'BETWEEN SEA and sky'

tHREE bYZANTINE hYMNS

In 2016 Cantata Dramatica commissioned Solfa Carlile to  compose choral settings of three highly atmospheric Greek poems dating from the fourth to the sixth century AD.  The poems were translated by Nick Pitts-Tucker who chose to interleave them with texts from early Greek hymns, adding an additional challenge to composer and singers alike.

The three poems are linked by numerous references to the sea, ranging from the depiction of the welcome lights of Hagia Sophia guiding sailors safely home to the savage waves and raging seas described in the other two poems, one of which includes a graphic depiction of a storm.

The premiere of this work was given in Bristol in November 2018, by Exultate Singers under their conductor David Ogden. A second performance followed at St Stephen Walbrook, City of London, in January 2019