David's Grief by Tristan Ng | Score Follower

Performed by the ORA singers, conducted by Suzy Digby, at the 2023 Three Choirs festival in Gloucester. This piece was shaped by several things: First and foremost was a need to convey the range and depth of David’s emotions. We see his searing grief in sharp dissonance and overwhelming polyphony, and his warm love in bright, lush harmony. I wanted the piece to bring the passion, love and anguish in the original biblical text to life, for an audience to feel as David felt after the death of his close friend Jonathan. Another influence was the need to respect the original piece, and Weelke’s unique and distinctive writing style. As such, I’ve incorporated some of its most prominent features into my work, particularly the staggered entries-which I’ve used in the opening, with moving inner voices shifting the harmony around static voices, and the switching between complex polyphony and thick chordal textures. The final and largest influence in this piece was a need to create beauty, and I believe that all the music I write should contain some beauty. As such, I've drawn from the jazz idiom, using chromaticism, extended chords and colourful, shifting harmony, not only to craft sharper, more nuanced expression, and to create beauty. I hope it's to your liking.