Excerpt times in full recording:
4’30” – 5’45”
7’30” – 8’45”
æfensceop
Music by Lillie Harris. Anglo-Saxon text (The Exeter Book: Riddle 8)
Commissioned by Covent Garden Chorus (director: Tori Longdon). Supported by a Michael John Trotta Choral Grant.
Premiere: June 2024, by Covent Garden Chorus with Christian Forshaw (alto saxophone)
Composer’s note
The old-world beauty of Anglo-Saxon Old English, paired with the text’s mysterious nature as a riddle, forms the heart of æfensceop. I wanted it to evoke ancient magic: for the choir to cast a spell that brings forth a spirit, and let it dance again; that role is portrayed primarily by the saxophone.
With the answer to the riddle being (spoiler incoming) the nightingale – the one who sings (“galan”) in the night; hence the title “æfensceop”, meaning “evening-singer” – musical phrases evocative of birdsong are prominent throughout. Although, I have taken creative license here: the bold, repetitive, oscillating fourth is actually the springtime call of the great tit! But those charming alarm-like fellows sing too loudly to avoid absorbing the idea.
Both the first and final movements close with an invitation for the audience to solve the riddle: Saga hwæt ic hatte (Say what I am called).
Original Anglo-Saxon Text
Ic þurh muþ sprece mongum reordum,
wrencum singe, wrixle geneahhe
heafodwoþe, hlude cirme,
healde mine wisan, hleoþre ne miþe,
eald æfensceop, eorlum bringe
blisse in burgum, þonne ic bugendre
stefne styrme; stille on wicum
sittað nigende. Saga hwæt ic hatte,
þe swa scirenige sceawendwisan
hlude onhyrge, hæleþum bodige
wilcumena fela woþe minre.
Modern Translation
I speak through my mouth with many voices,
Singing with modulations, changing sounds
using my head-voice; I call loudly,
keep to my ways, my voice unstifled.
An old evening-singer, I bring
bliss to cities when I bellow
my great, varying noise; still in their homes,
they sit in silence. Say what I am called,
who, like an actress, loudly imitates
the entertainer’s song, proclaiming
many welcome things with my voice.