The Rumor of a Secret King (choir)

Choir/4'/Difficulty - Really hard/2017

for 8-part choir

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The BBC Singers
conducted by Eric Whitacre

This piece is about power in flux. The skittering rush of a rumor through a crowd is rendered in nonsense syllables; a long, lyrical line is overlaid, using text that evokes Handel’s “Zadok the Priest”, the traditional coronation hymn, replacing the jubilation of Handel’s anthem with ambivalence and anxiety. A new world is a promise and a threat: What will become of us?

Program note by A. E. Jaques
Please credit A. E. Jaques when reproducing or excerpting this program note

poetry by A.E. Jaques

And all the people will
Will all the people
Rejoice? Rejoice!
A new king comes
God save the king
The kingdom
His will be done
His will will be done
Alleluia?
Alleluia

Premiered

July 7, 2017

BBC Singers
conducted by Eric Whitacre

Commissioned by

BBC Singers