Programme Note:

O Sea! was initially inspired by the folk songs that emerged from the coastal regions from

around Britain. This was brought about through attending a creative retreat in Aldeburgh, the

home of Benjamin Britten, who was also deeply influenced by folk song. Whilst walking along

the coast line of Aldeburgh, I was searching for a text that captured the nature and folk-like

aspects that can be found in instrumental music. This lead to me being drawn to a poem by

Alfred Tennyson, which was depicts the crashing of the waves through the repetitive ‘Break,

Break, Break’ stanza. This text, combined with the creative environment I found myself immersed

in gave me the creative impetus to compose this folk-dance for solo choir.

While the text is concerned about themes of nature, crashing of the waves, and the ebb and flow

of the tide, this piece is not a soundscape that wishes to evoke the sounds of nature. Rather, I

wanted to explore the percussive and impactful sound that a choir can create, imitating the

waves against a coastline in a metaphorical sense. In essence, O Sea! is a fast-paced, dramatic

composition that creates sudden contrasts and textural juxtapositions to create tension and

drama