Night Vigil - National Youth Choir (15-18 Years)

• This event takes place at Saffron Hall. Find out more about getting here
• Everyone is welcome to join us for the pre-concert SING! at 2pm before you settle down for the performance at 3pm. See the full event schedule
• For the enjoyment and safety of our young singers, please do not take photos or film during the performance

Music to include...

Omnis una - Urmas Sisask
Urmas was an Estonian composer who was fascinated by our solar system. He even created his own musical 'planetary scale'! This was a collection of five specific musical notes he chose to reflect the movements of the planets. He uses these notes a lot in this song 'Omnis una' which gives it a distinct musical flavour. What mood does this music feel like to you? 

Bogoroditse Devo - Sergei Rachmaninov
This song is a small part of a longer work called the 'All-Night Vigil'. You might be able to guess that this music was created to be sung at night! Specifically, the words are from a Russian Orthadox service that starts around sunset on the day before big celebrations. The words of this specific song are a simple prayer, a Russian version of 'Hail Mary' or 'Ave Maria'.

Il mio piu vago sole - Sulpitia Cesis
This piece was written by an Italian nun and lute player who was alive at the same time as Shakespeare. We don't know all the facts about her life, but our best guess is that she wrote this piece to be sung by other nuns in her convent. It was common for nuns to be skilled musicians at this time. This might explain how they could perform a song like this - where lots of different melodies are overlapping all at once.

One mystery about this piece is that it includes parts for lower voices (sung by tenors and basses in our choir today). How would this work if it was written for the higher voices of nuns? Some music historians have guessed that those parts might have been played by instruments instead of sung. If you could choose any instrument to play one of the choir parts, what instrument would you pick?

The Shower - Edward Elgar
Unlike the last piece, Edward Elgar wrote this song so that everyone in the choir is singing the same words at exactly the same time. Almost like they are singing with one voice! This words are about a shower of rain. Can you hear the short notes sung all together by the choir that sound like droplets of rain?

The Evening Primrose - Benjamin Britten
This song is about a unusual flower that only blooms at night time. The flowers of the evening primrose are closed all day, but as soon as the sun sets, they start to open up for all the insects that are awake at night. The lyrics ask why the flower would bloom at night time when it's too dark to be seen, and wither in the daytime when it's light. If you listen, you might be able to hear the flower close and fade right at the end of the song.

Puñuna - Juan Camilo Stafforini
Since humans have existed, there have always been babies who don't fall asleep no matter how hard their parents try to comfort them. Juan uses the idea of a lullaby to draw connections between modern life and the lives of his ancestors in Argentina. He brings together three sets of words and gives them to three groups in the choir to sing. First you'll hear the Altos singing words of a traditional Mapuche lullaby, then the higher voices of the sopranos singing words of a Qom lullaby. Finally, you'll hear the lowest voices singing in modern-day Spanish. You might be able to hear the rhythmic rocking of the cradle, comforting 'shh's and the insistent repeating of "El niño debe dormir": "the child must sleep".

Good Night, Dear Heart - Dan Forrest 
This short song is about a different kind of 'sleep' - the eternal sleep of death. The words were chosen by American writer Mark Twain for the gravestone of his daughter who died as a young adult. In the poem, Mark wishes for softness and stillness in the place where his daughter is buried. He asks for the grass to rest softly on her, the sun to shine warmly and the wind to blow gently.

El Pescador - José Barros arr. Mario Esteban 
El Pescador or 'The Fisherman' was written by a Colombian composer in 1960s. Since then it's had plenty of popular covers involving everything from big bands to synths. Listen out for the rhythmic changes Mario wrote into his arrangement to reflect the changing life of a fisherman with the changing seasons.

To The Moon - Áine Mallon (world premiere)
Commissioned by National Youth Choir and generously supported by Dorico
You are the only people to EVER hear this piece in a concert. That's right, this piece was written by Áine Mallon for our singers and you're at the very first performance. The lyrics are a conversation - or really more like a Q&A - between someone and the moon. If you could ask the moon a question, what would you ask?

Apple Tree - AURORA arr. Katerina Gimon
If you can believe it, this was originally a pop song from AURORA. Even if you don't recognise her name, you might have heard her on the soundtrack for Frozen 2, Assassin's Creed or Adolescence. The lyrics of this song remind us that no matter who we are, we have the power to make a difference.

Little Blue - Jacob Collier arr. Ben Bram
Jacob said this song was inspired by the little blue creatures his mum would hand-make for him as a kid. But Jacob also said that his favourite songs have lyrics that could be about many things at once. What do you think of when you hear this song? What do you think it's about?

Water Night - Eric Whitacre
Yep, you heard that right! This piece starts "Night with the eyes of a horse that trembles in the night". The words are from a poem - originally written in Spanish - by Mexican poet Octavio Paz. Perhaps it sounds so poetic is because it's hard to capture the vibe of the Spanish words in their English translation? Listen out for the shimmering harmonies that makes this piece feel like a pool of cool water.

