Songs of the North (2026)

SSATB and piano
Text: John Challis (North); Catherine Ayres (Notes made on Hadrian’s Wall); Ian Stuart (Journey North) These three poems can be found on the Poem of the North website:
https://poemofthenorth.co.uk/

Duration: 12 minutes
Commissioned by Newcastle Bach Choir to celebrate Eric Cross’s 40th anniversary as conductor

I North
II Notes made on Hadrian’s Wall
III Journey North

Songs of the North sets three texts from ‘Poem of the North’, a poetic collaboration celebrating 50 years of the Northern Poetry Library. As part of the project, poems were written with a new ‘821’ form: a structure characterized by 11-line, three-stanza poems that employ the ‘volta’ concept to subtly interconnect series of stanzas. The work’s celebration of Northern English writing begins with ‘North’, a flowing and forward-moving movement that reflects the poet’s consideration of north as ‘a progressive direction’. The second movement, ‘Notes made on Hadrian’s Wall’, has a folk-like simplicity and integrates the folk song ‘Waters of Tyne’ into the texture. Additionally, the poem’s references to the Sycamore Gap tree are given greater poignance following its illegal felling in 2023. The final movement, ‘Journey North’, has a rhythmic drive that evokes an exciting train journey through a fast-changing landscape.