Audio
Barukh Atah Adonai Excerpt from 1st movement of a cantata 'The Other Shore' scored for SATB, Children's chorus, soloists & small ensemble. The cantata, written for amateur chorus, is a reflection on themes from the 1938 'Kindertransport' story
Exodus
Mvt 3 from 'The Other Shore'. Excerpt from a live performance of this setting for soprano, mezzo and children's
chorus of a poem by Lotte Kramer. The poem talks of the mothers saying goodbye to their children leaving on the Kindertransport trains as if they
were placing them in baskets like the baby Moses being floated on the Nile - 'an Exodus from death'.
On Another's Sorrow Mvt 6 from the cantata 'The Other Shore'
I have created a chorale-like setting of William Blake's powerful words which are wrapped around a setting of a four-line child's verse found on a piece of paper at Auschwitz: 'I'd like to go away alone...somewhere into the far unknown where no-one kills another'.
High On A Hill An excerpt from my work 'The Mountain'
The text contains a setting for children's choir and soprano of a poem by Tom Wright and captures the feeling of exhilaration you can get when you look at the town below from the top of a hill. The SATB chorus sing the words from Isaiah: 'They are hatching adders' eggs' referring to the frenetic pace of life in the town below.
Arise Shine Out From my work 'The Mountain' - Excerpt from a live performance of the closing section (a setting of texts from the book of Isaiah:
'Look up! Behold from many lands they gather in your sight, your sons and daughters come to you to seek redeeming light. The young shall praise and prophesy, the old shall wake new dreams...'
Sanhedrin 4:9 Excerpt from a live performance of Mvt 4 of 'The Other Shore'
A setting, first in Hebrew and then in English of a verse from the 'Yerushalmi Talmud': 'They who save one life save the world entire'.
The Other Shore
Mvt 5 from 'The Other Shore' cantata. An excerpt from a live performance
Children are now crossing the Channel and sing of their hopes and fears. The soloists sing a setting of words by Karen Gershon; 'Sometimes I feel I am...adrift without identity'
Our Mother The Earth Extracts from the opening section of 'The Mountain' - a cantata based on Native American texts amongst others.
This cantata is scored for soprano solo with satb chorus and children's chorus. Instrumental accompaniment: piano, cello, french horn, oboe, clarinet & two flutes.
The piece was first performed in 1997 by Glossop Choral Society and was given the BT Innovation award for new composition encouraging community participation.
Forest Dance The 1st movement of a cantata in 7 movements - each a setting of a poem on the theme of trees and our relationship with them. Written for SATB choir, children's chorus, sop solo & orchestra
Mvt 4 Oak and Ash and Thorn A rumbustious setting of the Rudyard Kipling poem
Mvt 5 The Naming of Trees A setting for SATB choir, sop solo & orchestra of the poem by Joyce Kilmer with chorus singing the latin classification names of trees in the background!
Mvt 6 'Girl and Tree' A setting of the poem by Carol Ann Duffy
Mvt 2 Trees Are Great 2nd mvt from 'The Trees Alone Remain' - a setting of a Roger McGough poem.
Mvt 3 The Trees 3rd mvt of 'The Trees Alone Remain'
List of Works
This list of works is taken from the records of concert details
listed in our
concerts section . It is not intended to be comprehensive, but serves
as a useful link to recent performances of this composer's work.
Chris O`Hara Biography
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Sheet music by Chris O`Hara