Underneath the Stars - Kate Rusby arr. Jim Clements
This song was made famous by folk singer-songwriter and 'Barnsley Nightingale' Kate Rusby. In this version for choir, Jim has taken a line of lyrics - 'O go gently' - and turned it into a repeating phrase, a bit like a looping backing track. 

Dance the Night - Dua Lipa arr. Alan Billingsley
"What I am doing tonight? I don't have anything big planned, just a giant blowout party with all the Barbies with planned choreography and a bespoke song, you should stop by!". This bittersweet banger was written by Dua Lipa for the Barbie Movie - we hope you enjoy hearing it with a choral twist!

A lot of the lyrics in this concert are sung in different languages. If you're curious about what the choir is singing about, you can read translations of all the lyrics that aren't in English in this document.

Read translations

Singers in National Youth Choir (15-18 Years) meet twice a year for residential courses. On courses, singers live, sing and learn together with rehearsals for most of the day time and social events in the evening, all facilitated by a team of National Youth Choir conductors, vocal coaches, musicianship leads and pastoral staff.

From dancercise to birthdays to the now, traditional 'pink Wednesdays', there's far too many special things about National Youth Choir courses to mention all of them. To get a taste of what these young singers have experienced over the last eight days, watch our Instagram stories highlight

See behind the scenes on Instagram

Lila Abularach Kendall Adetogun Frances Andrews Alisha Ardeshna Joshua Arnold Zoe Ashbrook Polly Atkin Natasha Bage Melina Baresh Evie Barrow Alex Beattie Pearl Benjamin Sophie Bisson Edward Black Dominic Blackburn Emily Blois Harriet Blunden Emma Boswell James Bradford Georgia Brindley Harry Brown Domino Burton Emily Butcher Rose Butler-Cole Flynn Campbell Edward Cassidy Joshua Clarke Allegra Clement-Davies Sebastian Cunningham Yeanika Currie Oscar Cutler Yuv Dattani Harriet Dewar Emilia Draycott Eva Dunlop David Edgington Chloe Ellam Gracie Ellish-Alexander Arabella Engledow Gabriel Ferris Hannah Foulis Wills Shreya Francis Molly Gault

Mia Getty Rosalila Gibbons Charlie Groom Benjamin Haines-West Olivia-Louise Harrison-Laverack Zara Hayat Alexander Hayward Eliya Istari Serena Jacob Evie Jones Susanna Jones Mhairi Kemp George Kimberley Camilla Kirk Alice Kirker Niamh Lally Felicity Lee Paloma Leon-Villapalos George L'Estrange Poppy Liston Sofia Lotto Emily Macdougall Björn McGahan Francesca McLean Polly McMullan Luca Moston Philippa Needs Millie Nourse Adekoya Okusaga Elizabeth-Mary Oluwadamilare Tami Onamusi Onyinyechi Onwuachu Lucy Palfery Imogen Payne Eve Payton Lilah Payton Scarlett Peacock Ella Penrose Raechel Philip Alastair Phillips Megan Powell Alice Rabey Rowan Ratcliff

Annabel Reed Joe Rossiter Imogen Sanderse Sophie Sardar George Scott Neve Seekings Afi Sesika Norgbey Misha Shah Saachi Shah Matthew Shallicker Felix Shaw Henry Shaw Pip Sheldon Lloyd Shimell Victoria Smith Darsh Somani Imogen Stanley Izzy Stevens James Sykes Sophie Sylvester Lydia Tank Kayla Holly Tawananyasha Maniwa Phoebe Thompson Freddie Thornton Luke Thornton Frederick Turner Sebastian Turner Isabella Turner-Keeble Verity Tween Leander Urquhart Leandro Veiga Oona Vout Ella Walker Amelia Waring Montague Weaver Toby Webster Lara West Sanuli Wijedasa Megan Wilkinson Rose Wilson Anis Winkler Hanna Wren

Conductor - Mariana Rosas
Vocal Coach in Residence - Richard Edgar-Wilson
Vocal Coach - Berty Rice
Assistant Conductor & Section Coach - Florence Price
Section Coaches - Charlotte Brosnan, Jason Ching, Jordan Theis
Accompanist & Section Coach - Finnuala Ward 
Course Manager - Imogen Vining
Assistant Course Manager - Bethany Pearson
Head of Pastoral Care - EJ Wood
Heads of House/Senior Pastoral Care - Chrissy Bix, Pip Doust, Andrew Sheldon
Senior Pastoral Care - Sarah Carroll, Sam Gray, Elodie Smith
Head of Social - Bethan Kelly
Course Assistant - Ella-May Thornley