Grace spoke with Choir & Organ’s Matthew Power in an interview, which is available to read in full here, and includes some descriptions of the new work;
For her New Music piece, we gave Mason the remit of writing something suitable for Advent. This setting of O Sapientia sets the Latin text of this great ‘O’ antiphon (O Wisdom). ‘Talking to Joe [Fort] about it, he suggested the antiphons. Also, I love them in both Latin and English and I’d love to set some more. They are quite direct and you can thread the words on top of each other in ways that always seem to make sense. When you read the text, it really feels as if the words want to be sung.’
Although there is plenty of divisi, parts are often sustained and material repeated, so it’s likely to be less challenging than it first appears on paper. There are judiciously sparing choral effects too: whispering, freely repeated sung phrases, humming and mirroring vowel sounds in the solo line, creating something like an echo chamber. ‘I wanted it to have a sense of freedom, both for listeners and singers. The words “O Sapientia” are an expression which I wanted to [emerge from] the texture. It definitely has modal inflections and it’s quite accessible tonally. The piece is built on texture, starting with an atmospheric, static soundworld. Then these “O Sapientia” [phrases] break through with a kind of foreshadowing. Later, the lower voices carry the main texture and the upper voices have that freedom, before the piece returns to the stasis of its beginning.’
Each year the Choir & Organ Magazine specially commissions a series of pieces for choir or organ written by some of the most talented young composers around as part of their New Music series. The 2023 series is held in partnership with the Choir of King’s College London and supported by PRS for Music. The November/December issue is out now and includes a new work by Grace-Evangeline Mason titled ‘O Sapientia' commissioned for Advent.
The piece will be sung during King's College London's annual Advent Carol Services by the Choir of King’s College London under Joseph Fort, which take place this year on Wednesday 6, Thursday 7, and Friday 8 December. You can book tickets for Wednesday's service here; please see here for Thursday and here for Friday. Tickets are free, but must be booked online in advance. Wednesday’s service will also be livestreamed online via the Choir’s YouTube channel, which is another way of joining in this special occasion.
The score for O Sapientia, commissioned by Choir & Organ in partnership with the Choir of King’s College London and supported by PRS for Music, is available for free download here until 30 April 2024. The piece is published at Boosey.com
