DAWN: George W. Parris
Selwyn College Chapel Choir, Cambridge
(prepared by Sarah MacDonald)
Michael Bawtree · conductor
Music of Our Time (JAM's opening season concert)
20 March 2024, 7:30pm
St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London
www.jamconcert.org
In Dawn I wanted to construct an atmosphere of ambiguity where text and melody drift in and out of focus. The piece is a very personal one for me as it draws on my experiences in discovering and embracing my queer identity. Uncertainty and obscurity in regard to ‘fitting in’ underpinned much of my growing up and it was certain key moments where the noise dissolved into clarity that helped me find my place. Ella Higginson’s poem seemed a beautiful metaphor for this with the final stanza’s ‘crimson shaft of dawn’ arriving to burn away the cobwebs of morning; the overlapping sounds of the dawn settling into a sinking beam of light.
Dawn
The soft-toned clock upon the stair chimed three-

Too sweet for sleep, too early yet to rise.

In restful peace I lay with half-closed eyes,
Watching the tender hours go dreamily;
The tide was flowing in; I heard the sea

Shivering along the sands; while yet the skies

Were dim, uncertain, as the light that lies
Beneath the fretwork of some wild-rose tree
Within the thicket gray. The chanticleer

Sent drowsy calls across the slumbrous air;

In solemn silence sweet it was to hear
My own heart beat . . . Then broad and deep and fair-

Trembling in its new birth from heaven’s womb-

One crimson shaft of dawn sank thro’ my room.
by Ella Higginson
George W. Parris is a London-based composer with a particular interest in choral music and theatre. His work has been performed across the country at prestigious festivals such as JAM on the Marsh, The Leeds Lieder Festival and Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, and by a variety of ensembles including Inchant Chamber Choir, VOCES8 and the VOCES8 scholars.
George’s style combines his love for early 20th century French Impressionism with influences from both the traditional and contemporary worlds of choral music to create a sound and style of composition with story-telling at its heart. George studied music as an undergraduate at the University of Manchester and is currently enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music, studying for a masters degree in composition.
www.georgeparris.co.uk
Film by Gareth Kay
www.garethkay.co