my brother Andrew, was the first piece on the album and reflects the emotions and thoughts of a human soul as it prays to a guardian angel for comfort and healing.

I was then thrilled to be approached by the amazing Voces8 choir to produce a choral & cello version which featured on their No.1-selling album Lux.

Another version for SSAATTBarB and harp is also available.