Choir & Orchestra
Below I list a selection of works for choir (professional, amateur or children’s choir) with string or full orchestra.
For a full list of choir and orchestral works please visit:
for SATB chorus and orchestra
Dur. 9’
Commissioned by RTÉ and premiered by the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in the National Concert Hall, 9th January 2015, conducted by Andrew Litton, on the occasion of the choir's 30th Anniversary.
Chorus Master Mark Hindley
Text by Seigfried Sassoon
Everyone Sang (2014)
Everyone Sang is a setting of a Siegfried Sassoon poem written to mark the end of WW1. After a short introduction, the opening line “Everyone suddenly burst out singing;” reflects Sassoon’s joy on hearing soldiers on the battlefield suddenly joined together in joyful singing and the celebratory music symbolises the release that singing brings. The alliteration “Winging wildly across the white” with its syncopation and intertwining lines leads to a slower delicate passage “on - on - and out of sight” accompanied by harp, vibraphone and sustained strings, reflecting the freed birds as they fly away.
The second stanza opens “Everyone’s voice was suddenly lifted;” - voices now sing higher. The sounds of war are gone and their worst thoughts and memories “Drifted away”. The building intensity in this stanza gradually leads of a cry of “O” - unison choir accompanied by full orchestra in a huge emotional release. “and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done” - the experience is profound, moving beyond words.
“Elaine Agnew’s Everyone Sang, a setting of a poem by Siegfried Sassoon, seems to sit well with the choir, a key advantage which allows them to focus on expressing the meaning of the music instead of attempting to sing the unsingable. The performance is excellent from both choir and orchestra, highly polished and without any of the sense of excruciating boredom that both ensembles sometimes approach contemporary music. This may be partly because the work is gratifying to play and sing. The work is a triumph, easily accessible but not ‘dumbed down’, and has a lot of gently beautiful moments”
for unison children’s choir and string orchestra
Dur. 12’
Commissioned and premiered by the Irish Chamber Orchestra with Laurel Hill School Choir in Limerick Concert Hall, 23rd November 2000 under conductor Rachel Worby.
Text by Charlotte Cory from the words of the girls of Mercy Primary, Crumlin Road, Belfast.
Wait and See (2000)
My first task for this commission enabled me to work with the English writer Charlotte Cory with whom I had earlier collaborated on a major BBC Education project involving Mercy Primary in Belfast. During Charlotte’s writing workshops the girls explored ideas of memory and time and a text was created. For Wait and See I specifically wanted a text created by children so Charlotte complied a second text from their unused material. Consisting of 3 sections, the first recalls early photographs and memories as the music entices the listener into the children’s intimate thoughts bringing excitement and joy as they recollect unforgettable times. The central section concerns growing up, now thinking ahead to the future and the final section reflects the opening - in the final few seconds the listener is drawn in as the choir reflects: ‘Look - see there - that’s me’.
With the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Wait and See toured to Roundstone (with Headford School choir, Co. Galway) and Derry (with City of Derry Youth Choir) and featured at the RTÉ 2010 Horizons Series by National Symphony Orchestra and Cór na nÓg in the National Concert Hall. A version for choir and string quintet was premiered at the Boyle Festival on 1st August 2001 with the Boyle Convent of Mercy NS Choir and members of the ICO. On 25th September 2016 it was performed by Cór na nÓg with the Contempo Quartet as part of Composing the Island Festival and again on 3rd March 2019 in the National Concert Hall as part of New Music Dublin.
Wait and See (extract)
This is a photograph, what do you see
Memories are made of this
And the memories are me.
I remember, I remember, I remember when
This photograph was taken
And I was only three
I was four, and I was five
And I was six, or seven
Look at the picture closely
Look at my memory.
Look at the picture closely
What you see is me…
“The third of this year’s RTÉ Horizons concerts generated a memorably bright and upbeat atmosphere. The selection of contemporary works by featured composer Elaine Agnew took in some challenging enough listening but what made it especially engaging was the range of colour and the zestful delivery … Owing its origins to an educational project with Charlotte Cory at Mercy Primary School, Belfast, the pervasively diatonic Wait and See proved a tour de force of memorisation and sustained accuracy for the buoyant young voices of RTÉ Cór na nÓg.”
for unison choir (optional 2nd part), SATB chorus and orchestra (strings, harp, percussion)
Dur. 4’30”
Commissioned by Arts Care and the Ulster Orchestra.
Text by John Toal based on reflections gathered during the Covid-19 Pandemic from patients, NHS staff, key workers, families and Arts Care artists.
You can link here to the Educator page for full information and a video of Remarkable.